Mike Ross

Mike is a lecturer at Te Kawa a Māui – Te Herenga Waka –Victoria University of Wellington, where he teaches courses on Māori language and customs. Mike believes that learning language and customs significantly enhance the wellbeing of society.

Mike also contributed to the widely read Imagining Decolonisation, a book that has been reprinted four times since it was first published in 2020. Since then, the book has been awarded the Booksellers’ Choice Award at the 2021 Aotearoa Book Industry Awards.

As a recipient of the Te Rangaunua Hiranga Māori Award from the Royal Society Te Apārangi, Mike and his colleagues has been recognised for innovative co-created research conducted by Māori that has made a distinctive contribution to community wellbeing and development in Aotearoa.

We are honoured to have Mike judging the Short Non-Fiction in te reo Māori category.