New Zealand Writers

DIAMOND, Paul

Inspirational to anyone who picks it up
Rt Hon. Helen Clark, about A Fire in your Belly

DIAMOND, Paul (1968– ) is a writer, journalist, historian and broadcaster. He was born in Putaruru to a Māori father and a pākehā mother, and grew up in the Hutt Valley. His iwi affiliations are Ngāti Haua, Te Rarawa and Ngā Puhi.

Diamond began his broadcasting career with Mana Māori Radio in 1997, and has also produced radio features on Māori topics for Radio New Zealand, and worked as a senior reporter for Te Hēteri on Māori Television. His radio programmes have won Qantas Media and Media Peace Awards. In 2001, he was awarded a David Low Chevening Fellowship to study at Oxford University.

Diamond’s first book, A Fire in your Belly (Huia, 2003), was described as ‘…inspirational to anyone who picks it up’, by Prime Minister the Rt Hon. Helen Clark. The book is a collection of interviews with Māori leaders, many of whom have had an impact on treaty settlements, and have shaped present-day New Zealand.

Makereti: Taking Māori to the World (Random House, 2007), was the inspiration for a 2007/8 exhibition about Makereti (Maggie Papakura) at the National Library. Diamond also contributed an essay entitled ‘Representation of Takatāpui – Then and Now’ to Sexuality and the stories of Indigenous People (Huia, 2007).

Paul Diamond lives in the Hutt Valley with his partner Bob Williams.

SH