Arapeta Awatere’s autobiography, Awatere: A Soldier’s Story, was published in 2003.

Arapeta Awatere was born at Tuparoa, on the East Coast of New Zealand. He was taken while still an infant by his mother to Whangaruru to be raised by a relative, Heni Mahanga. He was 6 when he returned to the East Coast.

Arapeta Awatere was only 10 when his father died. A year later, his mother died.

After his parents died, Awatere worked as a sailor to pay his way through high school.

Awatere: A Soldier’s Story is more than autobiography; it includes many of his poems, 2 essays & a memoir of his time in prison.

It also includes Awatere’s understanding of Maori language, lore & customs.

Apparently, Awatere’s wife had forbidden publication of her husband’s memoirs while she was still alive. It was therefore his grand-daughter, Hinemoa Awatere, who took on the editing work needed for Awatere: A Soldier’s Story to be published.