Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku, Aotearoa’s first Māori woman professor and a trailblazing voice in women’s, queer and Māori liberation movements, talks to RNZ’s Saturday Morning programme about Hine Toa her memoir about identity and bravery.
Award-winning historical documentary producer and writer Jude Dobson talks with RNZ about the incredible story of Phyllis ‘Pippa’ Latour who parachuted into occupied France as an undercover agent.
Screenwriter and debut novelist Gavin Strawhan talks to RNZ about The Call, his crime novel centered on a 501-deportee gang, set in remote coastal Aotearoa.
RNZ’s Mark Amery invited award-winning author of fiction, poetry and essays, Tracey Slaughter, to play Fast Favourites. Tracey picks out some favourite poems, cultural initiatives and music.
This week for Bookmarks we speak to one of New Zealand's best selling novelists Deborah Challinor. The talented writer has a knack for writing gripping, accurate historical fiction which comes from her background as a doctored historian. She joins RNZ’s Jesse Mulligan to talk about what she likes to read, watch and listen to when she's not penning a best seller herself.
Doctor turned young adult writer and now adult fiction writer, Eileen Merriman, has a new book out, 'The Night She Fell'. The story follows the death of a clever law student from a wealthy family who fell from three stories up in her Dunedin student flat. Whodunnit, or whodunwhat? And why?
Eileen, who is a clinical director of haematology and lead thrombosis clinician at North Shore Hospital, speaks with RNZ.
Sheryl Beaumont's latest novel weaves together two pivotal points in 20th century history: efforts to crack the enigma code during World War II and the fall of the Berlin Wall. The War Photographers introduces readers to Mae, a young woman recruited from Cambridge to work at Bletchley Park and her granddaughter Rachel, who's working as a photojournalist as the Cold War is drawing to a close. She speaks with Katyhryn Ryan of RNZ
Paul Cleave is a crime writer and three-time Ngaio Marsh Award winner whose books have been translated into 20 languages. His first novel, The Cleane has been turned into a six part TV series called Dark City: The Cleaner (from March 4 on Neon/Sky Go/SoHo) and Paul has been intricately involved in the process - as the production's screenwriter. He joins Kathryn to talk about bringing his characters to life on screen.
Kate Evans' obsession with the feijoa has taken her all over the world to discover the origins and horticultural journey of the fruit Kiwis have taken to their hearts. Her new book - Feijoa: A Story of Obsession and Belonging - is part-science writing, part-personal memoir, and seeks to uncover why out of all places, New Zealand took in the fruit as its own. She speaks with RNZ’s Kathryn Ryan.
Hard To Find books is Aotearoa's largest second hand book business. It was set up in an Auckland garage way back in 1983, and now also encompasses a Dunedin store and thriving online business. Founder and passionate book fan Warwick Jordan speaks to RNZ afternoons.
Desmond Bovey lived in France for thirty years, predominantly working as an art director. Upon returning home to Whanganui he was in search of a project to reconnect with Aotearoa - and worked on some environmental projects for DOC and Forest and Bird. The result is his book - Tongariro National Park - an artists field guide. He speaks to Kathryn Ryan of RNZ.
Sometimes trying to the right thing turns out to be the wrong thing. Emma Wright always thought raising children to feel good about their bodies involved teaching healthy eating habits with giving praise for being gorgeous just the way they are. Wrong, she says now. Emma speaks with RNZ about her new book Body-Confident: A modern and practical guide to raising happy eaters.
Flavio Manzoni is a high flying Italian architect and automobile designer - currently Chief Design Officer at Ferrari. He's a big deal, and has an unlikely connection to a self published book by a small New Zealand charity, Bread. Bread’s founder talks to RNZ afternoons.
Patricia Grace is one of Aotearoa's most celebrated Maori fiction authors. She won the New Zealand Book Award for Fiction for Potiki in 1987, and was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2001 with Dogside Story. She has a new collection of short stories, Bird Child and Other Stories, which spans mythology and contemporary Māori life and reimagines ancient tales. The cover art is courtesy of granddaughter Miriama Grace-Smith. Susie and Miriama talk to RNZ’s Susie Ferguson.
Today is Christmas for New Zealand's writers and book publishers with the long-list for the prestigious Ockham New Zealand Book Awards being released with a record-breaking 44 titles.
The awards showcase the best of the country's literary talent - covering poetry, prose, general and illustrated non-fiction.
To find out all there is to know about the list RNZ Nights is joined by Nicola Legat, the Chair of the New Zealand Book Awards Trust.
How do you build a life after the kids have left home? What if they decide to move to the other side of the world? How do you keep a sense of place when life changes completely? Lyn Davidson faced those big questions when she left Aotearoa with scant resources to build a life in Scotland and has turned this frightening experience into her memoir Do You Still have Time for Chaos? Lynn speaksz with RNZ’s Susana Lei'ataua.
Nita Joseph and her late husband Tim opened Treasure Island Caravan Park in Patua, Northland, in 1985 and put a lifetime's worth of hard yakka into creating the perfect summer holiday destination. Nita and author Elaine Webster join Susana Lei'ataua on RNZ’s The Weekend to discuss the book.
Siblings Paul and Jane Rangiwahia have teamed up to produce the book Kai and Kindness focusing on food to nourish the body and soul. Jane has come up with no fuss recipes for sharing with friends and whanau, while her artist brother Paul has illustrated the hardback. The pair talk to Kathryn Ryan of RNZ.
No prizes for guessing which music group Pātea author Airana Ngarewa wants to listen to on a road trip. The author of The Bone Tree, shares his summer favourites with RNZ’s Anna Thomas.
Septuagenarian Ruth Shaw's plans for a quiet retirement were derailed last year when her memoir The Bookseller at the End of the World became an international bestseller. Ruth talks to Susie Ferguson on Saturday Morning about her newest book Bookshop Dogs.
Samoan-NZ writer Tusiata Avia became the target of harassment and death threats earlier this year after her poem 250th anniversary of James Cook's arrival in New Zealand was labelled 'racist' by the ACT party. Avia's new poetry collection Big Fat Brown Bitch was partly written in response to that shocking backlash, she tells RNZ’s Susie Ferguson.
When rugby legend Sir John Kirwan first released his memoir in 2010 detailing his struggle with mental illness, it was groundbreaking. Now 13 years later, he's updated the book with more stories about his personal experience as well as practical advice. Sir John Kirwan talks to RNZ’s Jesse Mulligan.
Paul Diamond reviews Reconnecting Aotearoa: Loneliness and Connection in the Age of Social Distance Edited by Kathy Errington and Holly Walker published by Bridget Williams Books. Paul talks with Susie Ferguson of RNZ.
In The Best Country to Give Birth? medical historian Linda Bryder explores how New Zealand came to develop its unique approach to the role of midwives in childbirth. She talks with RNZ’s Susie Ferguson.
Dean Bedford reviews Rugby League in New Zealand: A People's History by Ryan Bodman published by Bridget Williams Books. He speaks with Kathryn Ryan of RNZ.
A new book tells stories of the voyages of the Spirit of Adventure, a ship which runs programmes for young New Zealanders. Author Roger McDonald and the Spirit of Adventure Trust Chief Executive Bruce Pilbrow discuss the stories that have made the Spirit journey what it is today with Susie Ferguson of RNZ.
