Paul Maunder has had a lengthy career in film and theatre. After university he studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney and then at the London Film School. Both writer and director of his films, his work has won many awards: Best short film at Berlin, Best Actor at Karlovy Vary, Golden Prize at the Asian and Pacific Young Filmmakers Festival, as well as local awards.

In theatre he has worked in mainstream professional theatre as well as group theatre and community theatre, devising and scripting many plays.

He has published articles in cultural magazines and short stories in a variety of collections. Some of his work has been recorded for radio. In 2015, a collection of his stories, Tornado and other stories written over time, was published by Maitai River Press. His reflection on the Pike Disaster, Coal and the Coast and his study of Community-based theatre in NZ, Rebellious Mirrors, were published by Canterbury University Press.

He has moved to the West Coast to give himself the promised ‘writing time’. There he works with Kiwi/possum Productions, a community-based theatre group, creating plays on local issues and stories.