Books & Authors

Sociologist David Brooks used to think wisdom was the ability to utter life-changing maxims like Dumbledore or Yoda. Now he believes it's about deeply seeing someone else's experience. "I think wisdom… Video, Audio

Hannah August reviews Went to London, Took the Dog by Nina Stibbe published by Pan Macmillan Audio

Kiran Dass reviews The Stirrings by Catherine Taylor published by Weindfeld and Nicholson Audio

60 years on from the assassination of US President John F Kennedy, and there are still so many questions about that shocking day. Mary Haverstick never set out to look at the killing, but came across… Audio

Bel Moneypenny from Scorpio Books in Christchurch reviews The Conversion by Amanda Lohrey published by Text Publishing Audio

The winner of the 2023 Booker Prize will be announced this morning - with the ceremony in London starting at 10am.

From a civil war in Ireland, to the son of Jamaican immigrants in Miami and a remote… Audio

Booker Prize-winning Tasmanian writer Richard Flanagan's new novel looks at the choices we make and the chain reaction that follows. By way of a literary love affair through nuclear physics to… Audio

British comedian, actor and writer Adrian Edmondson found fame in the 1980s, playing anarchic medical student Vyvyan alongside Rik Mayall in The Young Ones. They also starred together in Bottom and in… Audio

"Passionate linguist, gifted humanist, national treasure and ambassador of gibberish" is a judge's description of this year's PEN Pinter prize winner, Michael Rosen. The British poet, author and… Audio

By Jeremy Rees: I read every book shortlisted for the most prestigious literary award in the world. Here's what I found. Audio

Lisa Adler from Unity Books Wellington reviews Rambling Man My Life on the Road by Billy Connolly published by Hachette Audio

Ray Salisbury is an author and photographer with a lifelong love for the New Zealand backcountry. In the 1990's he completed a solo 80-day traverse of the North Island mountain ranges, and wrote a… Audio

Paul Diamond reviews Reo Ora: Ko Te Weu by Rapata Wiri published by Huia Publishers Audio

The journey from professional basketballer to published author isn't the most common pivot you'll see. But thats exactly what Ex Tall Black Nick Horvath has done, fulfilling a dream he says he's had… Audio

Jesse David Fox says comedy is now a cultural force and an art form. More than entertainment, comedy it connects people and influences politics. Audio

Linguist, lexicographer, and Oxford professor Sarah Ogilvie discovered the names of the contributors of the very first Oxford Dictionary in a small black book tied with a cream ribbon in the basement… Audio