Claire Mabey is one of the busiest people in Aotearoa literature: founder of the Verb festival, books editor at The Spinoff, and now novelist, with an outstanding debut, The Raven’s Eye Runaways. Thalia Kehoe Rowden had a thousand questions for…
Mandy Hager’s latest young adult novel is a family drama bringing together issues of care work, disability, and identity. Elizabeth Heritage reviews. Gracehopper is Mandy Hager’s new YA novel about Grace Murphy, a Taiwanese 18-year-old living in Wellington with her…
The intimidatingly-talented author of two acclaimed poetry collections, owner of the best fringe in New Zealand lit, and all round book-ish Good Sort sat down with Rachael King to talk about making the leap from poetry to kidlit and the…
Page & Blackmore bookstore is a beloved Nelson icon and has been going strong for over 25 years. In this month’s From the Shop Floor, shop owner Jo tells us about Page & Blackmore’s history, their highlights and challenges, and…
This year’s NZCYA YA finalists span a huge range of genres, settings, and themes. From the journey of an escaped convict as she tries to forge a life in colonial Tāmaki Makaurau, to a graphic novel about the struggles of…
Each year, the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults make for a massive occasion in the Aotearoa kids’ book world—move over Oscars, out of the way Silver Scrolls. This is our night. Well, nearly. Awards night isn’t until August, but between…
Following yesterday’s review of Te Ata o Tū | The Shadow of Tūmatauenga (Te Papa Press), Frank Wilson had several conversations with three of its writers—all Te Papa curators—about the creation of the book and how they hope it will…
The New Zealand English school curriculum is undergoing a rewrite and some of the changes suggest a move backwards rather than forwards. High school English teacher Susan Briggs questions who this rewrite prioritises, and describes how English teachers are perfectly…
Following on from the Auckland Writers Festival, David Hill answers the perennial question of authors everywhere: why do you write? In Graeme Lay’s first novel, The Mentor, a sultry female follower approaches the author-narrator, and breathes “Tell me: why do…
Feana Tuʻakoi has authored many fiction and non-fiction works for children and is the current University of Otago College of Education Creative New Zealand Children’s Writer in Residence. Here she tells us about why she writes what she writes, and…