Books

Spare a thought if you can for the reviewers and critics in this country who are doing it tough these days. They struggle more than most for space in mainstream media, not mention respect from the… Audio

Director of Wellington theatre company The Bacchanals, whose next production is Isaac Asimov's A Christmas Karel Capek at BATS in December. He discusses Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth. Audio

Literary scholar, critic, and senior editor at the Los Angeles Review of Books, who teaches at Claremont McKenna College. His article about annotation, Down the Rabbit Hole, was published recently in… Audio

From the National Book Award-winning author of Just Kids: an unforgettable odyssey of a legendary artist, told through the prism of cafes and haunts she has worked in around the world. M Train by… Audio

Reviewed by David Hill, published by Random House (NZ). Audio

Family First is looking at its legal options, after the Film and Literature review board voted yesterday four-to-one to remove all restrictions on Ted Dawe's book "Into The River". Audio

The fight is not over for a Christian lobby group wanting to stop people under 18 reading a previously banned book. Audio

School librarians around the country will be returning banned book "Into The River" to their shelves this morning. The School Librarian Association's President, Miriam Tuohy, is welcoming the… Audio

All restrictions have been lifted on the first book banned in New Zealand in 20 years. Audio

The Man Booker prize has been won by a Jamaican author for the first time. Audio

Tom Roa has spent the past three years, translating Alice in Wonderland into te reo Māori. Tom is a senior lecturer at the School of Maori and Pacific Development at the University of Waikato. And he… Audio

Cricketing Colonists: The Brittan Brothers in Early Canterbury by Geoffrey Rice and Frances Ryman. Published by University of Canterbury Press, reviewed by Harry Ricketts Audio

Reviewed by Elisabeth Easther, published by Headline. Audio

Author of 'How to cook little fish (3): A hundred New Zealand Listener Cryptic Crossword puzzles with answers and explanations.', perhaps the help you need for those vexing cryptic moments. Audio

'Ta ra ra boom de ay: The dodgy business of popular music' BY SImon Napier Bell. 'Rugby: A New Zealand History' by Ron Palenski, Auckland University Press, Audio

Reviewed by Paul Diamond, Text Publishing / United Book Distributors, RRP $55.00. Audio

Harry Ricketts and Gavin McLean discuss editing The Penguin Book of New Zealand War Writing, which explores the ideas of camaraderie and courage, patriotism and politics as well as the big questions… Audio

Patrick Evans is the author of the first biography of the writer Janet Frame. His play based on his 2010 novel, Gifted, is playing at Wellington's Circa Theatre, and his new novel, The Back of His… Audio

John McIntyre from The Children's Bookshop in Wellington reviews The Boy at The Top of the Mountain by John Boyne published by Corgi ISBN 978-0-552-57354-2, The Eagle in the Snow by Michael Morpurgo… Audio