An essay about leaving New Zealand, and finding it again via Janet Frame. A quick note from our books editor, Catherine Woulfe: Meg Mason grew up in Foxton and Palmerston North. She’s a journalist – she lives in Sydney, and writes for places like The New Yorker, Vogue and GQ – and she’s just released … Read more
Laura Jean McKay is hunkered down in Palmerston North but her much-hyped novel The Animals in That Country is out there in the world – earlier than expected, too, because it’s about a strange new flu. Two women stand close to each other in an aisle labelled CANS. They’re young, with strong pink arms in … Read more
Rongotea has created a pandemic support network with not much more than a cellphone, an email address and goodwill. Liam Hehir explains how it works, and gives instructions on starting your own. I live in Rongotea, a small village in the Palmerston North commuter belt. Its people are a mix of professionals working in town, … Read more
The debate about methane emissions from farming is both ongoing and polarising, and many are pinning their hopes on scientific advances to avoid both de-stocking and climate breakdown. But how effective can these measures actually be? Alex Braae visited a research lab on the front lines of this fight. At a sprawling campus on the … Read more
Palmerston North born, Brent Harris’ work is suffused with a murky darkness, unease and melancholia long associated with New Zealand art, cinema and music, but he considers himself an Australian artist. With his first solo exhibition on in Christchurch at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, Towards the Swamp, he has returned. Kiran Dass … Read more
In our final local elections race briefing of 2019 (read the rest here), Josie Adams (who is lame) visits Palmerston North (which is cool). The Spinoff local election coverage is made possible thanks to The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a member and supporting The Spinoff’s journalism click here. Where? First of all, Palmerston … Read more
Prolific, award-winning Palmerston North poet Paula Harris somehow manages to be stroppy and properly vulnerable all at once. Here, she writes about her first slam competition – and why she cried all the way home. I am old enough to have given birth to most of the people here. Sure, there’s a couple of parents … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Spate of stories show rubbish problem is increasing, Don Brash Waitangi invite sparks boycott call, and bees struggling to get enough to eat. We’re not the tidy Kiwis we like to think we are. A range of recent stories show problems in waste management are mounting in … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Serious clashes between police and protesters in Palmerston North, ANZ banks ludicrously big profit, and gay conversion therapy could be banned. The most heavily protested annual conference of the year is back, this time in the unlikely surroundings of Palmerston North. The Defence Industry Expo – otherwise … Read more
The Fitz has been closed for almost a decade and Palmy is no longer defined by student culture and sheep. Now it’s home to a new crop of innovators and startups who are thriving in the slower, more stable Manawatū business environment. Keri Welham talks to some of the key players shaping this North Island … Read more