Writing
Going West with words
The Going West Books and Writers Festival is characterized by friendliness, intimacy, hospitality, accessibility and good food. Director Nicola Strawbridge talks about getting the right balance… Audio
Emily Perkins - Ibsen and The Fuse Box
Emily Perkins holds a Master of Creative Writing from The University of Auckland and is a graduate of Toi Whakaari, the New Zealand Drama School. Her first book, Not Her Real Name and Other Stories… Audio
Comedy and the art of selling out
Te Radar talks to Sonia Sly about the most memorable show of his career, the art of comedy, why he would call himself a feminist if he was a woman, and the reason he's kept a special item of women's… Audio
Debut Novel from Eileen Merriman
Troubled teenager Rebecca is lonely after her family moves from Dunedin to Auckland...that's until she meets Corey. Writer Eileen Merriman's stories have been published in national and international… Audio
Russ Rymer: When a language goes silent
Author, freelance journalist and former Guggenheim Fellow Russ Rymer talks to Kathryn Ryan about his award winning National Geographic investigation into the death of tribal languages. In his Auckland… Audio
George Saunders - Lincoln in the Bardo
Considered one of America's foremost contemporary writers, George Saunders has just published his first novel Lincoln in the Bardo to critical acclaim. Audio
Quintessential Lauris Edmond
As a tribute to her mother, respected writer Lauris Edmond, her daughter Frances has co-edited a new anthology of favourite poetry and prose. She and Sue Fitchett approached family, friends and other… Audio
Sci-fi novel Star Sailors - Love! Revolution! Aliens! Hokitika!
It's 2045 and as climate change wreaks havoc around the world, New Zealand becomes a sanctuary for the mega rich, who live in gated communities to keep the poor well away. This is the near future as… Audio
Armando Iannucci - satirising political spin
Armando Iannucci is a critically acclaimed British comedy writer and producer. He's best known for creating the TV shows The Thick of It and Veep. Audio
Novelist Elspeth Sandys' Magnificent Obsession
Writer Elspeth Sandys offers us an view of a writer's life in her ninth novel, Obsession. The title refers to both several intense relationships in the book, and also the obsession that goes into… Audio
$230,000 secret prize for Wellington writer
The first Ashleigh Young knew of the Windham-Campbell prize was the call to say she had won it. Audio
Patricia Langford: writing up a storm
We tend to hear about young up and coming writers being discovered, but Patricia Langford was in her early 70s when she took up creative writing and caught the eye of her tutors. Award-winning poet… Audio
Growing up gaysian in Australia
Australian writer Ben Law has explored the problems of growing up gay and Asian in Queensland in the ‘90s in a new TV show. He talks with Wallace Chapman. Audio
Tala Tusi: The Teller is the Tale
In her lyrical and amusing 2016 Book Council Lecture, poet and academic Dr Selina Tusitala Marsh takes the listener from the book corner of the Avondale Salvation Army shop to Westminster Abbey. Audio
Deborah Challinor's new novel The Cloud Leopard's Daughter
With 15 novels to her name, Hamilton's Deborah Challinor is a prolific and successful historical fiction writer - here and overseas. Her popular series include The Convict Girls, Children of War and… Audio
Disappointment in international test results
New Zealand has scored its lowest ever ranking in an international test of 15 year old's reading, maths and science skills. Audio
The unlikely existence of Angels In America
Tony Kushner’s Tony winner Angels in America is considered a classic of American theatre, a two part epic clashing together themes of religion, politics, and sexuality. Kushner went on to pen the… Audio
Aotearotica: a literary journal of erotic writing
Christchurch school teacher, Laura Borrowdale, admits her father is horrified that she opened a new literary journal. It's called Aotearotica, and features 80 pages of erotic writing and art. Laura… Audio
Masterpieces with David Hall
A philospher and roving book editor; David Hall works for Bridget Williams Books and recently completed a doctorate at Oxford University in political philosophy, specifically on the nature of… Audio
Spine-tingling - the story of the book
After a thousand years as the world's most powerful medium, does the book still reign supreme? Nine to Noon talks to Keith Houston, about the weighty, living artifacts that you can hold, hoard or… Audio, Gallery