A moving personal essay by Nicola Brown, commissioned by Ōtepoti Writers Lab. Contains description of sudden death, please proceed with care.

A fascinating Q & A about books and how they live with us: with Alice Te Punga Somerville (questions) and answers by writers Becky Manawatu, Rebecca K Reilly, Elisapeta Heta and Shilo Kino.

“One of my hopes for Whai is that it shares a message that we aren't ever just one thing. We are as expansive as Te Moana Nui a Kiwa and beyond.” Nicole Titihuia Hawkins. Read more for a Q & A with the author of the poetry collection, WHAI.

The third commission from Ōtepoti Writers Lab is this stunning piece of creative non-fiction from Angela Trolove.

An essay by Sam George-Allen in response to the theme of Flight at Verb Readers & Writers Festival Gala Night 2021.

An essay by Meg Mason in response to the theme of Flight at Verb Readers & Writers Festival Gala Night 2021.

An poem by Rebecca Támas in response to the theme of Flight at Verb Readers & Writers Festival Gala Night 2021.

An essay by Clare Moleta in response to the theme of Flight at Verb Readers & Writers Festival Gala Night 2021.

An essay by Trish Harris in response to the theme of Flight at Verb Readers & Writers Festival Gala Night 2021.

An essay by Talia Marshall in response to the theme of Flight at Verb Readers & Writers Festival Gala Night 2021.

“I have been called a shrinking violet. But it’s not true. I love the beautiful, regretful, dangerous world. I like being out in it. It suits me.”
Lynn Davidson writes about being unmoored, but finding anchorage in memories, friends, help and nature.

Find it hard to find the time to write? Author and publisher Murdoch Stephens ponders the predicament and evokes ‘excessive authors’ like Brannavan Gnanalingam, Maggie Nelson and Georges Simenon to help find some solutions.