Navigation for Sections
Books & Authors
Annie Proulx : How swamps can protect us and the planet
Pulitzer Prize winning American author Annie Proulx talks to Kathryn about her latest book, Fen, Bog and Swamp. The 87 year old writes about the history of wetland destruction and the role it plays in… Audio
Booker Prize 2022: Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka wins with supernatural satire
Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka, who studied in New Zealand, has won this year's Booker Prize for his supernatural satire The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida.
Book Critic: Catherine Ross
This week Catherine Ross, who's librarian at Diocesan School for Girls, talks to Jesse about books for young adults. This week's theme is 'Historical Fiction.' Audio
Book review: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Carole Beu of the Women's Bookshop in Ponsonby reviews Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, published by Faber. Audio
Chris Parker: finding the extraordinary and the hilarious in the ordinary
Lockdown made Auckland comedian Chris Parker an Instagram sensation. He talks to Kim Hill about his recent wedding and new book Here For a Good Time: Organised Thoughts From A Disorganised Mind. Video, Audio
John Evan Harris and The Physician's gun
It reads like a western and it's based on the Maungatapu Murders of 1866, when the notorious Burgess Gang killed five men in a crime that shocked the young colony. In his novel The Physician's Gun… Audio, Gallery
Ruth Bayley's Barefoot inspired by wartime correspondence
Ruth Bayley is a history graduate who's woven what she's read in second world war soldiers' diaries and telegrams into her first novel, Barefoot. It's set between Wellington and the battlefields of… Audio
Catherine Chidgey: life on the farm from a magpie eye’s view
In a remarkable literary feat Catherine Chidgey's seventh novel The Axeman's Carnival is told entirely from the perspective of a magpie on a high country farm. T Audio
Teenager opens her own second-hand bookstore
In the age of shrinking attention spans, one Palmerston North teenager has just opened a second-hand bookstore. After months of preparation, 15-year-old Pari Rao opened Olive Books in time for the… Audio
Book review: Undoctored by Adam Kay
Ralph McAllister reviews Undoctored by Adam Kay, published by Hachette. Audio
Scott Bainbridge on digging into New Zealand's biggest swindle
In 1966 Robert 'Skip' Gardner hopped the Tasman and brought a small group of grifters with him to run a company that was looking distributors to sell its cosmetics through dairies and milk-bars. The… Audio
Book review: The Crown in Vogue by Robin Muir and Josephine
Sonja de Friez reviews The Crown in Vogue by Robin Muir and Josephine Ross, published by Hachette Audio
Book Critic: Lisa Glass
Today Lisa talks to Jesse about three books by New Zealand-born Australian author Meg Mason. Audio
Children's entertainer Jason Gunn on his new book 'Jason Mason'
He's been the face of, and driving force behind, kids' television in New Zealand for decades. But Jason Gunn is turning over a new leaf - literally - with the release of a book he's co-written with… Audio
Book review: Best of Friends by Kamila Shamsie
Stella Chrysostomou of Volume Books in Nelson reviews Best of Friends by Kamila Shamsie, published by Penguin Random House. Audio
Australian Queen of Crime Jane Harper on her new book Exiles
Journalist-turned-author Jane Harper's first novel The Dry was published in 2016 and quickly snapped up and turned into a movie starring Eric Bana. Her second novel Force of Nature, a sequel to The… Audio
Nick Ascroft: a nearly award-winning word finder
Poet Nick Ascroft considers one of his claims to fame to be "nearly winning the Kathleen Grattan Prize four times, the most anyone has nearly won it". Which might partly explain why his fifth… Audio
Book review: The Story of Russia by Orlando Figes
Tilly Lloyd from Unity Books Wellington reviews The Story of Russia by Orlando Figes, published by Bloomsbury. Audio
Book review: Do Let's Have Another Drink by Gareth Russell
Gina Rogers reviews Do Let's Have Another Drink: The Singular Wit and Double Measures of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother by Gareth Russell, published by Harper Collins. Audio
Francoise Malby-Anthon on love and elephants
Francoise Malby-Anthony has spent the last 35 years in South Africa - 25 of them running an elephant reserve called Thula Thula. Francoise's first book was called An Elephant in My Kitchen -- that… Audio, Gallery