Eat well and exercise. That's the classic advice for living a long, healthy life. A new study suggests another habit to add to the list: Let your creative juices flow. n.pr/4eJhSw6

And a hearty che-hoo to Nafanua Purcell Kersel for this wonderful collection that won the Biggs Family Prize for Poetry at the IIML in manuscript form in 2022

Whakamihi indeed, Tina for this wonderful work of creative nonfiction: we are proud of you!

Massive congratulations to Ingrid, who wrote this book while she was THW - CNZ Writer in Residence at the IIML: arts funding matters!

Ten more poets, plus bonus Janet Frame www.audioculture.co.nz/articles/poe...

Sir Ken was also a stalwart of the New Zealand Book Council (now ReadNZ)

Mighty congratulations Charlotte + @bwbnz.bsky.social 👏 arts.unimelb.edu.au/news/charlot... and a reminder that this was a @royalsocietynz.bsky.social Marsden funded project in Humanities! #HumanitiesMatter #history @vicuniwgtn.bsky.social

'Is this the most important NZ book of 2026?' Toby Manhire discusses 'The Valley' with author Asher Emanuel on the 'Gone By Lunchtime' podcast. thespinoff.co.nz/books/13-05-...

Important article for New Zealanders via @crikey.com.au. | FOI confirms Donald Trump’s grab of Australians’ biometric data is even bigger than feared www.crikey.com.au/2026/04/27/d... Time for some OIA requests folks. #nzpol #privacy

#FeesFree tomoro, THURSDAY 14 May "🚨 We can’t let Luxon keep robbing our young people of their future. Join @nzgreenparty MP’s tomorrow at Vic Uni for our first rally in the fight back! More across the country to come." @greens.org.nz #nzpol

We love that Kaipara Library has won a set of all 16 Ockham finalists' books in the competition run by @newsroom.co.nz #theockhams newsroom.co.nz/2026/05/13/a...

She will not dress herself in fire. Laura Jensen

"Government says climate litigation undermines business." Buddy, just wait till you find out what climate change does to business.

#rantsandreckons 🤓 newsroom.co.nz/2026/05/12/a...

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has declined to rehear PRH v. Robbins, the Big Five’s lawsuit to challenge book removals under Iowa law. Penguin Random House associate general counsel Dan Novack told PW “the case is far from over.”

How to watch the Ockham NZ Book Awards tonight: it will be hard to match the drama of last year, but we’re waving the flag for our colleagues Tina Makereti, Ingrid Horrocks and Anna Jackson, and for the other THWUP authors Nafanua Purcell Kersel (MA22), Erik Kennedy and Catherine Chidgey

the techno-optimist belief in a bright future is hand-in-glove with a wholesale rejection of human capacities, socialising, communication much like "national socialism" which destroys nations and is not socialist, techno-optimism is a rejection of ANYTHING positive humans can do alone or together

nice piece on the Canvas ransomware hack (now paid off for an undisclosed sum by Instructure), its effects on new zealand higher ed, and why universities should skip enterprise businessware in favour of local expertise and open source (I'm not holding my breath) #nzpol

A podcast PhD on the Gothic??? But why did no one tell me sooner??? This is very exciting.

"Parents who can afford it may access literacy expertise via private tutoring, but many Māori, Pasifika & students from low socioeconomic backgrounds are being left behind." Loss of these specialist roles follows the Govt's decision to defund in 2025. #nzpol www.nzeiteriuroa.org.nz/about-us/med...

If you haven't noticed the direct lines between AI Slop, colonialist genocide, late-stage capitalism, and environmental destruction, @mollycrabapple.bsky.social's article Vampire Slop is as good a starting point as any: read.dukeupress.edu/critical-ai/...

It’s unmistakable how right wing governments around the world are all in lock step, working from one playbook.

Paywall now lifted: Analysts from the world’s foremost economic forum have rebuked the Government’s plans to import liquefied gas and spark a renaissance in domestic fossil fuel production. newsroom.co.nz/2026/05/11/o...

Somehow we missed Rebecca K Reilly’s piece on being ‘translated’ for an American audience when it first appeared - but better late than never, so here it is lithub.com/to-americani...

