Latest fromArts & Literature

Deborah Hill Cone: Crouch, touch, disengage
I think everyone could learn a thing or two from New Zealand's Next Top Model.

Book Review: My Dear, I Wanted To Tell You
Louisa Young's enthralling novel begins in the gorgeous, leafy light of upper-class Edwardian England where wealthy, bohemian-ish families plan lives filled with art and beauty, and ends in a darkened world transformed by the violence and pain of World Wa

Tess Gerritsen: Breaking out her writing instincts
Doctor-turned-suspense novelist Tess Gerritsen talks to Craig Sisterson about embracing her heritage and seeing her heroines come alive onscreen.

Book Review: The Absolutist
John Boyne, author of The Boy in Striped Pyjamas, has published a new novel with links to World War I. The Absolutist traces the experiences of a young serviceman through a deft weave of past and present.

Anne Sebba: The worst of all worlds
Books editor Linda Herrick talks to historian Anne Sebba about her new biography of the woman the royal family — and Britain — loved to hate.

Book Review: Griffith Review 33: Such Is Life
In this volume the Griffith writers look inward and backwards to gain some fresh insight into not only their own lives but the lives of us all.

Travel book: <i>New Tales of the South Pacific</i>
This thoughtful little tome of short stories is perceptive and entertaining.

Molly Birnbaum: Gimme back my smell
Can we relearn a sense? A chef apparently did, finds Nicky Pellegrino.

A shining new showcase for New Zealand art
As Auckland Art Gallery reopens its doors today, Linda Herrick walks through its marvellous collection of New Zealand art.

Shandelle Battersby's week of it
Shandelle Battersby's week of TV, movies, music and more.

Post-it wars
Hundreds of people across France are participating in 'Post-it wars' where workers create pixelated images in their office windows using only Post-it notes.

Book Review: Sarah Thornhill
A terrible thing happened, that day, up at Blackwoods' place, in The Secret River, the first of Grenville's historical novels set in the penal colony of New South Wales.

Book Review: Utopian Man
Every city can lay claim to its fair share of eccentrics. This book is about one of Melbourne's: Edward William Cole.

Book lover: Raymond Hawthorne
One of our finest acting and directing talents turns his attention to the classic musical Guys and Dolls. By Dionne Christian

Barbara Ewing: Ghostly links to acting life
Stephen Jewell talks to New Zealand actress-turned-writer Barbara Ewing about why she’s mesmerised by researching times gone by.

Paul Cleave: Too dark' for home market
His books sell abroad, but not here. Paul Cleave tells Nicky Pellegrino why.

Book Review: Dante In Love
This book might more accurately have been titled In Love With Dante. It is a wholehearted piece of advocacy for the 14th century writer, of whom Wilson says it "could be argued that he was the greatest of all European poets, of any time or place".

Auckland: Artists in training
Four children under six in a pristine art gallery sounds like a recipe for disaster, but, as Danielle Wright finds out, there are 'safe' areas for families if you know where to look.

Travel book: <i>Castles, Follies and Four-Leaf Clovers</i>
Only in Ireland could a half-forgotten route be named the Way of St Declan or the way of St Patrick's Cow.

Arnold Zable: Finding deeper meanings
Australian writer Arnold Zable talls Graham Reid about giving voice to people in his work and his good fortune in post-revolution China.

Book Review: New Zealand Film
The thing about the movies that we've never got over is that they move. In doing so, they evoke a facsimile of life better than life itself. Even the "fractured flickers" of the early cinema commanded an instant suspension of disbelief.

Michele Hewitson Interview: Sir James Wallace
Our interviewer finds the canny but philanthropic arts patron hard to prod out of his shell.

Craig Sisterson: Crime pays
Nicky Pellegrino speaks to a man who sees a bright future for felony.