(1973-12-06) December 6, 1973 (age 51) Hāwera, New Zealand
Pen name
Justin Christopher (children's books)
Genre
Non-fiction, humour, travel and children's fiction
Years active
1995–present
Notable works
Bowling Through India Shot, Boom, Score! Kiwi Speak
Justin Brown,[1] also known as Justin Christopher, (born 6 December 1973)[2] is a New Zealand best-selling author,[3][4][5] television producer, music writer, podcast host and former radio presenter.[6][7] He is best known for his works in non-fiction, humour, travel and children's fiction.[8][9]
As noted by New Zealand Nielsen Book Data,[15][16][17]Kiwi Speak was a weekly bestseller in 2018.[18][19][20]
Early life
Justin was born in Hāwera, New Zealand. His family moved to the Kāpiti Coast during his childhood years. Brown started his career delivering fridges, which led to bar work. He then volunteered at Radio Lollipop at The Starship Children's Hospital in Auckland, New Zealand. Early author influences of his were Maurice Sendak, Tin Tin, Roald Dahl and Asterix.[21]
Career
Early radio career: 1995-2018
Brown began his career working as a radio host in 1995 at More FM in Auckland, New Zealand to then hosting a breakfast show at GWR FM in the United Kingdom in 1996.[22] From 2000 to 2016, Brown was a Breakfast host on the Andrew, Jacque and Justin show on Classic Hits, Auckland.[23][24]
From 2016 until 2018, Brown was a nationwide drive host for The Hits, New Zealand.[6]
Writing career: 2002-present
In 2001, Brown wrote an article for the New Zealand magazine, Metro. This led to him writing his first non-fiction book, UK on a G-String which was published in 2002 by Random House New Zealand.[25] He followed this up in 2004 with Teed Off in the USA which was also published by Random House New Zealand.[26] In 2009, Brown completed his three travel books with Bowling Through India.[27]
In 2009, Brown published You're a Real Kiwi When which was published by Hurricane Press New Zealand. Brown published several books relating to pop culture slang in New Zealand. These included, Cricket Speak which was released in 2007,[28]Rugby Speak in 2011 and then Kiwi Speak in 2018.[29]
From 2020, Brown published several children's books under the pen name, Justin Christopher. These included Freakout Island,[30]The Underers, My Best Worst Year, Stowaway Daze and Nanas with No Manners.[31]
TV and film career: 2009-present
From 2000 until 2008, Brown was a host for the New Zealand music channel Juice TV. From 2009 until 2013, Brown was a writer on several episode for the New Zealand Children's TV series, Buzzy Bee.[32][33][34]
In 2020 Brown was a writer and story producer for the Bravo New Zealand series, TheCircus.[35] In the same year he was also a writer and producer for the New Zealand series, Great Southern Truckers.[36] In 2021, Brown was a writer for the series Uncharted New Zealand.[37]
