Martin van Beynen

Martin van Beynen (born 1959) is a New Zealand writer, print journalist, and former columnist for The Press in Christchurch.

Early life Of Dutch extraction, van Beynen was born in Christchurch. He lived in West Auckland from the age of 11. where he played rugby union and was taught art by Vic Urlich. Van Beynen attended the University of Auckland, where he studied law and wrote for Craccum, graduating in 1981. in 1989, and began working with the Otago Daily Times in Dunedin. for 17 years until 2021.

Controversial views His views have occasionally been controversial. An example was his tongue-in-cheek satire piece describing Paul Henry's "Breakfast for Canterbury", which was broadcast by TVNZ following the 2010 Canterbury earthquake. The piece began: "As dawn broke over the ruined city, God decided to punish the urbanites one more time. He sent them Paul Henry and his Breakfast television team. Billed as Breakfast for Canterbury, the Auckland TV people came down once more to feast on the already well-gnawed bones of injured Christchurch." In 2012, van Beynen published Trapped, an account of experiences of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.

He made trenchant comment on, and took a controversial position in relation to the David Bain retrial, arguing that David was guilty and the jury got it wrong. Van Beynen was accused of approaching a juror, which led to criticism of him by an official of the High Court and media outlets. Years later, Van Beynen wrote and narrated a ten-episode podcast covering the Bain murder case, "Black Hands". The podcast was launched on 20 July 2017. He also wrote and narrated a one-episode sequel podcast, released on 17 September 2017, in response to critical comments about him by former judge Ian Binnie in a radio interview with Kim Hill.

Awards Van Beynen has won journalism awards in New Zealand. In 2010, as well as other awards, he won a Qantas Media Award for "Story of the Year" for a feature after the trial and acquittal of David Bain. He was also announced "Fairfax Media Journalist of the Year 2010-2011". Black Hands won the 2021 Best Non Fiction prize at the Ngaio Marsh Awards.

Personal life In 2024 Van Beynen was diagnosed with inoperable stage-IV lung cancer.

Publications Martin van Beynen, Trapped: Remarkable Stories of Survival from the 2011 Canterbury Earthquake, Penguin, 2012, Martin van Beynen, Black Hands, (10-episode podcast), one–episode sequel podcast, Stuff.co.nz, 2017 Martin van Beynen, Black Hands: Inside the Bain family murders, Penguin, 2020,