The Spinoff had multiple scouts at last night’s awards bash. This piece is by Alec Redvers-Hill, and we’ve dropped in a selection of texts from Spinoff publisher Duncan Greive, who maintained a barrage of such updates all night. Duncan Greive’s texts are [italicised]. “So, who won?” It’s a perfectly natural thing to ask about an … Read more
Fiona Kidman! The clock strikes nine and we can reveal all. Fiona Kidman Fiona Kidman Fiona Kidman! Congratulations, Fiona Kidman, winner of the 2019 Acorn Foundation Fiction Prize, the richest prize in New Zealand literature, for This Mortal Boy, ahead of Vincent O’Sullivan, Lloyd Jones and Kate Duignan. Fiona wins $53,000 and a lot of … Read more
The deadline for our lavish Ockhams giveaway – a stack of all 16 books on the shortlist – has rolled on by and it’s time to announce a winner. Rant, we said. Tell us about the book that dipped out, the one that should’ve made the shortlist. Tell us why the judges are know-nothing nincompoops. The … Read more
The full list, with mild critique, of the 2019 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards longlist. O’Sullivan is a tough sonofabitch and the favourite to take the crown but he’s up against big hitters. Kidman has experience, stealth, and the popular vote. Jones goes in hard and doesn’t let up. Makereti has to be taken seriously and you can never … Read more
Welcome back to Papercuts, our new books podcast hosted by Louisa Kasza, Jenna Todd and Kiran Dass. In this episode, we talk about why the new offshore GST changes are good for local bookstores, Louisa breaks down her latest Spinoff Books review, we celebrate 50 years of the NZ Book Awards with our recommendations of past … Read more
All week this week the Spinoff Review of Books celebrates the rich, fascinating history of New Zealand literature. Today: win the entire 2018 Ockham New Zealand awards shortlist of 16 books as we present – for the first time in one place – the entire list of every winner since the national book awards were created 50 … Read more
Victoria University Press is nominated for just about everything at tonight’s Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. How come? Is it a good thing? Or is it a depressing commentary on the sorry little state of New Zealand literature? VUP publisher Fergus Barrowman steps up for the revolutionary live email interview. And the winner is Fergus Barrowman. The … Read more
Yet another Spinoff Review of Books exclusive as we break the 6:00am embargo by 60 seconds and present, as of 5:59am, the shortlist of the 2017 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards featuring Ashleigh Young. Ashleigh Young and some other writers have made it onto the shortlist of the 2017 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. Young, 33, the … Read more
Giovanni Tiso on American writer Jhumpa Lahiri’s new book, written in Italian, and put back into English by Elena Ferrante’s translator. What? In “Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote”, Borges tells the story of a man who embarks on a project to rewrite Don Quixote word for word, not merely as a copy, … Read more
Kiran Dass shares tea, biscuits and literary talk with Hanya Yanagihara. Shortlisted for the Man Booker prize for her incendiary novel A Little Life, Hanya Yanagihara appeared at the Auckland Writers Festival last week. While she was here, I sat down with her at the Langham Hotel, and we were served lemon and ginger iced tea and … Read more