Samuel Te Kani (born 1990) is a

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 C ...

author, artist, and sexpert.

Early life

Te Kani (

Ngāpuhi Ngāpuhi (or Ngā Puhi) is a Māori iwi associated with the Northland region of New Zealand and centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands, and Whangārei. According to the 2018 New Zealand census, the estimated population of Ngāpuhi is 165, ...

) grew up in

Whangārei Whangārei () is the northernmost city in New Zealand and the regional capital of Northland Region. It is part of the Whangarei District, Whangārei District, a local body created in 1989 from the former Whangārei City, Whangārei County and ...

. Te Kani has described growing up in a Protestant household who were accepting of his early

cross-dressing Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes usually worn by a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and self-express oneself. Cross-dressing has play ...

, and that his family experienced brief stints of homelessness as a result of evictions. Te Kani came out as gay when he was 14, saying that he came out "without the practical knowledge of my orientation, only the fervent theoretical belief that I was a homosexual."

Career

Te Kani started sex blogging in 2013–14, which then led to series of mini-documentaries, ''Sex with Sam'', for

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tra ...

on different aspects of sex and sexuality in New Zealand. Te Kani has also written cultural, music, and sex-related essays for a variety of publications, including

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

The Spinoff ''The Spinoff'' is a New Zealand online magazine and news website that was founded in 2014. It is known for current affairs coverage, political and social analysis, and cultural commentary. It earns money through commercial sponsorship and su ...

TVNZ , type = Crown entity , industry = Broadcast television , num_locations = New Zealand , location = Auckland, New Zealand , area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the So ...

Stuff Stuff, stuffed, and stuffing may refer to: *Physical matter *General, unspecific things, or entities Arts, media, and entertainment Books *''Stuff'' (1997), a novel by Joseph Connolly (author), Joseph Connolly *''Stuff'' (2005), a book by Jere ...

, and

Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa), commonly known as Radio NZ or simply RNZ, is a New Zealand public-service radio broadcaster and Crown entity that was established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news and c ...

. In 2015 Te Kani contributed a chapter to the book ''Close Your Eyes With Holy Dread'', and in 2020 contributed a chapter to the book ''Whose Futures?'' During the

COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand The COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand is part of the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first case of the disease in New Zealand was reported on 28 February 2 ...

Te Kani supplemented his income by writing 150-200 personalised erotic stories on commission. Reoccurring motifs in these commissions were John Campbell,

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

, and bisexual Male-Male-Female stories. Te Kani participated in New Zealand's 2018 National Poetry Day, and in two panels in the 2020 ''Samesame But Different'' writing festival; one on science-fiction, and another on sex. Te Kani participated in the 2022

Auckland Writers Festival Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki is the largest annual literary festival in Aotearoa New Zealand since 1999. It has about 200 public events each year featuring local and international writers as guests. History and staff The inaug ...

and 2022 New Zealand Young Writers Festival. In 2022, Te Kani's essay ''Catholic Taste'' was shown and orated in the art show ''Season'', a mixed-medium gallery in the

Commercial Bay Shopping Centre Commercial Bay Shopping Centre is a shopping centre in the Auckland CBD, Auckland, New Zealand. It is situated at 11–19 Customs Street West between Lower Albert Street and the Britomart Transport Centre. The centre was known as Downtown Shoppi ...

''Please, Call Me Jesus''

In 2021 Te Kani published ''Please, Call Me Jesus'' his debut fiction book of erotic short-stories. In describing the book, Te Kani said that ''Please, Call Me Jesus'' is "a collection of mostly erotic fiction, but I play with the genre a little bit there too, so there's sci-fi and fantasy elements." One reviewer summarised the book as "There's an unsavory Messiah, a monk named Tilda Swinton, as well as werewolves, a lidless box of

dildo A dildo is a sex toy, often explicitly phallic in appearance, intended for sexual penetration or other sexual activity during masturbation or with sex partners. Dildos can be made from a number of materials and shaped like an erect human penis ...

s and enough

fisting Fisting, handballing, fist-fucking, brachiovaginal, or brachioproctic insertion is a sexual activity that involves inserting a hand into the vagina or rectum. Once insertion is complete, the fingers are either clenched into a fist or kept straig ...

scenes to equal 11 weeks of lockdown." One review for

95bFM 95bFM is a New Zealand student radio station. It operates in Auckland on a Schedule 7 (educational purposes) semi-commercial licence. The station is based in the Student Union Building at the University of Auckland, is owned by a trust on behalf o ...

said that ''Please, Call me Jesus'' is "clever and dark, and it's consistently reminding you of how freaky and weird and intelligent e Kanis brain is.

Influence and writing style

Te Kani's work often falls under the

science-fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel univers ...

category, he said "I love sci-fi categorically as a genre because it's just a lab house for futures. It's a space where we can project and reimagine where we are and where we are going." Te Kani said the first time he encountered erotic fiction was when he was twelve years old, reading ''Less Than Zero'' by

Bret Easton Ellis Bret Easton Ellis (born March 7, 1964) is an American author, screenwriter, short-story writer, and director. Ellis was first regarded as one of the so-called literary Brat Pack and is a self-proclaimed satirist whose trademark technique, as a w ...

, which led to a lifelong interest in the subject. Te Kani has been influenced by writers

Witi Ihimaera Witi Tame Ihimaera-Smiler (; born 7 February 1944) is a New Zealand author. Raised in the small town of Waituhi, he decided to become a writer as a teenager after being convinced that Māori people were ignored or mischaracterised in literat ...

and Peter Wells.

Published works

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References

{{reflist 21st-century New Zealand male writers LGBT writers from New Zealand New Zealand Māori writers Ngāpuhi people Ngāti Porou people Living people Waikato Tainui people People from Whangārei 1990 births