Joanna Wane
Senior Feature Writer Lifestyle Premium
Joanna Wane is a Senior Feature Writer for Lifestyle Premium for the New Zealand Herald.
Based in the Auckland newsroom, Joanna Wane has spent the past four decades as a specialist feature writer, working on newspapers and magazines in New Zealand, Australia and the UK. She has also co-directed two television documentaries. Before joining NZME in 2020, she was deputy editor at North & South magazine, where she was named feature writer of the year (long-form) in 2017 and a finalist for feature writer of the year (short-form) in 2019. With a particular focus on social issues and the arts and culture sector, she has won multiple travel writing awards, including travel writer of the year in 2017, and best journalist in both the lifestyle and current affairs categories at the Magazine Publishers Association's Media Awards.
Check out Joanna’s latest content
Theatre legend Tim Bray on cancer, chemo and the man who's holding him together
'Within myself, I still completely feel me.'
MRI scans show ‘huge’ differences between male and female brains
A world-first study using imaging technology may explain the gender gap in mental health.
Tim Bray Theatre Company's final curtain call as founder battles rare cancer
A champion of children's theatre announces closure after 33 years.
Joanna Wane: Every time you don’t wash your dishes, god kills a kitten
OPINION: In the office kitchen wars, nothing is off the table.
Through life and death: How Outward Bound forged an unbreakable bond of friendship
Two decades on, the surviving members of McKenzie Watch gather for their annual reunion.
The woman behind steamy TV show 'Rivals' – and how I talked my way into her house
OPINION: A memorable encounter with the queen of bonkbusters, Jilly Cooper.
Actor Laura Hill on playing an 'abomination of nature' and the cost for freedom
The former Shorty star on motherhood, marriage, and women who forge their own path.
41 of the best lifestyle and entertainment interviews of the year so far
While you enjoy a long weekend break, catch up on some of the best stories of 2024 so far.
The 3-minute orgasm: A Kiwi scientist on reversing libido loss at menopause
Dr Iona Weir talks about putting her own product to the test.
Planning a child-free trip to Rarotonga? We've found just the right place
If resorts aren’t your vibe, these beachfront villas are a private paradise.
How much does it cost to hire a hitman? About the same as having an IVF baby
A new book looks at the dollar value placed on human life - and who gets to decide.
Opinion: Is it okay to be happy when the world is falling apart?
OPINION: When will I be happy? That's a trick question.
From whales to cocktails: Top tips for cycling Rarotonga’s coastal loop road
The trick is to spend more time off the bike than on it.
How Alone Australia's Gina Chick became the barefoot goddess of post-menopausal women
Her compelling new memoir on surviving life, love and unbearable loss.
An audience with the queen: Rocky Horror’s Richard O’Brien on the monster behind his new show
'I might get weepy from time to time, darling. Forgive me.'
Jodie Rimmer: Why it's time for women in their 50s to start acting their age
'I’ve had lots of coffees with friends where we're grumbling about our faces falling off.'
The WOW factor: The Auckland property developer whose extraordinary creations are out of this world
Erna Van Der Wat's finalist entry in this year's show was inspired by a niece with autism.
'There's more to life than dreaming about becoming an All Black'
The young Black Grace stars redefining masculinity through dance.
Manurewa dad from bank worker to CrossFit coach to opera star
Joel Amosa is the boot camp bass-baritone who does it all for his kids.
'Fallen short': TVNZ criticised for handling of James Mustapic's comedy show
BSA rules edits of James Must-a-pic His Mum a Man insufficient after dad's complaint.
A dog's life: The new DNA technology that could significantly extend your pet's longevity
We can slow biological ageing in humans – can we do it for dogs?
Director Julie Zhu on finding the beauty in every moment
Fly-on-the-wall doco series Takeout Kids goes back behind the counter for season two.
The truth about lying - and why we're all guilty as sin
In a world of alternative facts and fake truth, is it ever okay to lie?
