Dr. Monty Soutar (Ngati Porou, Ngati Awa, Ngai Tai ki Tamaki, Ngati Kahungunu) has worked as a Senior Historian for the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, Director of the Tairawhiti Museum in Gisborne and as the World War One Historian in Residence at Auckland War Memorial Museum. In 2015 he was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Maori and historical research. He continues to serve on the Waitangi Tribunal. Dr. Soutar is the author of Whitiki Whiti Whiti E! Maori in the First World War and Nga Tama Toa - The Price of Citizenship: C Company 28 (Maori) Battalion 1939-1945. In 2021 he was awarded the Creative New Zealand Michael King Writer's Fellowship to write the Kawai series. Monty lives in Gisborne with his wife and youngest daughter.