Literature

Love as a Stranger by Owen Marshall is reviewed by Sonja de Friez, published by Penguin Random House. Audio

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

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

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

Skin cancer and literature is an unlikely combination but they're both big players in the life of Dr Sharad Paul. He writes medical textbooks, poetry and fiction. The Auckland cancer specialist and… Audio

A revealing collection of poems and ultra-short stories introduces us to many characters in the life of writer Serie Barford. Most are real, some are hybrids of people she's known, and together they… Audio

Sir Jonathan Bate was knighted this year for his services to literary scholarship. The Professor of English Literature at Oxford University has many strings to his bow, including biographer, critic… Audio

RAD Talks is the Barbarian Productions contribution to this year's LitCrawl Festival in Wellington. Director Jo Randerson talks about the idea behind it. Audio

Poet Anna Jackson has been awarded the Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship for 2015. She tells Eva about her plans. Audio

Claire Mabey has a busy few weeks ahead of her; she's in charge of both the Tauranga Arts Festival and Wellington's LitCrawl writers and readers events. Audio

Jacquetta Bell looks after the Readers and Writers portion of the Nelson Arts Festival. She tells Eva what they have planned. Audio

Conrad Newport is the director for the Circa Theatre season of 'Gifted': playwright Patrick Evans' work about the strange coexistence of New Zealand authors Frank Sargeson and Janet Frame. Audio

'Peter Godfrey: Father of New Zealand Choral Music' is written by Elizabeth Salmon, and chronicles the conductor's life and work in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. She describes Godfrey's approach… Audio

Playwright Victor Rodger has been named as the 2016 Robbie Burns Fellow, and composer Chris Gendall is next year's Mozart Fellow. They tell Eva about their plans for the residencies. Audio

Murray Gray and his wife Naomi McLeary began running their 'Going West Books and Writers Festival' 20 years ago. They celebrate the milestone this weekend, with the biggest festival yet. Murray tells… Audio