Rebuilding and healing broken communities can be a slow and frustrating process. But as Max Rashbrooke writes, it starts with listening to the powerful stories of those with lived experience. Just before lockdown, in Porirua’s Te Rauparaha Arena, a reversal of fortunes took place. At the People’s Voices conference, organised by Wesley Community Action, the … Read more
The Silence of Snow has a rare and aching truth to it, writes books editor Catherine Woulfe. I could pick Eileen Merriman’s writing anywhere, especially the way she’s been writing lately. She has struck on a particular minor key that rings across each page, clear and sharp and quick. It makes you want to listen … Read more
Pip Adam won the country’s biggest fiction prize for her novel The New Animals. Her latest, Nothing to See, releases tomorrow. Books editor Catherine Woulfe: We’ll have a full review of Nothing to See in the next week or so. For now, know that it’s wildly good – a levelling-up from The New Animals, even. … Read more
Sam Brooks, noted critic of the Queer Eye juggernaut, reviews Over the Top, a memoir by the show’s most flamboyant star Jonathan Van Ness. The phrase “like Maya Angelou taught me” shows up two pages in. It doesn’t quite set the tone so much as prepares you for what’s to come. This is what we’re … Read more
After almost 20 years with a drinking problem, Baal Caulfield* explains how he handled life after alcohol. Read parts one and two of Baal Caulfield’s story of giving up alcohol. Trying to keep occupied without booze can be an extremely difficult task. You see, unlike heroin or meth, my drug of choice was legal, socially … Read more
The cannabis referendum debate is deeply personal for some people. Nicole Skews-Poole details the agonising role weed played in her father’s life. My earliest childhood memory is opaque and soupy. The more I try and focus on its details, the more they wriggle away. But in my mind’s eye, if I stand back and pretend … Read more
Thousands of views were taken in, meetings were held up and down the country, experts were questioned, and it all fed into a massive report on the state of our mental health system. So what does the report say we need to do? Read more about the mental health inquiry with our edited extract from … Read more
Janice Mary has been off Facebook for a month, but it wasn’t an easy road to get there. She writes about her social media addiction. Ten years is how long I was on Facebook. Ten years of habitual, mindless, scrolling day in, day out. I revealed 943 status updates and 628 photos exposing to the … Read more
After almost 20 years with a drinking problem, newly sober Baal Caulfield* knows a thing or two about the lies you tell yourself as a ‘functional’ alcoholic. Sweet sweet liquor, nectar of the gods. Bringer of joy the world over. Whether it’s a glass of your favourite Pinot with your wife over dinner or drinking … Read more
Māori and Pasifika are disproportionately represented in problem gambling figures and it’s time targeted efforts were made to reduce harm. Indira Stewart reports for RNZ. “I can’t stop it myself or control myself. Everytime I go sit there, have a smoke and look at the Sky City – I see the light go ‘bling bling!’,” … Read more
Keen to cure your addiction to the small screen? Alex Beattie has nine quickfire suggestions. A flash on your screen, a ‘vrrrr’ in your pocket, the universal ‘DING’. The digital world is rife with distractions, some of which are by design. Thanks to smartphones and social media, we live in an attention economy where the … Read more
Christchurch writer Amy Head on the setting for her new novel – Rotoroa, an island near Waiheke, where the Salvation Army ran a rehab centre for alcoholics. When I first learned about Rotoroa, an island east of Waiheke where the Salvation Army ran a rehabilitation facility between 1911 and 2005 (known early on as an … Read more
Serena Benson was the grand winner of the 2017 Surrey Hotel writers residency award in association with the Spinoff. Here she writes about the project she worked on at the Surrey – a chronicle of her drug addiction nightmare. After seven years in recovery, I’ve mustered up the courage to chronicle my journey into addiction … Read more
A mother writes of her journey of love and loss in this beautiful personal essay about trying to raise children around addiction. His mother craned up and down the shoreline plucking shells and rocks from the sand. An island of clouds loomed overhead as she made her way to where he sat on the grassy … Read more
The World Health Organisation added gaming disorder to their classification guide last year, bringing the psychological issues around gaming back into the limelight. Baz Macdonald explains what the disorder is, and how to recognise if you have it. When the World Health Organisation announced the addition of gaming disorder to its classification guide last year … Read more
Addressing addiction issues in prison is one of the best ways we have to drastically cut reoffending rates. If only Corrections took the problem as seriously as it deserves, writes Wellington addiction counsellor Roger Brooking. In April last year, Radio New Zealand reported that the Corrections Department was paying for non-existent alcohol and drug counsellors. The … Read more