Features and Interviews

Writers’ Round Table | 2020

Rough guides, truest voices: the Ockhams 2020 Fiction Round Table.

13/05/2020

Rough guides, truest voices: the Ockhams 2020 Fiction Round Table.


The Interview: Vincent O’Sullivan

Vincent O'Sullivan on the drive to write, the contradictions of fiction, and the dangers of lingering in the poetry hot-house.

06/04/2020

‘I’m sceptical about any group who want others to regard them as special.’


Listen, Memory

David Howard learns how to appear in Ulyanovsk, City of Literature.

27/02/2020

David Howard learns how to appear in Ulyanovsk, City of Literature.


Our Many Pasts: Historical Fiction

Thom Conroy asks: is historical fiction New Zealand’s defining genre?

28/08/2019

Thom Conroy asks: is historical fiction New Zealand’s defining genre?


A Communist in the Family: Searching for Rewi Alley by Elspeth Sandys

Elspeth Sandys illuminates the life of an extraordinary New Zealander.

28/08/2019

Elspeth Sandys illuminates the life of an extraordinary New Zealander.


Writers’ Round Table | May 2019

Writers' Round Table: the fiction finalists at the Ockham NZ Book Awards discuss influences, indignation, politics and passions.

09/05/2019

Writers’ Round Table: the fiction finalists at the Ockham NZ Book Awards discuss influences, indignation, politics and passions.


The Immersion Method

Maxine Alterio on researching novels at home and abroad.

18/04/2019

Maxine Alterio on researching novels at home and abroad.


The Interview – C.K. Stead

Karl Stead and Mark Broatch discuss crossing lines, carrying on and writing well.

08/03/2019

‘I’m basically cheerful’. Stead at 86, on the work of a lifetime.


Display It Like You Stole It: Letter from London

‘If Oceania is a continent, then it is a continent as complex as Europe’. David Eggleton in London for the Royal Academy of Art’s ‘blockbuster’ show.

06/03/2019

‘If Oceania is a continent, then it is a continent as complex as Europe’. David Eggleton in London for the Royal Academy of Art’s ‘blockbuster’ show.


Why Aren’t You Reading Queer?

Celebrate Pride month with an LGBTQI book.

04/02/2019

Celebrate Pride month with an LGBTQI book.​


Letter from Europe

Fiona Kidman on a ‘split personality’ in London and Paris.

31/07/2018

Fiona Kidman on a ‘split personality’ in London and Paris.


The Pony Club

Owen Marshall's 2017 New Zealand Book Council Lecture

25/07/2018

Owen Marshall’s 2017 New Zealand Book Council Lecture


Fiction and Factions: the Political Novel in New Zealand

Fiona Farrell: What makes a work of the imagination ‘political’?

26/05/2018

What makes a work of the imagination ‘political’?


Vision Test

David Taylor assesses the 20/20 Poetry Collection, and what we’re exploring – and avoiding – in our literature of unease.

27/04/2018

David Taylor assesses the 20/20 Poetry Collection, and what we’re exploring – and avoiding – in our literature of unease.


Writing in Disguise

Stephanie Johnson on definitions and disguises, and the risks of writing under a pseudonym.

27/04/2018

Stephanie Johnson on definitions and disguises, and the risks of writing under a pseudonym.


Essay from Iowa

Anne Kennedy finds a place to think in the country of dream-merchants.

22/12/2017

Anne Kennedy finds a place to think in the country of dream-merchants


The Interview – Fleur Adcock

Fleur Adcock and Emma Neale discuss parallel activities, chance findings and the many angles of place.

14/12/2017

‘There are so many different kinds of poem’ – Fleur Adcock


Writers’ Picks: Best NZ Books for Christmas

#NZChristmasBookChallenge - NZ writer, NZ publisher, NZ book shop. Support our writers and our industry.

14/12/2017

#NZChristmasBookChallenge – NZ writer, NZ publisher, NZ book shop. Support our writers and our industry.


Letter from Romania

Michael Harlow crosses frontiers and shines light at the World Poetry Festival in Romania

14/12/2017

Michael Harlow crosses frontiers and shines light at the World Poetry Festival in Romania.


Why Aren’t You Reading Brown?

Not enough diversity in your reading diet? Here are 21 reasons to buy/borrow/read books by Maori and Pasifika writers right away.

07/06/2017

Not enough diversity in your reading diet? Here are 21 reasons to buy/borrow/read books by Maori and Pasifika writers right away.


Poutokomanawa – The Heartpost

What kind of house does our literature inhabit?

07/06/2017

What kind of house does our literature inhabit?


The Interview – Lloyd Jones

Bernadette Hall and Lloyd Jones discuss the mysteries of language, dangerous jokes and pitching tents in strange lands.

23/02/2017

‘The magic occurs in the connecting but voice is what makes us believe.’


Letter from Lake Naivasha

Catherine Robertson travels to Kenya to shed light on the shadows in her family history.

23/02/2017

Catherine Robertson travels to Kenya to shed light on the shadows in her family history.


Selling New Zealand in Frankfurt

On the face of it, New Zealand's turn as guest of honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair four years ago was a great success. But what have our writers and publishers got to show for it? Mark Broatch investigates.

08/12/2016

On the face of it, New Zealand’s turn as guest of honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair four years ago was a great success. But what have our writers and publishers got to show for it? Mark Broatch investigates.


'...poetry makes intimate everything that it touches.' - Michael Harlow

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