Confronting Alzheimer's: Michael Hurst and Jennifer Ward-Lealand's bittersweet love story
How the couple's new play cuts close to home.
Is it really possible to reverse your biological age?
Joanna Wane reveals the final results of her 12-month challenge to turn back the clock.
Inside SPQR: The volatile origin story of Ponsonby Rd's most famous restaurant
The three founding partners on the making of a hospo legend.
'Highly offensive': TVNZ removes material about James Mustapic’s father from TV series
The show follows James’ attempts to get his mum back on the dating scene.
‘I’m a leftie liberal, but my uber-woke kids are driving me crazy’
Why even the most liberal parents are struggling with Generation Woke.
The rise of prosthetic eyes – and the surgeon who has pretty much seen it all
Kathleeya Stang-Veldhouse is changing NZ lives - and outlooks - with prosthetics.
Joanna Wane: Why patients under the care of female doctors are less likely to die
OPINION: More 'empathetic' or just better at their job?
Vale SPQR: Kerre Woodham, Noelle McCarthy, Jesse Mulligan remember infamous eatery
A Ponsonby Rd landmark since 1992, it's seen a who's-who of diners through its doors.
‘This is real life’: A Kiwi nurse shares her story from inside Afghanistan
At 37, Catherine Flanigan has worked in some of the most troubled parts of the world.
'I love it now': Sonia Gray on why ADHD is the best part of her
After a lifetime of struggle, she and daughter Inez are celebrating their wins
'The story chose me': Lucy Lawless' new doco uncovers the dark, untold story of a fearless Kiwi legend
The Xena star and first-time director takes on real-life warrior princess Margaret Moth.
Auckland teacher forced to fly to Sydney every week to access lifesaving cancer treatment
How Kiwis are missing out on 'wonder drugs' coming down the pipeline.
Two tank shells, five girls in a bedroom - only one survived
Why a bereaved Palestinian doctor is coming to NZ to share his message of hope.
Delphinium Days: Derek Jarman exhibition opens at Gus Fisher Gallery
The enduring legacy of an artist, activist and canonised 'saint'.
Can hypnotherapy break the cycle of emotional eating?
How the virtual gastric band can curb irrational cravings and weight gain.
Jodie Rimmer: Why it's time for women in their 50s to start acting their age
'I’ve had lots of coffees with friends where we're grumbling about our faces falling off.'
Opinion: Donating a kidney could save a life - but would it shorten mine?
OPINION: Joanna Wane looks at why sometimes it’s easier to give than receive.
Exclusive: US bestseller Ann Patchett on life, love and the curse of beauty
'I married the first guy who asked me out to dinner.'
Being Jacinda: Actor Sophie Hambleton on playing the loved - and hated - former PM
'Imagine hearing people outside your place of work baying for your blood.'
The demise of Tuesday Night Community Kai, where homeless people found belonging
'The system is broken. It’s very, very, very broken.'
'Hurtful and unfair': Father of comedian James Mustapic lashes out over TVNZ show
'How did I abandon him when he was 3 years old?'
Why are Kiwis still so obsessed with Jane Austen?
From Regency radical to pop-culture icon, still trending 200 years after her death.
Why (almost) everything you’ve been told about back pain is wrong
Christchurch expert Antony Bush on his new mythbusting book.
'Viagra for the heart': A sizzling dive into the science of sex and chemical attraction
A provocative play asks where love sits, in the heart or the brain?
Ditching the 9 to 5 stranglehold: An expert tells how
The #WorkSchoolHours founder talkin' about a workplace revolution.
'I Love Dick' writer Chris Kraus on aliens, anorexia and her disastrous NZ flop
Failure is laid bare in a new play at the Auckland Arts Festival.
'A soldier among the dead, dying': Kiwi surgeon reveals bizarre and bold operations
A man was admitted after swallowing 35 fish hooks.
The true story behind one of Britain's worst miscarriages of justice
Ex-IRA activist Richard O’Rawe's new play on his 'tortured' childhood friend.
