Our judge 2026

Rebecca Hawkes

Rebecca Hawkes is a Pākehā painter-poet raised in rural Canterbury, now living in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Her first book was Meat Lovers, a finalist in America’s Lambda Literary Awards and winner of a Laurel Prize in the UK. She edits the hot-blooded poetry journal Sweet Mammalian and co-edited the anthology No Other Place to Stand. Rebecca holds an MFA in yearning (and, to a lesser extent, poetry) from the University of Michigan, and an MA in half-truths (Creative Non-Fiction) from the International Institute of Modern Letters. Her work has been recognised by Fulbright, Salt Hill, Palette Poetry’s Sappho Prize, and the Academy of American Poets, among other flatteries. Her new work is forthcoming with Ngā Pukapuka Pekapeka, Auckland University Press and Yes Yes Books.

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