Rorina Sue Rata was born in Whangarei and was educated at Church College of New Zealand, Northland Polytech, Brigham Young University, Hawaii, and Massey University. She has a Bachelor of Social Work (1980) and is currently completing a Masters in Business Administration. Rorina is a lecturer in Social Work at the Auckland College of Education and is moving to the Auckland Institute of Technology’s Te Ara Poutama Division. She has attended several Māori Women writers’ hui. Rina writes non-fiction articles on contemporary Māori social issues; many of the articles she has written are unpublished.
Biographical sources
- Correspondence with Rata, 7 Dec. 1992.
- Kupenga, Vapi, Rina Rata and Tuki Nepe. "Whaia Te Iti Kahurangi: Māori Women Reclaiming Autonomy." Puna Wairere: Essays by Māori. Wellington, N.Z.: New Zealand Planning Council/Te Kaunihera Whakakaupapa mo Aotearoa, 1990.
Non-fiction
- "Whaia Te Iti Kahurangi: Māori Women Reclaiming Autonomy." Vapi Kupenga, Rina Rata and Tuki Nepe. Puna Wairere: Essays by Māori. Wellington, N.Z.: New Zealand Planning Council/Te Kaunihera Whakakaupapa mo Aotearoa, 1990. 8-12. Rpt. as "Whāia te iti Kahurangi: Māori Women Reclaiming Autonomy." in Te Ao Mārama: Regaining Aotearoa: Māori Writers Speak Out. Comp. and ed. Witi Ihimaera. Contributing ed. Haare Williams, Irihapeti Ramsden and D. S. Long. Vol. 2: He Whakaatanga O Te Ao: The Reality. Auckland, N.Z.: Reed, 1993. 304-309.
- Co-authored with Vapi Kupenga and Tuki Nepe.
Other
- Rankine, Jenny. "Hospital Board." In "Racism is Alive and Well in N.Z. Institutions." Broadsheet 133 (1985):19-20.
- A detailed account of Rata’s battle with Carrington Psychiatric Hospital’s appeal committee.
- Young, C. "Rina Rata and the powers that be - a story of a clash of cultures." Metro 5.52 (Oct. 1985): 161-170.