Alan Duff has been stirring up New Zealand and New Zealanders since 1990. 

That's when his first novel, Once Were Warriors, was released. The book, and later the movie adaptation, shone a shocking light on a lifestyle not many New Zealanders were aware of.  

Since then, Duff has been using his influence to agitate discussion, and, with his Books in Homes programme, action. 

In 1993, Duff wrote a collections of essays called Maori: The Crisis and the Challenge. Now, 25 years later he returns to a new assessment. His latest work is A Conversation With My Country, looking at where we come from where we can go.

Duff joined Andrew Dickens to discuss his lengthy career and what’s changed in New Zealand since the Hekes of Once Were Warriors were introduced to the world, and why we are focusing too much on the negative.