Literature

A famous kiwi short story 'Coming Home In the Dark' by Owen Marshall is appearing on screens next week as a feature film of the same name. It's based on the titular story of New Zealand short Story… Audio

In her latest book, What We Talk About When We Talk About Books, Harvard Professor Leah Price dispels the myth of the end of the golden age of reading by suggesting that reading might not have been so… Audio

The use of acronyms in scientific publications has spread life wildfire over the last 70 years, according to a study just published in the scientific journal eLife. Study co-author Professor Adrian… Audio

Jokha Alharthi, the Omani author of Celestial Bodies, talks about her literary world and what winning the Man Booker International prize has meant for Arabic literature and for herself.  Audio

Author Samanth Subramanian has been taking part in quizzes all of his life -- from schools to pubs to TV shows to the 'Geek Bowl' and the World Quizzing Championship. He offers an insight into the… Audio

Elizabeth Calder emigrated from England to NZ with her family in 1949 and returned in 1958 after graduating with a BA in English literature from the University of Canterbury. This week she was awarded… Audio

Karyn Hay is still remembered for presenting Radio With Pictures from 1980-1986 and RNZ listeners will know her from her show Lately, with Karyn Hay. But Karyn is also an author of note. Her first… Audio

Patricia Lockwood talks to Kim Hill about a very particular Catholic upbringing in her memoir Priestdaddy, and its portrait of her father as a charming but damaged man. Audio

Witi Ihimaera - is one of the best known names in New Zealand literature - works such as Pounamu Pounamu, The Whale Rider and The Matriarch. He was the first Maori writer to publish both a book of… Audio, Gallery

The value of the humanities (academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture) to society, democracy, identity, happiness and economic worth is being debated in most developed… Audio

A group of linguists from the University of Auckland is trying to help save a local language under threat in Papua New Guinea. They've been running literature workshops in Bougainville with the aim of… Audio, Gallery

Ngugi wa Thiong'o is a novelist, essayist, playwright, journalist, editor, academic and social activist, and currently Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University… Audio

What if your dreams could tell the future?

Famed Russian-American author Vladimir Nabakov tested just that theory by keeping a dream diary documenting 64 dreams over 80 days and ordering them with… Audio

Owen Marshall, the country's leading writer of short stories surveys his chosen literary form in his 2017 Book Council Lecture, talking of the authors who have influenced him, and his audiences. Audio

Robert Harris set his first alternative history novel in a world in which Hitler had won WWII. In his latest novel Munich, he re-examines the 1938 Munich Agreement between Hitler and British Prime… Audio

Dunedin boasts many attractions but did you know it's a UNESCO creative city? It was crowned a 'City of Literature' in 2014. Here with us to tell us how it works and some of the projects she's working… Audio

Historian Redmer Yska is the author of A Strange, Beautiful, Excitement: Katherine Mansfield's Wellington 1888-1903. While researching the book Yska discovered Mansfield's first published story… Audio

Nina Powles describes herself as a 'hungry girl.' This talented young Eurasian writer talks about food, feminism, life in Shanghai and her blog 'Dumpling Queen.' Audio, Gallery