Susan WardellSusan Wardell

Dr. Susan Wardell is from Dunedin, New Zealand. She is a lecturer in Social Anthropology, at the University of Otago, and a mother of two small children. Susan is the author of an academic book and a number of articles and blogs, on topics such as culture, disability, religion, mental health, suffering, and social media. She also publishes poetry and essays - winning second place in the 2018 Landfall essay competition, and first place in the 2019 Maxim Institute essay competition.

Christchurch remembers: The politics of memory, on the anniversary of tragedy

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As the city today marks the anniversary of the Canterbury earthquake, and in a few weeks that of the Christchurch terror attacks, Susan Wardell looks at how and why we choose to remember, and the complexities of collective public grief. “Christchurch has suffered more than any community should have to endure,” the prime minister said … Read more

A review of The Overstory, a knockout novel that speaks for the trees

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Summer reissue: The Overstory, the winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, is an engulfing, worldview-shifting novel about climate catastrophe and hope, writes Susan Wardell. (Photographs are from a photo essay on kauri dieback by Michelle Hyslop; captions by Andrea Ewing).  First published 9 April 2020.  The year before last, I spent the month … Read more

The uncomfortable truth about medical crowdfunding in New Zealand

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New research into online crowdfunding for healthcare reveals some worrying trends around which campaigns are deemed ‘worthy’ – and poses wider questions about who we want to be as a nation. “Charity is a sign of the failure of the state.” The above statement from Chlöe Swarbrick on Breakfast will be controversial for some – … Read more

A review of The Overstory, a knockout novel that speaks for the trees

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The Overstory, the winnner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, is an engulfing, worldview-shifting novel about climate catastrophe and hope, writes Susan Wardell. (Photographs are from a photo essay on kauri dieback by Michelle Hyslop; captions by Andrea Ewing).  The year before last, I spent the month of January hugging trees. I picked a … Read more

Growing up is hard to do: Philip Pullman’s The Secret Commonwealth, reviewed

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Dr Susan Wardell, a His Dark Materials fan who grew up to be a social anthropologist, reviews the much-anticipated sort-of sequel, The Secret Commonwealth. Is the world fundamentally dead, or alive? Philip Pullman asks in this new book, a thinly-veiled philosophical interrogation of “progressive thinking”.   The book is rich in both human and political intrigue, … Read more