Some of New Zealand's finest authors have congratulated Eleanor Catton on her Man Booker Prize success.

New Zealander Eleanor Catton says she is "absolutely over the moon" after winning the prestigious Man Booker Prize in London this morning.

Thank you. When I began writing The Luminaries, I was very much in the thrall of Lewis Hyde's wonderful book, The Gift, as I still am.

New Zealander Eleanor Catton has won the prestigious Man Booker Prize this morning. At 28, she becomes the youngest author to ever win the award.

Three-week festival ranges across arts from orchestral performances to street events.

If there were a literary award bigger than the Nobel Prize, Alice Munro would probably win that, too.

The painting, "The street is in play", shows two boys trying to grab a can of paint from a "graffiti is a crime" sign.

Tom Clancy, whose high-tech, Cold War thrillers such as 'The Hunt for Red October' made him the most widely read military novelist of his time, has died.

The NZ Body Art Showcase, an extreme make-up extravaganza, offers the audience contemporary and indigenous styles of body painting and special effects make-up for film and television. Check out the images from this year's showcase.

The man who took a sledgehammer to the Auld Mug 17 years ago is looking to sell his story for almost $6500 to media organisations.

The Mozart Requiem may have made for an almost full house on Thursday night as Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's 2013 Choral Masterpiece, but the concert's inclusion of two Haydn works was very much appreciated.

Christchurch September 2010 quake moved the earth 3m upwards. It also jolted the custodians of Te Papa into considering the safety of its treasures, writes Brian Rudman.