Miriama Kamo

Miriama Kamo (Ngāi Tahu/Ngāti Mutunga) is an award winning broadcaster, writer, speaker, and environmental advocate.  

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She co-hosts the popular podcast The Elephant with Mark Crysell through Herd Productions and supported by NZME.

Miriama is former host of TVNZ’s flagship current affairs programme Sunday and Māori current affairs programme Marae.

Miriama is the Patron/Te Koruru of the Kiwibank NZer of the Year Awards.  She was an executive judge from 2017 before stepping up as patron in 2020. Since her appointment she’s been establishing an alumni network, a partnership model honouring te Tiriti (the Treaty of Waitangi) in the awards, and a pastoral care model for winners.  

Miriama is also a patron for EnviroHub, Bay Of Plenty and an ambassador for Charity Foundations NZ and Pillars, which ensures the voice of children of prison inmates is heard.

As a speaker, Miriama is an advocate working to empower women and families to understand and embrace what she calls ‘The 4 M’s’; menstruation, miscarriage, motherhood and menopause.  She also speaks about the power of storytelling to transform and revolutionise lives. And about the environment through a Zerowaste lens.

Miriama co-founded charity Kotahi Rau Pukapuka (KRP) and is a trustee. KRP is an organisation which is working to fill the gap for older readers and learners of te reo Māori (the Māori language) by publishing 100 books in te reo Māori. Kotahi Rau Pukapuka was launched by the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon. Jacinda Ardern, in October 2019.

Miriama is a former board member of Endometriosis NZ, Save the Kiwi, and The Arts Foundation, Te Tumu Toi.

Miriama is passionate about supporting Māori practitioners in broadcast journalism. For many years she founded and ran a mentoring scheme called Whaitiri Mentoring for young journalists of Māori descent.

A mother of two, Miriama published her first book The Stolen Stars of Matariki in 2018, which was set to music composed and performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.  Miriama’s second book Matariki, a Cluster of Stars, a Cluster of Stories, was published in 2022. She co-wrote this book with Professor Rangi Matamua (their followup book will be published in 2025) which the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra (CSO) composed music to. Her third book, The Twin Stars of Matariki; Waitī and Waitā, was published 2023, followed by The Kai Stars of Matariki in 2024, and The Wild and Windy Stars of Matariki in 2025. The final book in this series will be released in 2026. Miriama will also publish a book in a new series in 2025 called Humble Bumble, te Pī Mahakī.

All Miriama’s books have been recognised as Storylines Notable Books:

Stolen Stars of Matariki 2019

Matariki Around the World 2022

Matariki ki te Ao (reo version) 2025

Twin Stars of Matariki 2023

Kai Stars of Matariki 2024

Te Pī Māhaki 2025 (reo version of Humble Bumble, 2025)

The Stolen Stars of Matariki was also a Finalist in the Best First Book award and the Māori edition was a Finalist in the Te Kura Pounamu award at the NZ Children’s & YA Book Awards in 2019.

The Wild and Windy Stars of Matariki is a finalist in the NZ Children and Young Adult book awards 2025

A passionate advocate for the environment, Miriama spends much of her time promoting the Zerowaste movement, encouraging others to reduce waste and engage with environmental issues.

Miriama Kamo is a popular MC and speaker, an in-demand presence in the event circuit of Aotearoa/NZ.

Stolen Stars of Matariki 2019 

Matariki Around the World 2022 

Twin Stars of Matariki 2023 

Kai Stars of Matariki 2024