Claire Mabey

Garner, Pilkey, Radden Keefe: Auckland Writers Festival brings out the big names Five days, dozens of writers, 170+ events – here are the ones you really don't want to miss.

Want some Auckland Writers Festival picks? Here's @clairemabey.bsky.social on @thespinoff.bsky.social thespinoff.co.nz/books/11-03-... ^DR

‘Incredibly liveable and creatively buzzy’: Bret McKenzie’s guide to Wellington/Te Whanganui-a-Tara The Flight of the Conchords comedian shares the New Zealand capital’s best coffee, nature spots and the pastries he’ll queue out the door for

www.theguardian.com/travel/2026/...

The student I can never forget  'A middle-aged face stops me in the street. Mr Hill! Remember me? I know that I need to remember, and remember positively – I'll try to explain why.'...

The student I can never forget

The Brighter Future What would this country look like in a decade or so if we actually did what so desperately needs doing?

Emily Writes @emilywrites.co.nz and I are starting a new series called The Brighter Future, where writers and artists and poets and so on imagine what a better future might look like, if we actually did some of the needful that's right in front of us: www.emilywrites.co.nz/the-brighter...

This needs to be done because Sylvia Townsend Warner deserves all the remembering we can manage

Government announces homeless move-on orders - for all town centres, not just Auckland Police can move on rough sleepers or people displaying disorderly behaviour as young as 14-years-old.

'The powers will mean police can move on rough sleepers or people displaying disorderly behaviour as young as 14-years-old.' Is a chilling thing to read. Especially when you're not eligible for a benefit until 16 & they're fucking with eligibility for 17 & 18 year olds www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

!!! ❤️

YAY! I am nervous and excited!

New book is coming! April 2026 - 🐦‍⬛📖🍎❤️ it’s a defiant story written in a defiant mood 👀 bit.ly/RavensEyeReb...

Honestly if NZ parties don’t front up about their plans for climate & basic infrastructure we should be deeply ashamed -NZ has a sewerage crisis in all our major cities, we have flooding & landslides causing loss of life & critical failure s- thinking we can cap rates & manage this, is crazy

70 minutes and counting!

Kung Hei Fat Choi! Happy year of the fire horse 🐴 May your year bring you luck and fortune 🧧❤️🙏

Review: In Mārama, the greatest horror is always colonisation It’s not gore, bloodshed or cheap thrills that make Mārama a horror: it's the violent subversion of Māori culture....

Review: In Mārama, the greatest horror is always colonisation

‘Really just wants to be Bridgerton’: Emerald Fennell’s ‘Wuthering Heights’, reviewed If you thought the trailer was a travesty, you're not going to like this....

‘Really just wants to be Bridgerton’: Emerald Fennell’s ‘Wuthering Heights’, reviewed

Uncomplicated pleasures in a complicated world: Bill Manhire and Jenny Bornholdt’s new poetry, reviewed Two of Aotearoa’s greatest poets are launching new collections today. We review them both....

Uncomplicated pleasures in a complicated world: Bill Manhire and Jenny Bornholdt’s new poetry, reviewed

Laneway review: Chappell Roan, Wolf Alice and many other glorious acts Holy fucking shit! Chappell fucking Roan! How to even sum her up?...

Laneway review: Chappell Roan, Wolf Alice and many other glorious acts

‘We are all part of a grand design’: Wrestling with George Saunders’ Vigil 'I'm quite snotty, at least in my mind... it’s an albatross to be seen as the genial uncle of American letters.'...

‘We are all part of a grand design’: Wrestling with George Saunders’ Vigil

Devastated to hear this, she was such a wonderful talent

Devastated!

SERVED WITH RICE PODDY SEASON 1 - EPISODE 1 YouTube video by served with rice poddy

E1 of SERVED WITH RICE, my PoC-focused literary podcast, is out now, with guest #TigestGirma!

Watch on YouTube or Spotify or check out our website (servedwithricepoddy.com) for all other places available 🥰

youtu.be/8khhWtJxpTQ?...

Text reads 'Join us for the launch of Party Boy. Sunday 15 February, 3pm. Woof! bar Dunedin.' The logos of Woof! bar, THWUP and UBS Dunedin are shown. The book cover features prominently: the background is marbled raw meat, and the foreground a collage of coloured letters spelling out 'PARTY BOY'.

Join us to launch Party Boy, the highly anticipated debut novel by Breton Dukes!

🎉 Sunday 15 February, 3pm
🎉 Woof! bar, 368 Moray Place, Dunedin
🎉 All welcome!

Thanks for your kind words @clairemabey.bsky.social! Such beautiful books in the Longlist, so chuffed to be in such excellent company 📚

Jacinda Ardern longlisted for this year’s Ockham New Zealand book awards Four categories, 44 books, zero AI book covers....

Jacinda Ardern longlisted for this year’s Ockham New Zealand book awards

‘I ugly-cried my way through the whole thing’: Jackie Lee Morrison’s reading life 'I’ve never read anything else that gave me that same high, and I suppose I’ve been chasing it ever since.'

Big thanks to @clairemabey.bsky.social for asking me to do The Spinoff Books Confessional, out today 🥰

thespinoff.co.nz/books/28-01-...

Hi Rob! Yes I love the statue! Hoping to visit later this year

Cities Under Siege Cities are the new battleground of our increasingly urban world. From the slums of the global South to the wealthy financial centers of the West, Cities Under Siege traces the spread of political viol...

FREE EBOOK!

Cities Under Siege, Stephen Graham's powerful exposé of how political violence operates through the spaces of urban life is available as a free download.

Selma Dabbagh | They call it peace The destruction of Palestinian lives is now a base line in a holding pattern. The ferocious white heat of the past two...

‘The destruction of Palestinian lives is now a base line in a holding pattern. The ferocious white heat of the past two years of unrelenting attacks has receded from view, but the genocide continues.’

@selmadabbagh.bsky.social on the situation on the ground in Gaza.

www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/ja...

All the book news you might have missed while actually reading books It's not even the end of January, but so much has gone down already....

All the book news you might have missed while actually reading books

Wow!!

Absolutely delightful to edit this beast by the one and only Mad Chapman. Blessings upon you @mariankeyes.bsky.social ❤️