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Surprise Advance and BBC Film Deal for NZ Author
Author Deborah McKinlay, formerly of Auckland, has received a seven-figure advance and a lucrative film deal for her new book, That Part Was True.
McKinlay, who had been making a…
Waiheke Island a Paradise for Art Lovers
“Waiheke Island is upscale Auckland’s offshore beach resort of choice – but its thriving creative community means it’s also a paradise for art lovers of all types,” according to…
Not Since 1974: Kiwi Dollar to Hit Parity with Aussie
The last time it happened Dick Taylor won gold at the 10,000m Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, Hone Tuwhare was awarded the Robert Burns Fellowship for poetry and Bunny Walters…
Sun City Poms Ageing Gracefully in Vivid Colour
When New Zealand-born advertising and fine art photographer Todd Antony was shooting landscapes in the southwestern United States in 2009 he came upon Sun City, Arizona, a…
McGeechan picks England to beat All Blacks
If it was anyone else saying it – a froth-filled Stephen Jones broadside, perhaps – Kiwis would ignore it. But Sir Ian McGeechan, the decorated Scotsman, respected Lions player…
Eating Mince Pies off the Subway in New York
New York’s DUB Pies, run by New Zealander Gareth Hughes, “might be a tiny shop, but so is its specialty – the flaky-crusted savoury hand-made pies that are as…
It happened in NZ first: Oceanic Apocalypse
At first it was dismissed as a freak event. In 1998, a mass of jellyfish carried by the tide into Big Glory Bay, Stewart Island, became pinned against the…
Against The Wind: One of the Greatest Comebacks in Sports History
A major Wall Street Journal feature reported by Stu Woo maps the extraordinary comeback by Jimmy Spithill and Oracle Team USA against Team New Zealand to win the 2013…
Perceptive Debut Novel Immediately Engrossing
Twenty-one-year-old Sebastian Hampson, an art history and literature student at Victoria University, writes with an assurance that belies his years, according to the Australian, and his debut novel The…
Ngai Tahu Investments Pay off
For generations, the Ngai Tahu tribe resembled many other indigenous people around the world: impoverished, virtually landless and experiencing a steady erosion of its language and culture.
However, Ngai Tahu…
Echo Park Band Gets It Right in Los Angeles
New Zealand singer-songwriter, Bradley Hanan Carter (pictured second from left), 33, is founder of Los Angeles sextet, NO which is celebrating the launch of its debut album El Prado…
Swiss Helicopter Wingsuit Flight Caught on Film
Daredevil New Zealand BASEjumper and professional skydiver Dan Vicary was recently filmed leaping from a helicopter over the Silberhorn Mountain in Switzerland, supported only by a nylon wingsuit.
The astonishing…
‘Housebound’ Debuts at SXSW
Is the New Zealand horror-comedy back? At the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, Jermaine Clement and Taika Waititi’s vampire mock doc ‘What We Do in the Shadows’ was…
Crane Brothers One of Australia’s Top Suiters
Sydney clothing store, the New Zealand-owned Crane Brothers, founded by former Zambesi menswear designer Murray Crane, is included in a Sydney Morning Herald feature on the best places in…
New Zealand Stays 4th in the Women in Work Index
13 March 2014 – New Zealand has held on to fourth place in this year’s PwC Women in Work index; ranking higher than Australia (9th) and far higher than…
Twilight Star Dons Dul’s Eco-Tux for Oscars
New Zealand was once again represented on the red carpet at the Oscars with Twilight star Kellan Lutz wearing the Academy Awards first sustainable tuxedo created by Jomnarn Dul,…
Tracing Maori Ancestry for Worldwide Family Tree
Over the past year, Gisborne’s Ngai Tamanuhiri has been participating in the National Geographic’s Genographic Project working closely with Oceania’s genographic principal investigator Lisa Matisoo-Smith who is helping the…
Get out of Your Routine, Says Fitness Exec
Sarah Robb O’Hagan, president of American luxury fitness company Equinox Fitness, is one of six luminaries invited by the Wall Street Journal to weigh in on the question of…
NZ Prepares to Wear ‘Big Boy Pants’
British BBC readers overwhelmingly support New Zealand ditching the last official remnant of its colonial past. A referendum will be held at this year’s election on whether to change…
Overland Journey in a Balloon for the World’s Kids
Hot air balloon pilot Andrew Parker, 30, is attempting a four-year overland journey across more than 100 countries, in which he aims to raise awareness and US$1 million for…
Research Flock Saudi Arabia Bound
New Zealand will export a research flock of sheep to Saudi Arabia this year under a breeding project aimed at bolstering the kingdom’s livestock supplies, according to the National….
Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson Quadskis into Lake Como
Jeremy Clarkson, host of hit BBC show Top Gear, recently drove the New Zealand-designed Quadski, described as “the world’s first personal sports amphibian” vehicle, into Italy’s Lake Como in…
Dame Kiri Returns to Covent Garden Stage
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa has returned to Covent Garden after 17 years for performances of Donizetti’s comedy La Fille du Régiment in the role of the Duchess of Crackentorp.
Te…
Brooklyn DIY Drummer on her Influences
New Zealand-born Fiona Campbell, a long-time participant in the Brooklyn DIY music scene, discusses her admiration for late-00s noise-pop New York band Vivian Girls, for whom Campbell drummed in…
Cuttlebone Works on Display at Melbourne Flower and Garden Show
New Zealand artist Christian Gundesen will display his cuttlebone sculptures at the Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, which runs 26-30 March.
Gundesen, who lives in Rye, 83km south of…
Medal-Winning Weightlifter Heading Minnesota Wine Subsidiary
Former weightlifter and two-time Commonwealth medal winner New Zealander Nigel Avery, 46, is these days marketing his family’s wine in Minnesota. Last year, Avery assumed the role of CEO…
New Zealanders Fight to Pull Back Kakapo from Extinction
7 March 2014 – New Zealanders are pulling out all the stops to save the nation’s second most favourite bird, the kakapo – a friendly, flightless, green…
Virgin Media Boss Building Company up from the Top
The boss of Virgin Media, New Zealander Tom Mockridge, a former senior lieutenant in Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, has been busy since he was installed as chief executive last…
Warner Bros Buys Rights to NZer’s Book with Bradley Cooper to Star
A crime drama based on an upcoming book by New Zealander Ben Sanders called American Blood, has been purchased by Warner Brothers and will star Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper…
New Crustacean Species Could Unlock Secrets of the Deep
Scientists from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) have discovered a new crustacean species in the Chatham Rise east of New Zealand, that may unlock the…
Wellington Crema the Crop!
Wellington, home of the flat white, has been named one of the world’s 8 great coffee cities by CNN, in a list which also includes roasting heavy…
There’s a New Sheriff in Town
New Zealand actor Martin Henderson, 39, stars as sheriff Harold Jensen in Sundance Channel’s new thriller The Red Road.
Dark and dramatic, The Red Road is set in in the…
Egg of Bird Thought Extinct for More than a Century Found in NZ
For the first time, New Zealand scientists say they have found an egg on Little Barrier Island of an endangered bird that had been presumed extinct for more than…
At Home in Manhattan with Makeup Artist Valery Gherman
New Zealand makeup artist Valery Gherman moved to New York 11 years ago and now lives in Manhattan’s famed Peter Cooper Village where he shares a two-bedroom…
Visit the City Reinventing Itself with Art
For those fancying a long-weekend getaway in Christchurch, the Guardian recommends the best places to stay, eat and visit, “touring the extraordinary renewal of the city that survived an…
Kiwi Leads the Trail in Iconic Alaskan Sled-dog Race
A New Zealander was the first musher en route to the town of Nome when the infamous Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race began Sunday.
