Jason Waitokia was born in Marton and was educated at Windley School and Brandon Intermediate. He completed a course in electronic engineering at UCOL, Universal College of Learning in Palmerston North, and currently works for Fonterra in Longburn, on the outskirts of Palmerston North. In his teens Waitokia was a member of the Whanake Rangataua, a Māori martial arts group based in Wellington that provided opportunities for Māori youth. It was during this time he began to write poetry. Waitokia is married with four children and plays the guitar in a Christian band called New Leaf.
Biographical sources
- Correspondence from Jason Waitokia: 29 Oct. and 2 Nov. 2004.
- Taylor, Apirana. "Introduction." Landfall 41.4 (1987): 411.
Poetry
- "The Sputnic." Landfall 41.4 (1987): 422. Rpt. in Te Ao Mārama: Contemporary Māori Writing. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing ed. Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Vol. 3: Te Puāwaitanga O Te Kōrero: The Flowering. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1993. 84-85.
- In this narrative poem the speaker tells of the visit of ‘a little green sputnic’ who claims to be the speaker’s conscience and offers to help the speaker give up drinking.