New Zealand Writers

MORRIS, Paula

Wickedly funny, she writes with a keen eye for human foibles.

MORRIS, Paula (1965 - ) is a novelist and short story writer. She was born in Auckland and is of English and Ngati Wai descent.

Morris attended the University of Auckland where, in 1985 she received a BA in English and History. She went on to the University of York, England where she completed a D.Phil in 1990.

In 2001 Morris completed an MA in Creative Writing at the Institute of International Letters. While at the Institute she wrote the novel Queen of Beauty which won the 2001 Adam Foundation Prize for Creative Writing.

In 2002 Morris began an MFA at the University of Iowa as the Glenn Schaeffer New Zealand Fellow, as part of her Scholarship in Modern Letters. She was awarded a Teaching-Writing fellowship for her second year of study in Iowa, and was appointed writer-in-residence by the University's International Programs in spring 2003.

In the early 90s, Morris worked in London, first at BBC Radio 3 and then as a publicist for both Virgin Records and Polygram Records. She moved to New York in 1994 to work for BMG Entertainment, initially for ECM Records and later for RCA Victor, where she was vice-president of marketing.

Morris's first novel, Queen of Beauty was published in 2002. Described by the New Zealand Herald as "a stunning debut novel ... a masterful work," Queen of Beauty featured on a number of best-of-2002 book lists. The Listener called it the "local debut of the year ... a warm, unsentimental portrait of a family in all its confusion and conflicting stories."

Morris's stories have been broadcast on National Radio and Iowa Public Radio, and appeared in Huia Short Stories 4 (2001), Landfall, the Listener, Metro, JAAM, Hayden's Ferry Review and Turbine. Excerpts from Queen of Beauty have been included in the anthologies Creative Juices (2002) and Auckland: the City in Literature (2003).

At the Montana New Zealand Book Awards 2003, Paula Morris was awarded the New Zealand Society of Authors Hubert Church Best First Book Award for fiction with Queen of Beauty, a book described by fiction category adviser Keri Hulme as "supple, expressive, non-intrusive yet pleasurable".

LK

Updated Information

Hibiscus Coast (2005), was published by Penguin. A literary thriller set in downtown Auckland and Shanghai's French Concession, the novel tells the story of a bold scheme to steal Goldie paintings from the Auckland Museum and replaces them with expert forgeries. The film rights were optioned by Touchdown Productions.

Trendy but Casual (Penguin, 2007) is a story of a women who realises a great job, great house and great man isn't quite all it's cracked up to be. A parody of chick-lit novels, and a funny comedy of manners.

Forbidden Cities (Penguin, 2008) is a collection of short stories, set in cities across the world.