Brannavan Gnanalingam reads Rose Lu’s groundbreaking essay collection – overlooked by the Ockhams judges – and finds it full of elevating yarns that make him feel seen. The question many non-white people dread is, “where are you from?” The question is loaded – obviously, people have noticed your skin colour as different from the outset. … Read more
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the long-awaited – and outstanding – novel by Marlon James, who won the Man Booker prize four years ago with A Brief History of Seven Killings. It was some canny marketing to release a book self-described as the “African Game of Thrones” just before the final season on TV of the actual Game of … Read more
The 2019 Man Booker prize is announced next week. Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews two of the shortlisted novels, Washington Black by Esi Edugyan and The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner. Previously in Man Booker Prize Fight Week: Philip Matthews on Robin Robertson and Richard Powers This year’s Bookers shortlist contained a few surprises – including the … Read more
Pip Adam won the Acorn Prize for best novel of the year at the recent 2018 Ockham New Zealand national book awards. Is her book actually any good? Readable? Likeable? Brannavan Gnanalingam – a losing finalist – makes his assessment of her story about fashion hags and bustling millennials on K Road. I held my breath while … Read more
After being told I’m so incredibly, breathtakingly lucky that my husband watches our children when I have to travel for work, this post by Brannavan Gnanalingam was like the first pinot gris after a very long day. I too long for a day when we are all allowed to be incompetent as parents. Bring it … Read more
Brannavan Gnanalingam writes about the overwhelming whiteness of English literature as taught in New Zealand – and throws down a challenge to the gatekeepers, including the Spinoff. UK newspaper the Daily Telegraph caused a stir in October with a front page story about a black Cambridge student who had “force[d] Cambridge to drop white authors”. The Telegraph‘s … Read more
An essay about race, immigration, and KFC by Sri Lankan-born, Hutt Valley-raised novelist Brannavan Gnanalingam. On our way to New Zealand in 1986, we stopped at Singapore Airport. In this of all places, my dad bumped into his brother, whom he hadn’t seen for years. We were going to a new life in New Zealand. … Read more
After being told I’m so incredibly, breathtakingly lucky that my husband watches our children when I have to travel for work, this post by Brannavan Gnanalingam was like the first pinot gris after a very long day. I too long for a day when we are all allowed to be incompetent as parents. Bring it … Read more
There are benefits to being the working parent, like being able to focus on your career and avoiding much of the messy, back-breaking work of childcare. But as Brannavan Gnanalingam explains, they hardly make up for the overwhelming sense of guilt. I’m very excited about properly meeting Brannavan Gnanalingam on Saturday. I’m lucky enough to … Read more
An essay by Brannavan Gnanalingam about subtle racism in New Zealand literature. While Lionel Shriver recently caused a bit of a stink saying that fiction writers could put on a sombrero whenever they wanted, contemporary New Zealand writers appear to be terrified of entering into a sombrero shop in the first place. We’ll happily spend … Read more