Paula Morris (Ngati Wai, Ngati Whatua) is an award-winning novelist, short story writer and essayist from New Zealand.

She writes fiction for adults and supernatural mysteries for younger readers. Paula’s short stories are widely published in journals, magazines and anthologies, and a number have been adapted for radio in both New Zealand and the US.

A frequent book reviewer, interviewer and festival chair, Paula holds degrees from universities in New Zealand, the U.K. and the US, including a D.Phil from the University of York and an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.

She has been awarded numerous residencies and fellowships, including Bellagio (the Rockefeller Foundation) in Italy, Brecht’s House in Denmark, Passa Porta in Belgium, and the International Writers and Translators’ House in Ventspils, Latvia. She has appeared at festivals in Europe, the US, China, the UK and New Zealand.

For ten years, Paula worked in London and New York, first as a publicist and marketing executive in the record business, and later as a branding consultant and advertising copywriter. Since 2003 she’s taught creative writing at universities, including Tulane University in New Orleans, and the University of Sheffield in England. She is convenor of the Master in Creative Writing programme at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.