Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury (UC) alum Ross Calman (Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa-ki-te-tonga and Kāi Tahu) graduated from UC in 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours in English. In 2023, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate for his contributions to Māori history, publishing and revitalising te reo Māori.
The Prime Minister’s Awards for Literary Achievement recognises New Zealand writers who have made significant contributions to New Zealand literature in either fiction, nonfiction or poetry. This year there were three awards given to Barbara Else for fiction, Ross Calman for non-fiction and Dinah Hawken for poetry.
Calman has edited over 100 books in te reo Māori and English, translated many books into te reo Māori, and written numerous articles and chapters on Māori history and traditional Māori society.
This is the second time this year Calman has been recognised for his work, with his introductory book The Treaty of Waitangi winning the Elsie Locke Award for Nonfiction and the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year award at the 2025 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults – his first time winning awards for his writing.
Calman has written over a dozen works, including a book on the life account of his ancestor Ngāti Toa chief Te Rauparaha. While studying at UC in the 1990’s, Calman discovered his whakapapa to the infamous chief, later finding a photocopied manuscript in the University library about his ancestor’s life, written by his son, Tāmihana Te Rauparaha.
It wasn’t until 2014 that Calman picked up the manuscript again to start deciphering it, which lead to his publishing of He Pukapuka Tātaku i ngā Mahi a Te Rauparaha Nui – A Record of the Life of the Great Te Rauparaha in 2020. He has since turned his book into a podcast, Te Rauparaha: Kei Wareware, which won an award for Best Education Podcast at the New York Festivals Radio awards in 2023.
We’d like to congratulate Calman on this honour and recognition of his dedication to te reo Māori history and revitalisation.
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