Sir Humphrey Appleby, the consummate civil servant with a patrician disdain for the delusions of democratic government, is an almost perfect comic creation.

'I liberate photographic fragments from their original snap-and-capture setting and reposition them in the space of art," is Peter Madden's description of how he arrives at his fascinating collages at the Ivan Anthony Gallery.

Having never before met a polluter of the moral innocence of youth, I have no idea whether the author Ted Dawe is an unusually engaging example of one.

Good, well-written stories that go to the heart of a reader and touch the truth of any human experience, including sex, can help a young mind rise above smut.

A teen novel that follows a boy's journey from his small rural East Coast home to an elite Auckland school has picked up the top prize at this year's New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards.

The country's latest Fulbright recipient has come a long way since living on the street when she was 12.

Inequality means watching people close to you.

New Zealand has become a richer country in the past 30 years.

1. Is this new book the most political work you have done?

For acclaimed Kiwi Pacific author Albert Wendt, writing is like breathing.