| Keith Newman | |
| Birth Date: | 6 June 1954 |
| Birth Place: | Palmerston North, New Zealand |
| Occupation: | Author, freelance writer and producer |
| Genre: | Non-fiction |
| Notableworks: | Bible & Treaty: Missionaries Among the Maori |
| Spouse: | Paula Newman |
| Children: | 2 |
Keith Newman (born 6 June 1954) is a New Zealand author, freelance writer and producer. He has had five non-fiction titles published dealing with historical subjects including Māori prophet T. W. Ratana and the movement he founded, the early missionaries and their relationships with the Māori people and a history of the Internet in New Zealand.
Newman was raised in Feilding in the central North Island of New Zealand. He lived in Auckland for 25 years before moving to Hawke's Bay in 2009. He has worked in newspapers, magazines and radio for over 30 years, winning awards for journalism and feature writing.[1] [2]
After 20 years of research, in 2006 Reed published Newman's book Ratana Revisited – An Unfinished Legacy.[3] Two years later he was asked by Penguin, which took over Reed Publishing, to write a condensed and more focused version which was published as Ratana – The Prophet in 2009.[4] Newman also wrote the article in Te Ara, the New Zealand Government online encyclopaedia, about the Ratana movement.[5]
In between he was commissioned by InternetNZ to write the history of the Internet in New Zealand. The resulting book Connecting the Clouds – The Internet in New Zealand (Activity Press 2008) is also published as a wiki and available free under a Creative Commons license.[6]
In 2009 Penguin published his book Bible & Treaty: Missionaries Among the Maori,[7] and have since released a second edition. The follow-up companion title Beyond Betrayal: Trouble in the Promised Land was published in September 2013.[8]
In 2018 he received a New Zealand History Award to support the writing of Hidden Heritage of the Cape Coast, which focuses on the Māori, colonial and more recent history of the coastal Hawke’s Bay settlements of Haumoana, Te Awanga and Clifton.[9]
Newman has written, produced and narrated over 20 programmes for Radio New Zealand National's Musical Chairs series, mainly dealing with pop and rock musicians from the period of the 1960s and 1970s, predominantly those who had recording success locally and toured offshore.[10]
Newman is the chairman of the WOW (Walking on Water) lobby group, which is particularly concerned with coastal erosion in the Haumoana beach area where he lives.[11]