Ngaio Simmons (she/her, he/him) is a queer writer and performer with a degree in English from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Writing from the diaspora as a Māori poet born and raised away from Aotearoa, New Zealand, her work digs into such themes as diaspora, identity conflict, and home. Her work has been featured in Public Journal, Flux Hawaiʻi, Contemporary Verse, Tayo Literary Magazine, Hawaiʻi Review, and Ora Nui.