Boy: A tragic story with a controversial Kiwi connection
David Reimer's "unfortunate experiment" and the Kiwi sexologist who destroyed him
The Cantabrian adding a touch of Kiwi class to British musical royalty
Chris Bruerton sings his way in the Grammy Award-winning King's Singers.
King Lear meets Succession in a Samoan family's fight for control
Power, politics and an ailing patriarch collide in a new bilingual play.
'Retraumatised in front of her rapist': The searing one-woman play that puts justice on trial
The women putting our legal system on trial and the play telling their story.
Kiwi parenting coach's advice on the 'impossible task' facing parents
Can you keep your kids at a healthy weight while making sure they love their bodies?
Dancing with myself: Lusi Faiva brings her life story to the stage
'This isn’t sad disability porn.'
How a former NZ men's netball captain found his way to star on stage and screen
Kruze Tangira is one half of the hottest theatre show in town.
Niwa Whatuira: The drag queen, the showgirl and me
The ex-con son of a famous drag queen goes to work on K Rd.
Feuds, fat-shaming and fabulousness: Inside the 90s aerobics scene
Kiwi choreographer Jack Gray reveals his dark, sequinned past.
White gold: The Kiwi mum making breast milk skincare
"You can just slap some on and be pretty sure it’s going to do some good.”
Money expert's best investment advice for beginners in 2024
Investing for beginners and an inside guide to this year's key financial trends.
Trinny Woodall on boobs, Bunny and her global beauty empire
“Influencer? I hate that term. I really hate that term!”
The age of anxiety – why the snowflake generation is right to be worried
"The notion that it's a kind of psychological weakness is completely absurd."
Sigourney Weaver: "Women hold the world together"
Forty years after Alien, the Hollywood A-lister is still playing kick-ass roles.
Kiwi pole vault star Eliza McCartney on her remarkable comeback
'I'd come home after a training session where I couldn't do anything and just cry.'
Stopping the clock: My 12-month mission to knock years off my age
The final countdown is on for Joanna Wane, who's put her life on the line.
The man behind the magic of Footrot Flats: A son's final farewell
'Dad was very highly principled and highly motivated to a level I just couldn’t match.'
Assaults, abductions and abandonments: On the front line at NZ's largest wild bird hospital
"He was absolutely beautiful. We all loved him. He died after three or four nights.”
Why heritage champion Paul Baragwanath is praying for a Christmas miracle
"When it all looked hopeless so many times, something would come through."
People spend a lifetime dreaming of Uluru: We can be there in six hours
Joanna Wane falls under the spell of this ridiculously magnificent hunk of rock.
From Auckland to Abbey Road: 'Basically I work for the Beatles!'
Julia Morris, the daughter of Kiwi music royalty, on the songs that have shaped her life.
Challenges, support, success: Theresa Gattung, Ladi6 and Kiri Nathan in conversation
“I always lean in to my sisterhood. I call them my unpaid advisory board.”
The truth is out there: Cult director David Blyth's alien abduction musical Night Freaks
"Sometimes you have these moments where the fabric of reality suddenly tears."
Trinny Woodall on boobs, Bunny and her global beauty empire
“Influencer? I hate that term. I really hate that term!”
Brokenhearted: Whina director's new doco about Kiwi surgeon's lifesaving work with Palestinian children
“It’s not driven by politics. It’s not driven by anything other than humanity."
Albert Wendt: 'As you get older, it’s more frightening because you’re getting closer to the end. Kaput!'
The angry young man of Pacific literature at the age of 84.
From first love to the ultimate betrayal: Famous kisses that made history
"We just wanted to get it over with."
Devils in the desert: An Outback adventure in Australia's Red Centre
Joanna Wane explores the extraordinary desert landscape of Alice Springs.
"Your body might get older, but that desire to move doesn’t change"
At 63, dancer Shona Wilson is the Ice Queen in a contemporary take on Giselle.