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Books & Authors
Book review: Big Swiss by Jen Beagin
Melanie O'Loughlin reviews Big Swiss by Jen Beagin, published by Faber & Faber. Audio
Book review: Girl in a Pink Dress by Kylie Needham
Ray Shipley from Scorpio Books in Christchurch reviews Girl in a Pink Dress by Kylie Needham, published by Penguin Audio
Book Critic: Pip Adam
This week Pip talks to Jesse about Grimmish by Michael Winkler and The Pugilist at Rest by Thom Jones and Audio
Book review: Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld
Laura Caygill reviews Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld, published by Penguin Random House. Audio
Expert feature: Creative Writing with Ashleigh Young
If you've ever dreamed of writing the next great novel or devastating piece of poetry but don't quite know where to start, this week's expert is for you. Today's we speak to writer and editor Ashleigh… Audio
Waikato Midwife turned author
A Waikato midwife has drawn on a 33-year career, and even deeper family ties, to publish a novel about the profession's challenging New Zealand history. Marie-ann Quin talks to Jesse. Audio
Sandra Russell: Finding your identity after cancer
Psychotherapist Sandra Russell shares her experience of confronting the emotional challenges of living with incurable cancer in her book The Feeling of Cancer. Beyond the physical and medical demands… Audio
Alie Benge: writing about a concept of home
Reflecting on what makes a place home, Alie Benge's collection of essays Ithaca takes us to wildly different places from her past: from Ethiopia as a child to time spent in the Australian Army and… Audio
Richard Fidler: in the footsteps of medieval wanderers
In Australian author and broadcaster Richard Fidler's The Book of Roads and Kingdoms he delves into the life of medieval wanderers who travelled to the outer edges of the known world during Islam's… Audio
Curtis Sittenfeld: rehabilitating the image of the rom-com
Romantic comedy or rom-com, is often used as shorthand for something shallow and lacking in substance, but Minneapolis author Curtis Sittenfeld loves them. Audio
Paddy Manning: the real Succession with the Murdochs
As the final series of HBO's hit drama Succession goes to air, the Murdoch media empire that inspired the show is dealing with its own dramas. Audio
Book review: Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
Eden Denyer from Unity Books Wellington reviews Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson, published by Hachette Bestselling author Brandon Sanderson brings us deeper into the Cosmere universe… Audio
Book review: Aftermaths: Colonialism, Violence and Memory in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific
Paul Diamond reviews Aftermaths: Colonialism, Violence and Memory in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific edited by Angela Wanhalla, Lyndall Ryan and Camille Nurka, published by Otago University… Audio
Book review: Resistance by Jacinta Halloran
Catriona Ferguson reviews Resistance by Jacinta Halloran, published by Text Publishing. Audio
Why mastery is better than being a master
New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik says we overrate masters and underrate mastery. Away from the spotlight, people are doing the hard work to get better at something. Audio
Dr Joanne Drayton: Unravelling the Parker-Hulme case and what happened after
Anne Perry the famous New Zealand crime novelist - formally Juliet Hulme the infamous Christchurch teenager convicted of murder - died last week at aged 84. The murder of Honorah Parker by her… Audio
Louisa Lim: The art of telling untold stories
Louisa Lim is no stranger to controversy - her first book The People's Republic of Amnesia - Tiananmen Revisited resulted in her being unable to visit mainland China for years. When the Hong Kong… Audio
Sir Anthony Seldon: The Path of Peace
There are various sacred walking journeys throughout the world and its religions. The most famous is probably the Way of St James, the Camino de Santiago in Spain. Writer and educator Sir Anthony… Audio
Rebecca Struthers: the preciousness of time
Rebecca Struthers was just 17 when she set out on her path to become one of Britain's leading watchmakers. An active campaigner in the preservation of endangered heritage skills, Struthers family-run… Audio
The 'natural' origins of deception
Many of Earth's creatures lie... from microorganisms to homo sapiens. In his new book The Liars of Nature and the Nature of Liars, biologist Dr Lixing Sun explores why. Audio