Better off Read

i'm really grateful to Asher for taking the time out of a really busy month to chat with me about writing The Valley: Crime and Punishment in a New Zealand City published by Bridget Williams Books (BWB) There are quite a few places to see Asher talk about the content of The Valley. Most recently Asher appeared on Q & A with Jack Tame In this conversation i was keen to talk to Asher about how h...

It was so great to catch up and chat with Joseph Trinidad about his new book Lucky Creatures (Te Herenga Waka University Press, 2026) Reading Joseph's work makes me so excited about reading and speaking with Joe about his practice has made me excited about writing. Thank you Joseph. Joseph's book of essays is one of the best reading experiences i've had this year. It's an incredibly beautifully cr...

On 22 April, at Unity Books Te Whanganui-a-Tara i spoke with Shana Chandra about her accomplished and beautiful novel Banjara (Moa Press | Hachette, 2026) i'm so grateful to Unity Books for hosting these lunchtime author talks. This event took place the day after some devestating weather and under burgeoning blue skies. It was such a great crowd and people were so excited to hear Shana and read Ba...

On 10 February this year at Unity Books Te Whanganui-a-Tara i talked with Eva Wyles about her stunning collection of short stories Deliverywoman (Influx Press, 2025) The event opened with a reading and introduction to Eva's work by another amazing writer Tamara Tulitua. Eva and Tamara were in the same MA creative writing workshop at the IIML and Unity was full of Eva's friends and writing comminti...

In February this year at The Open Book in Tāmaki Makaurau, i got to speak with Jordy Rosenberg about his new book Night Night Fawn. It was a really hot, sunny day and the event was held outside in the bookshop's garden. You might be able to hear some of summer noises in the background of this recording. Anyone who has come into my orbit over the last few years has probably had a copy of Jordy's fi...

Ray Shipley has done many very cool things: stand-up comedy, slam poetry, book-selling, librarianship. Ray's latest awesome thing is a book My Body is a Horror Film: Written, Directed, Produced by and Starring Ray Shipley. It's such a great book and it was launched with two other amazing books. My Body is a Horror Film is one of the three books in ngā pukapuka pekapeka series two. The other two ar...

On September 14, at Unity Books in Wellington, I got to talk with Jo Randerson and Sarah Maxey about Secret Art Powers: How Creative Thinking Can Achieve Radical Change (Barbarian Productions, 2025) Jo wrote this book and Sarah designed the book and facilitated the creation of the illustrations that are throughout the book. In this book Jo shares some of their Secret Art Powers—six ways that think...

On July 31 2025, liz launched the new collection of poetry show you're working out (Dead Bird Books) in Wānaka. As I type this liz is embarking on a tour of Aotearoa to celebrate the amazing new collection of poetry show you're working out. In August 2025 liz has events in Ōtepoti, Timaru, Ōtautahi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara and Tāmaki Makaurau. liz is joined in each of these events but some amazing oth...

On July 10 2025, Erik launched his new collection of poetry Sick Power Trip at Scorpio Books in Ōtautahi. It was so great to speak with Erik Kennedy to celebrate the launch of his new poetry collection Sick Power Trip (Te Herenga Waka University Press) I really enjoyed speaking with Erik about poetry in general and his work in particular. I love Erik's work so much and this new collection is incre...

On June 10, my book Audition came out in the United States with Coffee House Press and Canada with Strange Light To celebrate this, and with massive support from Laura Graveline at Coffee House Press, I've recorded three special episodes of Better off Read which feature three of my favourite writers published by Coffee House Press. In this last special episode I get to talk to poupeh missaghi پوپه...

On June 10, my book Audition came out in the United States with Coffee House Press and Canada with Strange Light To celebrate this, and with massive support from Laura Graveline at Coffee House Press, I've recorded three special episodes of Better off Read which feature three of my favourite writers published by Coffee House Press. In this first special episode I get to talk to Zeke Caligiuri. Zek...

On June 10, my book Audition comes out in the United States with Coffee House Press and Canada with Strange Light To celebrate this, and with massive support from Laura Graveline at Coffee House Press, I've recorded three special episodes of Better off Read which feature three of my favourite writers published by Coffee House Press. In this first special episode I get to talk to Danielle Dutton wh...