My favourite poem and why it is "drives and drops" by Amy Marguerite nzpoetryshelf.com/2026/05/12/p...

Anna Jackson on MA22 workshop member Amy Marguerite’s poem ‘Drives and Drops’ (from her book over under fed, AUP, 2025) nzpoetryshelf.com/2026/05/12/p...

Wishing Paula Green the very best with her health, and a highly successful medical procedure

Lovely launch for Joe Trinidad’s much anticipated essay collection Lucky Creatures at Unity Books last night, including two of the best launch speeches we’ve heard in a while. Here’s the author watching on while Mikee Sto Domingo talks about her experience of reading the book.

new zealander everlee wihongi was due to meet with her lawyer yesterday. then ICE moved her to their most notorious tent facility in texas: 3000 people, highest death rate, most sexual assaults. and today, she disappeared off the system. please RT: www.webworm.co/everleehasdi...

Huge congratulations to ELCC graduate Asher Emanuel for the release of a stunning and important new book! www.bwb.co.nz/books/the-va...

"The Editor... retract[s] this paper owing to concerns regarding discrepancies in the meta-analysis. These issues ultimately undermine the confidence the Editor can place in the validity of the analysis &... conclusions. The authors have not responded to correspondence regarding this retraction."

if only Mary Shelley had warned us in 1818 about the dangers of literature instead of the reckless, hubristic pursuit of scientific and technological advancement carried out by ghoulish men with no regard for humanity—men who would desecrate the dead and kill the living to feed their power hunger.

Ten things I learned at Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival 2026

Scientists have uncovered a hidden Antarctic threat that could accelerate global sea level rise far faster than expected.

‘If you use AI, it reveals your orientation toward writing. Do you want to make art, or just turn in text? Do you want to actually learn how to write, or just pretend to do so?’ An account of how and why the use of AI is incompatible with the creative writing workshop.

Tonight at Unity Books Wellington!

The student loan scheme was only introduced in New Zealand in 1992. Before that it was possible for a unistudent doing part time work to emerge debt free, walk into employment & walk into a bank & get a mortgage for a starter home avoiding the rent trap entirely. Time to rise up. #nzpol

I wrote about reading the words of Sylvia Plath's poem "Words"

With comments from Peter Simpson’s launch speech for Elizabeth’s new collection, The Interview Rose

Week in Review: Ex-PM and the sage of Cambridge contest the People's Choice book award

Team Chidgey and Horrocks here at @shawliterary.bsky.social Towers, but all will be revealed this coming Wednesday! www.thepost.co.nz/culture/3609...

Part of the charm of Featherston Booktown is the quirky venues. Hadn't been into the RSA before but it was quite a delightful setting for an awesome session with Robert Scott and Richard Langston. The big TV was showing a football game throughout

“Race may make no biological sense, but this does not reduce the power and reach of the idea that it does.” — Richard Shaw, from his new book of essays “The Good Settler”.

“Literary spaces have largely been Pākehā, but things are shifting, and to me, literature and storytelling are deeply connected to the wider work of decolonising and indigenising our spaces.” — Shilo Kino.

Sir David Attenborough has a soft spot for #kakapo. We named a kākāpō after him (Attenborough the bird is now ten years old, living on Te Kākahu) and he kindly narrated a short video for us about them, which you can see here: youtu.be/5eZVjQowNvw?.... #attenborough #conservation

Is Project Panama back? Over the last 2 weeks, we've had a flood of book orders from ZoomBooks. We did some research & worldwide many second-hand booksellers are experiencing the same thing. There's significant parallels to Project Panama. Read our blog bookhaven.co.nz/blogs/blogs/... #projectpanama

Just a PSA about how sophisticated AI phishing of authors is becoming: I now receive lengthy, in-depth analyses of my work as invitations or enticements to speak to people. Latest one appears to be impersonation of a real, well-known radio personality. If it is actually the real person, then they

‘One of the ironies of the upheaval is that literary translation now appears to be a comparatively safer career choice than its technical counterpart.’