Nelson Arts Festival Pukapuka Talks

In this Pukapuka Talks session, we celebrate Patricia Grace’s eighth short story collection, the astonishing Bird Child and Other Stories, as well as her remarkable writing life over almost 50 years. Patricia will discuss her latest book, her approach to writing and how she has collaborated with her talented whānau, in conversation with Donna McLeod.

This podcast was produced with the support of Copyright Licensing New Zealand's 2...

Lauren Keenan and Cristina Sanders are two of Aotearoa New Zealand’s preeminent historical fiction writers. Journey back in time with them to hear about their new books, The Space Between and Ōkiwi Brown - an opportunity to experience life through the eyes of those who history books have, to date, largely neglected. Chaired by Sylvan Thomson.

This podcast was produced with the support of Copyright Licensing New Zealand's 2024 Cont...

In a world first, on the day the global sales embargo ends, hear Jacqueline Bublitz talk about her new novel, Leave the Girls Behind, the dazzling follow-up to her 2022 Ngaio Marsh Award–winning debut novel, Before You Knew My Name. Chaired by Susie Ferguson.  

From an author who “pushes the boundaries of crime fiction in all the right ways” (Alex Finlay, author of The Night Shift), Leave the Girls Behind is another spine-chilling ...

Dave Hansford and Debs Martin discuss the role storytelling must play in triumphing over commercial and political agendas. In his latest book Kahurangi, Hansford documents one of the most significant natural regions in Aotearoa: Kahurangi National Park, along with the adjoining areas of Whanganui Inlet, Wharariki and Onetahua/Farewell Spit. Together, they are home to the greatest variety of plants and animals in the country, with m...

Rachael King and Lee Murray both evoke ancient mythological creatures from distant shores in their latest novels: The Grimmelings and Fox Spirit on a Distant Shore. Scottish folklore inspired Scottish folklore inspired King to write about a vengeful black horse-like creature called a kelpie, while Murray has made the ancient Chinese fox spirit húli jīng her narrator.  Chaired by Claire Mabey, who is The Spinoff Books editor and aut...

Multi-generational migrant stories are finding compelling new ways of being told in the capable, creative hands of Jade Kake, author of Checkerboard Hill, and Saraid de Silva, author of Amma. Both explore belonging and the legacy of intergenerational trauma while mastering a unique way of sharing the diasporic experience. Chaired by Elizabeth Heritage. 

This podcast was produced with the support of Copyright Licensing New Zealand'...

In Aotearoa the number of people who will never have children is growing. In Otherhood: Childless, Childfree and Child Adjacent, co-editors Alie Benge, Kathryn van Beek and Lil O’Brien have assembled the perspectives of 36 writers for whom having children isn’t part of their life-path: from those who’ve chosen to remain child free, those who didn’t get to choose, and those whose version of family life looks a whole lot different to...

From accessible housing design to the tiny house movement, and everything in between, what happens when people step outside the box in housing design and development? Join architect and housing advocate Jade Kake, disability rights advocate, essayist and poet Henrietta Bollinger and local visionary Miriana Stephens, who is leading Te Āwhina Marae’s redevelopment project, in conversation with architect Min Hall.   

This podcast was ...

Join singer, taonga pūoro musician and writer Ariana Tikao, photographer Matt Calman and local writer Nuki Takao for a kōrero about the stunning illustrated nonfiction book, Mokorua: Ngā kōrero mō tōku moko kauae – My story of moko kauae, which is a revealing and emotional account of how Ariana received her moko kauae. Held in conjunction with Kanohi Kitea, an exhibition that presents tā moko amongst tangata whenua.

Ariana Tikao gr...

Commune: Chasing a Utopian Dream in Aotearoa captures the spirit of the counter-culture movement in the Motueka Valley from the perspective of Olive Jones, one of its founding members.

Olive Jones was a teenager when she joined a group of hippies, idealists and subsistence farmers, determined to reject their parents’ way of life. Influenced by the counter-culture movement sweeping New Zealand in the 1970s, they purchased an idylli...

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Witi Ihimaera’s Tangi, the first novel written by a Māori author to be published in New Zealand. Six fellow Māori writers - Emma Espiner (MC), Vaughan Rapatahana, Ruby Solly, Donna McLeod, Arihia Latham and Airana Ngarewa - join Witi at this special gala event to celebrate Aotearoa storytelling. The kōrero begins, after the mihi whakatau and a short clip from Whale Rider (the stage play) at 0...

Award-winning doctor and writer, Dr Emma Espiner, discusses her stunning debut memoir, There’s a cure for this, with Arihia Latham. Together they kōrero about hurt and healing, love and loss, life and death, motherhood and medicine.

From the quietly perceived inequities of her early life to hard-won revelations as a Māori medical student and junior doctor during the Covid-19 pandemic, Emma‘s story is a candid and moving examination...

Emma Ling Sidnam, Airana Ngarewa and Colleen Maria Lenihan discuss their stunning debut books, and reveal what gave them the courage to write, with Paula Morris.

Join acclaimed author and creative writing teacher Paula Morris in a discussion with the three debut authors she hand-picked as new authors she predicts will change the literary landscape in Aotearoa forever. They are writers you can’t afford not to read.

Emma Ling Sidnam’...

Rebecca Priestley discusses her new book, End Times, which is part memoir/part road trip exploring climate science, climate denial and belief systems, with Jude Watson.

What do the Christian right, natural health practitioners and farmers have in common? Rebecca Priestley examines this question and more in End Times, a work of creative nonfiction that interweaves two stories. In one, Priestley explores two of her teenage years, whe...

Monty Soutar ONZM shares the story behind his bestselling and critically acclaimed debut novel, Kāwai: For Such a Time as This. The kōrero is facilitated by Airana Ngarewa.

Kāwai: For Such a Time As This has been in the NZ bestseller list since its launch in Sept 2022 and was shortlisted for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at the 2023 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. 

In this epic historical adventure by Monty Soutar, ONZ...

Caroline Barron's Golden Days and Anne Tiernan's The Last Days of Joy are both gripping novels that explore how the past can haunt us in the present. Paula Morris facilitates this gripping conversation.

We meet Barron‘s protagonist Becky when she is mourning the end of her picture-perfect marriage. As she unravels, Becky also remembers one terrifying night in 1995 that changed her life forever. When Zoe, her best friend at ...

Join psychologist Alia Bojilova and keen tramper and writer Victoria Bruce as they explore resilience and their respective understanding of the mind-body connection. Chaired by Liz Price.

When she was kidnapped in Syria during a stint with the NZ Army, Alia Bojilova managed to talk her way out of captivity and has gone on to become a top performance coach. She has turned what she has learnt into a new book, The Resilience Toolkit. ...

Lotta Dann (Mrs D), the author of three bestselling books about alcohol, joins RNZ broadcaster Guyon Espiner to discuss - with Matty Anderson - why the odds are stacked against those who want to get off booze. Buckle up for a sobering look into how the way you drink is shaped not only by your individual choice, but also by government, media and big business.

In The Drinking Game, investigative journalist Guyon Espiner provides an i...