Diana Harris grew up in Christchurch and studied languages and literature at the University of Canterbury, before taking up a French Government Scholarship to study at the University of Grenoble, France. From there she went to London, where she ran the office for a company operating hotel barge cruises on canals in France. On her return home she settled in Auckland, where she joined a publishing company and later worked as a freelance book editor for many years. However, after living overseas she realised what a special place Aotearoa/New Zealand is; she wanted to find out more about our history and the Māori culture, and she spent several years learning te reo Māori. Her first book was The Kiwi Fact Book, followed by a children’s story, Guardian of the Bridge, about a taniwha who went to sleep a long time ago and woke up in today’s world; then came Litterbugs, a story in verse about recycling. At the same time she embarked on the epic Johnny Jones: A Colonial Saga, which traces the life of her great-great-great grandfather and which also recreates the people and events of the first half of the 19th century as it unfolded in the South Island. Now she has completed 'Howling in the Wilderness', which covers the first half of the 19th century in the North Island, this time concentrating on the lives of Henry and Marianne Williams. She believes the early 19th century was a crucial time when Māori and Pākehā people began to intermingle and, in her opinion, it is the most fascinating part of the history of these, our beloved islands.
