Books & Authors

After four years as Director General of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield is having a temporary break from work. He chats to Jesse Mulligan about some of the "cracking good" podcasts, books and songs he's… Video, Audio

Cynthia Morahan reviews A Pocketful of Happiness by Richard E. Grant, published by Simon & Schuster.

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Historian Dr Jock Phillips' latest work tells the story of New Zealand using 100 objects. Objects such as the sewing kete of an unknown 18th-century Maori woman; cannons from the Endeavour; the… Audio

Sonja de Friez reviews Nina Simone's Gum by Warren Ellis. Audio

Peace Stick is a novel that started with a chat to a former East German schoolgirl about life behind the Iron Curtain during the Cuban Missile Crisis 60 years ago Author Stephen Johnson shares how he… Audio

Shelley Ferguson is well-known now to most New Zealanders, a former editor of a number of our lifestyle magazines, now a judge on the TV show The Block, and a prominent interior designer. Shelley's… Audio

Our regular art correspondent Megan Dunn has an exhibition of her own just opened at Wellington's Adam Art Gallery, revealing another long standing obsession: mermaids. Audio, Gallery

 Flowing from his interest in the Colonial Office of the 1830s and how English law was brought to New Zealand, historian and lawyer Ned Fletcher argues in The English Text of the Treaty of Waitangi… Audio

The dead do tell tales: sometimes they are the only ones who can speak to the living about the costs of civil war, terror and corruption. Sri Lankan writer Shehan Karunatilaka won the Man Booker Prize… Audio

Olly Clifton of Unity Books Auckland reviews Liberation Day by George Saunders, published by Bloomsbury Liberation Day is Saunder's fifth short story collection and first book-length piece of fiction… Audio

Harry Broad reviews A Heart Full of Headstones by Ian Rankin, published by Hachette Audio

A Dunedin teenager has taken out the top spot of the Sargeson secondary schools short story competition - for the second year running. Shima Jack talks to Jesse about her award-winning writing. Audio

In his book The Clarence: People and Places of Waiau Toa, rural journalist Tim Fulton explores more than 200 kilometres of mountains, rivers and valleys bordering Canterbury and Marlborough. Tim tells… Audio, Gallery

Chris Tse reviews People Person by Joanna Cho, published by Te Herenga Waka University Press Audio

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

Carole Beu of the Women's Bookshop in Ponsonby reviews Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, published by Faber. Audio

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