Emma Elizabeth Wehipeihana (born 1983/4; married name Espiner from 2012 to 2023) is a New Zealand broadcaster, writer and doctor. She won Opinion Writer of the Year at the

2020 Voyager Media Awards The 2020 Voyager Media Awards The New Zealand Newspaper Publishers’ Association awards are annual New Zealand media awards recognising excellence in the news print media. The first awards were held in 1974 giving out awards for news photo ...

and Best Narrative Podcast at the 2021 Voyager Media Awards. Her 2023 memoir ''There's a Cure For This'' won the best first book award in the general non-fiction category at the

Ockham New Zealand Book Awards The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are literary awards presented annually in New Zealand. The awards began in 1996 as the merger of two literary awards events: the New Zealand Book Awards, which ran from 1976 to 1995, and the Goodman Fielder Wa ...

Biography

Wehipeihana grew up in Wellington. Her mother, Colleen Smith, was a feminist activist and Wehipeihana was involved in feminist protests from a young age. Of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

descent, Wehipeihana has whakapapa (heritage) to the

Ngāti Tukorehe Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

and

Ngāti Porou Ngāti Porou is a Māori iwi traditionally located in the East Cape and Gisborne regions of the North Island of New Zealand. It has the second-largest affiliation of any iwi, behind Ngāpuhi, with an estimated 102,480 people according to the ...

iwi. She graduated with

Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery A Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (; MBBS, also abbreviated as BM BS, MB ChB, MB BCh, or MB BChir) is a medical degree granted by medical schools or universities in countries that adhere to the United Kingdom's higher education tradi ...

degrees from the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

in 2020. Wehipeihana has written as a columnist for ''

Newsroom A newsroom is the central place where journalists—reporters, editing, editors, and Television producer, producers, associate producers, news anchors, news designers, photojournalists, videojournalists, associate editor, residence editor, visu ...

''. In 2020, she won Opinion Writer of the Year at the

. In 2020 she hosted the podcast ''Getting Better'' for

Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand (), commonly known as RNZ or Radio NZ, is a New Zealand public service broadcaster and Crown entity. Established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995, it operates news and current affairs station, RNZ National, and a classi ...

about her experiences as a Māori medical student. The podcast won the Best Narrative Podcast award at the 2021 Voyager Media Awards. In 2023, Wehipeihana published a memoir titled ''There's a Cure For This.'' The book won the best first book award for general non-fiction at the 2024

, and was shortlisted for the overall general non-fiction award. At the ceremony, Wehipeihana said she wanted politicians in attendance to hear "that the front line of the health system can speak back".

Personal life

Wehipeihana married journalist Guyon Espiner in 2012, and had a daughter. The couple separated in 2023, after which she returned to using her maiden name.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wehipeihana, Emma 1980s births Living people New Zealand columnists New Zealand podcasters New Zealand women podcasters Ngāti Porou people Ngāti Raukawa people New Zealand memoirists 21st-century New Zealand medical doctors New Zealand Māori medical doctors New Zealand women medical doctors 21st-century New Zealand journalists New Zealand women journalists New Zealand women memoirists