Literature
Writer Ashleigh Young wins major US literary prize
The writer Ashleigh Young has won a prestigious US literature prize for non-fiction writing, worth over 230 thousand US dollars. The essayist and poet is one of eight writers - and the first New… Audio
Devoney Looser: Jane Austen and roller derby
Devoney Looser is a professor of English at Arizona State University and author or editor of six books on literature by women. Her new book, The Making of Jane Austen, will be out in June 2017… Audio
Sex in the (18th century) City
What was sex like in 18th-century England? It was a time when you could be hanged for homosexuality yet gentlemen had penis-shaped shrubs in their gardens, says Julie Peakman. Audio
Orwell's '1984' back as bestseller amid Trump staff's 'alternative facts'
George Orwell's 1984 - a novel about a dystopian future under an authoritarian regime - is back as a bestseller as readers grapple with Donald Trump's "alternative facts."
Great Ideas - Part 3: 'Art Fashion and Literature'
Megan Whelan look at how revolutions shape – and are shaped by – fashion, literature and the visual arts, with Dr David Maskill, Dr Margaret Medlyn and Dr James Meffan. Audio
Bob Dylan's speech in acceptance of The Nobel Prize in Literature
The text of Bob Dylan's speech in acceptance of The Nobel Prize in Literature 2016. Video
Nights' Culture - Poetry
Former convener at VUW Modern Letters Creative Writing workshop, Cliff Fell, on the singer-songwriters who've won the Nobel prize for literature - Bob Dylan isn't the first, that honour belongs to… Audio
Kiwi writer returns to the Shanghai rain
Award winning and new literary talent Heidi North-Bailey is the second New Zealand writer to undertake the prestigious Shanghai Writer's Residency this year. Heidi shares her dreams with Lynda… Audio, Gallery
The New Torchlight List: Ireland
Jim Flynn and Wallace Chapman discuss modern Irish literature. Jim rates John Banville's "wonderful style", but is less enamoured with John Boyne's The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. The sex in Edna… Audio
The Art of Etiquette – Book launch
In this week’s episode Upbeat producer Zoë George turns the page on poor etiquette at book launches. Unity Books’ Dylan Sherwood explains whether we have to buy the book that is being launched, what… Audio
Danyl McLauchlan's Mysterious Mysteries of the Aro Valley
Some streets have their own personality - Beale Street in Memphis, Bourbon Street in New Orleans - and in Welllington, that haven of Bohemians, Aro Street. A mystery about mathematics, labyrinths… Audio
Steve Braunias announces the winner of his writer's residency
The announcement of the winner of the inaugural Surrey Hotel Steve Braunias Memorial Writers Residency in Association with The Spinoff. The residency received over 50 entries, and a selection panel… Audio
Paula Morris - Academy of NZ Literature
A newly launched academy for New Zealand literature has sparked a war of words between writers who're for and against it. Writer Paula Morris wants to support mid career authors by encouraging… Audio
Literature prizewinner shares award with translator
South Korean author Han Kang has won the Man Booker International Prize, sharing the $US100,000 award with her translator, who had taught herself Korean only three years earlier.
Best NZ Poems go bilingual
The first ever bilingual publication of 25 of New Zealand’s best poems translated into Chinese, with a huge potential readership in China, is launched with a tea ceremony, calligraphy and readings. Audio, Gallery
Book review - Love as a Stranger
Love as a Stranger by Owen Marshall is reviewed by Sonja de Friez, published by Penguin Random House. Audio
Owen Marshall - Love as a Stranger
Owen Marshall is best known, perhaps, as our premier short-story writer, but his range is astonishing. He's an award-winning novelist, a poet, an anthologist - and one of our most distinguished, and… Audio
An uncritical critical culture - Iain Sharp
One of the big cliches about this little country of ours is our Tall Poppy Syndrome - the famous Clobbering Machine that reduces our so-called betters to the mundane and ordinary. To which critic Iain… Audio
Patrick Gale:The Disappeared
Based on a mystery within his family's past Patrick Gale talks about his novel "A Place Called Winter" with Victoria University English Professor Jane Stafford. Audio
Leading literacy
University of Auckland student Adena Emanuel and Professor Janet Gaffney from the Faculty of Education and Social Work talk about their research showing how the development of young readers and… Audio