Many writers resist national labels. Like Salman Rushdie, we'd rather belong to "the boundless kingdom of the imagination ... the unfettered republic of the tongue".

Prime Minister John Key says author's views shouldn’t be given any more credence than those of the Mad Butcher or Richie McCaw.

Je suis hua, writes Deborah Hill Cone, as she asks: "weren't we all just gargling on about free speech in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo massacre?"

Is Eleanor Catton a traitor? Does Sean Plunket have a brain? Has the Prime Minister read The Luminaries? Who would have thought an obscure Indian literary festival could cause such agitated ripples.

A March concert by Tafelmusik, a Canadian baroque orchestra, promises to be a highlight of this year's Auckland Arts Festival.

With the anniversary last year of the beginning of World War I and this year's remembrance of the Gallipoli landings there has been much comment on war and its consequences.

Antony Sher compares him to the Bard, and he has been dubbed the greatest living playwright. John Nathan on Tom Stoppard's long-awaited comeback.

The Taxpayers’ Union says Kiwis have done more than enough to support under-fire author Eleanor Catton, who received upward of $50k in funding over the last few years.

Author's father blasts Sean Plunket for branding her an "ungrateful hua" as Catton herself tweets written interviews are nearly always edited.

New Zealand's original Booker Prize winner has defended her successor after Eleanor Catton was criticised for speaking out against the Government and some Kiwi attitudes.

The historic former headquarters of lingerie company Berlei, standing in the way of the $500 million-plus SkyCity International Convention Centre, will be gutted and only its facade will remain.

New Zealand's original Booker Prize winner has defended her successor after Eleanor Catton was criticised for speaking out against the current government.

He said what? RadioLive host Sean Plunket has called author Eleanor Catton as an 'ungrateful hua' over her comments...but that's not what many people heard.

Acclaimed author Eleanor Catton has called NZ politicians 'neo-liberal, profit-obsessed, very shallow, and very money-hungry'.

This is your star sign as you've never seen it before. Artist and illustrator Damon Hellandbrand has reimagined every sign of the zodiac as a monster.

It started with a picture posted on Instagram of her weekly groceries last year, but now Amber Locke is being commissioned to create her 'veg art' by the likes of Jamie Oliver and Android.

Down a driveway in a modest house in Hamilton's university suburb is where the magic happens.

The Inspector Morse stories taught me that men are intelligent and sensitive and don't just want to hump everything that breathes.

The Auckland Museum is on the hunt for interns for its summer programme, writes Sarah Ell.

My childhood was happy, although not always easy. My parents separated when I was 2 and my mum's parents played a huge role in my upbringing.

Kiwi comic creator Dylan Horrocks' love of the medium was beaten to a pulp by Batgirl, but was sparked back into life through a trip into his own imaginary landscape.

Jack Tame writes: John Mulgan died on Anzac Day, 1945 - an intentional morphine overdose, three days before the end of the war. Today he lies in a quiet cemetery in Cairo.

A man who stole paintings from an Auckland artist and travelled around the country impersonating him and selling the work now owes him $5000.

Germany and a Swiss art museum have signed a landmark agreement returning a priceless hoard of art stolen by the Nazis to their rightful owners.

"It's a silly way of putting it," says Richard Adams, "but if I had known earlier how frightfully well I could write, I'd have started earlier."

The rebirth of an old market, once teeming with hippy and bohemian traders and curious customers, has lured three Aucklanders back to Victoria Park where they spent happy times as teenagers.

An artist has redrawn classic animated ladies as breast cancer survivors in a bid to raise awareness for those battling the disease.