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From the Shop Floor: Page & Blackmore

Page & Blackmore bookstore is a beloved Nelson icon and has been going strong for over 25 years. In this month’s From the Shop Floor, shop owner Jo tells us about Page & Blackmore’s history, their highlights and challenges, and…

2024 NZCYA Young Adult Finalists: Why I Wrote This Book

This year’s NZCYA YA finalists span a huge range of genres, settings, and themes. From the journey of an escaped convict as she tries to forge a life in colonial Tāmaki Makaurau, to a graphic novel about the struggles of…

The Finalists of the 2024 NZ Kids’ Books Awards Are…

Each year, the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults make for a massive occasion in the Aotearoa kids’ book world—move over Oscars, out of the way Silver Scrolls. This is our night. Well, nearly. Awards night isn’t until August, but between…

Interview: Bringing the shadow of Tūmatauenga into the light

Following yesterday’s review of Te Ata o Tū | The Shadow of Tūmatauenga (Te Papa Press), Frank Wilson had several conversations with three of its writers—all Te Papa curators—about the creation of the book and how they hope it will…

The Reckoning: Antiquating the NZ English Curriculum

The New Zealand English school curriculum is undergoing a rewrite and some of the changes suggest a move backwards rather than forwards. High school English teacher Susan Briggs questions who this rewrite prioritises, and describes how English teachers are perfectly…

The Reckoning: The Reasons Why

Following on from the Auckland Writers Festival, David Hill answers the perennial question of authors everywhere: why do you write? In Graeme Lay’s first novel, The Mentor, a sultry female follower approaches the author-narrator, and breathes “Tell me: why do…

A Day in the Life: Feana Tu‘akoi

Feana Tuʻakoi has authored many fiction and non-fiction works for children and is the current University of Otago College of Education Creative New Zealand Children’s Writer in Residence. Here she tells us about why she writes what she writes, and…

Quiz: All Things Booktown!

Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival kicks off next week, hosted in Aotearoa’s one and only Book Town! But what exactly does it mean to be a ‘Book Town’? Where else in the world might you find them? What is the lore…

From the Shop Floor: For the Love of Books

Featherston Booktown Festival is back this month for its ninth year, so we thought it fitting to kick off this month with a profile of a Featherston-based bookstore! For the Love of Books is a melting pot of second-hand books,…