Articles Archive

Walking meditations

MY MOTHER’S FINGERNAILSThe fumes were acid and sugary at the same time. The polish seemed to melt under the...

Sea of trees

An experience of remoteness, space, natural quiet and solitude isgained standing amongst the extensive dunes against the vastness of...

By Ashleigh Young

O Salutaris

O sa-a-lu-ta-a-ris * ho-o-sti-i-aQuae cae-ae-li pa-an-dis * o-sti-umBe-lla-a praemunt * hosti-i-li-aDa ro * bur fe-er au-xi-li-um Uni-i tri-no-o-que * Do-o-mi-i-noSit...

By Ian Wedde

Pure brightness

EACH April at Pure Brightness Festival (Ching Ming) Chinese families sweep the graves and perform traditional rites to honour...

By Alison Wong

School report

LAST WEEKEND, IN a bid to compress a wet Sunday, I drove my two young boys out to the...

By Bernard Beckett

Tectonic Z

OF ALL DEVELOPED countries, New Zealand is one of the most dependent on its natural environment for earning its...

By Rod Oram

We are all Stan Walker

ABOUT HALFWAY THROUGH the debut series of The X Factor (New Zealand) I started making some notes about why...

By Damien Wilkins

First, build your hut

WHERE IS OUR Marcus Clarke? Henry Handel Richardson? Rolf Boldrewood, Ada Cambridge, Tasma, Henry Kingsley, Joseph Furphy? Why don't...

By Lydia Wevers

Simply by sailing in a new direction

IN OCTOBER 2012 several dozen writers from New Zealand appeared at the Frankfurt Book Fair where New Zealand had...

By Kate De Goldi

The lie of the land

THIS IS THE biography of a painting I've known my whole life. At least, there hasn't been a time...

By Hamish Clayton

An A-frame in Antarctica

AHEAD WAS A peculiar vision. Black Island appeared to levitate above the Ross Ice Shelf. A shimmering dark lake...

By Matt Vance

Reading Geoff Cochrane

WHEN I WAS a child I had two dolls in a box. Each night I placed the dolls on...

By Carrie Tiffany