Writing

Laila Lalami is the author of five books, and her latest work, The Dream Hotel is a gripping speculative mystery about the seductive dangers of the technologies that are supposed to make our lives… Audio

For the past decade, aspiring authors have been gathering in Auckland each January for the Summer Fiction School. This weekend, the 2025 intake of would-be writers are having an intense introduction… Audio

Nalini Singh is a best-selling author of a very particular genre - paranormal romance - and she's now finding a creative reset in writing murder mysteries set in New Zealand.  Audio

Author and poet Warwick Stubbs wrote his new book, Two Left Feet  in public libraries, park benches and in his vehicle and in local writing workshops Audio

Some say attention spans are not what they were. We scroll images and film and shuffle songs. Even cricket games can be over in 40 overs.  So, could flash fiction be the written storytelling form of… Audio

For the first time in the 21-year history of the Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement", all three categories were won by women. Lee Murray picked up the fiction award, non-fiction went to… Audio

The author of 10 novels, Colm Tóibín speaks with Kim Hill in 2022 about his 2021 Folio Prize winning book ‘The Magician’, a fictionalised account of the life of Thomas Mann. Tóibín’s novels ‘The… Audio

American writer David Sedaris is famous for his self-deprecating and highly personal essay collections which manage to… Audio

Perhaps this year's letter to Santa will reap more benefit than just what's under the tree on Christmas morning. Daniel M. Oppenheimer is a professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon University in the… Audio

Motueka police officer Stefen Harris leads a double life as a frontline responder and an award-winning writer and film director who's worked with Mel Gibson, Mark Hadlow and Jed Brophy, among others… Video, Audio

The Detail podcast brings you the issues behind the news every weekday. Here's what we covered this week. Audio

The 2022 Read NZ Te Pou Muramura Panui features the eminent writer Dame Fiona Kidman talking about her life as a reader and writer. Audio

Leila Mottley is the youngest writer ever to be long-listed for the Booker Prize. She was 17 when her book Nightcrawling was completed and 19 when it was published by Bloomsbury worldwide. The… Audio

Tim Saunders writes about his life and work on the land, the lessons handed down from his ancestors and the challenges of present day farming. The family sheep and beef farm at Glen Oroua, near… Audio

Today is the time for an annual literary tradition on Afternoons. The announcement of the winner of the Surrey Hotel-Newsroom writers residency award happens today. Steve Braunias from Newsroom joins… Audio

 At the Big Screen Symposium in Tamaki Makarau this weekend, a panel of writers will compare and contrast working in ideas for games, film and television. Panellist Henry Feltham from Dunedin talks to… Audio

American author Marissa Meyer has spent much of the past decade reimagining the classic fairy stories we think we know so well, and turning them into smash hits. Her first novel, Cinder, became a New… Audio