Faith writes: 'The amount of growing I did during my MA year was massive. I went into it very naively, and came out with a much deeper sense of self. Writing has always been a cathartic or a therapeutic sort of exercise for me, done at random. Enhancing that with the regularity and discipline of a writing programme enabled me to clarify what I did, and what I did not, want to write about. I also learned that my instinct is an indefatigable resource and that when it comes down to it, it's the only thing you should listen to.

'As a Pacific Island identifying woman, it was really important for me to succeed here, so I could prove, not to myself, not to my classmates, or the school, but to other future brown writers out there who might be scared of entering into this world, that it can be done, and that you must do it.'

Bio: Faith Wilson is an artist/writer from Kirikiriroa but resides in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. She completed the MA in 2014, and was awarded the Biggs Poetry Prize for her manuscript. Her practice centres on experiences of the self, and the navigation of it in caucasian spaces. She was the Blumhardt Curatorial Intern at The Dowse Art Museum in 2016, and has published and exhibited in various spaces throughout Aotearoa.