This recording was made live at Featherston Booktown on 10 May 2025. It was a really sunny day and Saraid and I sat in the Featherston Library with the sun streaming in the windows with a really great group of people. Saraid is an amazing writing. Saraid's novel Amma is a really great work of fiction and I recommend to anyone who hasn't read it yet. At the moment I'm asking guests to offer and obj...

I've been a fan of Erin Harrington's work for a long time. I love her writing and research. Over the past six months I got to work on the same floor as Erin while I was one of the Ursula Bethell Fellow at Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha where Erin is a Senior Lecturer. It was so great to talk to Erin about this article: 'As we shovel in distractions, the inner life grows dim' by Charlotte Wood which ap...

It was so great to catch up with Isabelle before Christmas and talk about her work. Isabelle writes writes LGBT Romance, Paranormal and Horror Young Adult books. The best place to find out about Isabelle's work is on her website A Horse Walks into a Bar - Free Workshop Thanks so much to everyone who attended and has watched the video of this workshop. If you haven't watched the workshop yet you ca...

Very grateful to Damien Levi for programming this live recording of Better off Read with the amazing Olive Nuttall at Verb Wellington 2024 Thanks also to Alistair from Alistair’s Music who hosted this event. Olive and I talked about swords and Olive's book kitten published by Te Herenga Waka University Press Content Note: This conversation includes mentions of CSA. Action: New Zealand Ministry of...

Una and I spoke on the day her amazing book The Chthonic Cycle (Te Herenga Waka University Press, 2024) was released into book shops. I have been incredibly moved by Una's book. It has shifted my mind and my world. It offers such an exciting opportunity to explore a new perspective of our current moment. Action: Hikoi mō Te Tiriti As I type this the Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti is moving over the Auckland H...

It was so great to talk with Claudia. I am a huge fan of Claudia's book Biter published by Auckland University Press. It is an amazing, amazing poetry collection that I can't recommend enough. Claudia and I chatted about Biter but also her other work including her music and new band Goodbye Starlet. You'll hear us talk about Claudia's amazing Ōtautahi Christchurch Lit Scene Zine. Click this link f...

My novel I'm Working on a Building has been out of print for a long time. In November it is being reissued in a really stuning B-Format edition by Te Herenga Waka University Press For this episode I've recorded a short reading from the first chapter. It feels quite emotional being in Ōtautahi for the re-release of this book. The book centres around a structural engineer and includes a fictional ea...

It was so great to chat with Kerry Donovan Brown. Kerry and I have been friends for a long time and I always love talking to them. In this conversation we talk quite a bit about work - the work of writing and the other work Kerry has been doing. Kerry's first novel Lamplighter is an amazing read. You can get a copy at the Te Herenga Waka University Press website You may notice a slight change in a...

I have been a fan of Shilo Kino's writing since reading her award winning book The Pōrangi Boy (Huia, 2020) a few years ago. What I love about The Pōrangi Boy is the way it really successfully finds a fictional form to explore the troubling things that are happening around and to us. I’m never sure if fiction can do anything. I still think we need to take direct political action in other areas - a...

I always find talking to Rose really inspiring. Rose's writing is so good and I love hearing about Rose's practice. In this episode Rose uses Miranda July's new book All Fours as a starting point for this conversation about writing, the novel and how our day jobs can help us. Rose's magnificent first book is All Who Live on Islands (Te Herenga Waka University Press, 2019) Thanks for listening. Jus...

Today is Budget Day in Aotearoa. I wanted to replay this episode because James talks so well about money and art. Specifically getting paid for art. In this podcast James talks about his performance at the Verb After Hours event, imperialism and paying artists. The first thing you'll hear is his performance the Verb After-Hours event: Beyond a Joke which took place on Thursday, 3 November 2022 at...

In this episode I talk with romesh dissanayake. romesh's amazing novel when I open the shop (Te Herenga Waka University Press) was launched about a month ago. I was really grateful that romesh and I were able to have a chat. I asked romesh to bring along an object as a way into a conversation about his book and this stage of its publication. romesh suggested Água Viva by Clarice Lispector . It was...

In this episode I talk with Sylvan Spring about their incredible book Killer Rack. https://teherengawakapress.co.nz/killer-rack/ In this episode we talk about a few things, so here are some links: Sylvan spoke with kitten author Olive Nuttall in what is probably the best thing you'll read this year - thank you to The SpinOff: ‘So gay, thank you for noticing!’: Olive Nuttall and Sylvan Spring in co...