Otago based Curt Perano and…
Creation Is a Completely Divine Concept, Says Catton
Ahead of appearances at Perth Writers Festival on 22 February and Adelaide Writers’ Week on 1 March, the Guardian’s Vicky Frost met with Booker prize-winning author 28-year-old Eleanor Catton…
Prince George’s First Royal Trip to Be New Zealand
Prince George will take part in his debut public engagement next month when he accompanies the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to New Zealand, Kensington Palace has…
Warriors Season Full of Hope. Again
Every year it’s the same: this time could be the season when the New Zealand Warriors finally deliver on all their promise. The world’s toughest league competition, the NRL,…
Air NZ Soars Above Qantas
The last time Air New Zealand invested in the Australian aviation market, the airline required a Government bail-out to stave off bankruptcy as its subsidiary Ansett fell apart. This…
Springsteen Covers Royals at Mt Smart Stadium
According to Rolling Stone, Bruce Springsteen made the most surprising cover choice of his career when he played an acoustic rendition of teenage Grammy award-winner Lorde’s song Royals during…
Finn’s NY-Inspired Third Album a Whirlwind of Weirdness
This coming May, New Zealand singer-songwriter Liam Finn, 30, will release his third full-length album, The Nihilist, on which Finn plays 67 instruments. Vice magazine’s music channel…
New Book Describes Athens Before the Bubble Burst
In his book Athens – The Truth: Searching for Manos, Just Before the Bubble Burst, New Zealand author David Cade describes his time in the city during the summer…
Miami Concert a Fine Showcase for Young Conductor
The “clear beat and enthusiasm” of New Jersey Symphony’s assistant conductor New Zealand-born Gemma New, “charged up the Miami Symphony’s crackling brass and percussion sections”, at the orchestra’s “Valentine…
Meticulous Coach Adds Polish to Irish Flair
When 48-year-old New Zealander Joe Schmidt was being lined up to take charge of Leinster in 2010, he met the province’s captain Leo Cullen and Test fly-half Jonny Sexton…
International Stage for NZ Writing
Acclaimed literature almanac, the Griffith Review, has devoted an entire issue to New Zealand poetry, fiction, non-fiction, art and photography. Award-winning author of Mister Pip, Lloyd Jones, has been…
Debut Radio Single Heavy Seas Rolling out in UK
With a voice described as “Bowie meets Bono”, New Zealand-born Thom Cross will release his debut radio single Heavy Sea, mixed by Grammy Award-winning producer Guy Massey of Manic…
Kiwi Whisky Judged One of the Greats
A top-shelf tipple from the planet’s southern-most country has been named as one of the world’s best by a global whisky expert, Jim Murray. The flagship 21-year-old South Island…
Whare Kea Lodge Amongst the World’s Best Hotel Dining
Wanaka’s Whare Kea Lodge restaurant is one of the world’s best hotel restaurants according to the Sydney Morning Herald’s Ute Junker. It is included alongside New York’s Nomad Hotel…
Promoting an Egalitarian Workplace with a Global Approach
Originally from Hastings, Todd Lauchlan, 41, is Indonesia country head at property consulting company Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). He talks with the Jakarta Post about his role at the…
Lorde & the Perfectly Formed Sentence
Ella Yellich-O’Connor stares at the reader from the pages of Vogue magazine looking wraithlike, almost like another famous alien fallen to earth. This Lorde looks quite unlike the girl…
Exceptional Mountain Biking Trails Abound
New Zealand “boasts exceptional mountain biking” according to Men’s Journal, which includes a feature on our best trails, saying that local “fat tyre offerings are too often overlooked by…
Top Burger from NZ’s Adventure Capital
The CNN is having a dilemma. It’s toying with the idea that the best burger joint might not be on the streets of New York or Los Angeles, but…
Rose McIver Stars in Flowers in the Attic TV Sequel
Twenty-six-year-old Rose McIver has been confirmed to play the role of Cathy Dollanganger in Petals on the Wind, American cable network Lifetime’s upcoming sequel to its hit adaptation of…
Serial Entrepreneur Forging His Own Online Spice Routes
New Zealand-born James Lillis, 37, is the founder of Black Milk, “one of the fastest-growing Australian clothing companies you’ve never heard of, selling more than 1000 garments a day,”…
Pioneering People Who Value Community Rebuild a Theatre
How the Court Theatre rose from the rubble of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake is described by its chief executive Philip Aldridge for the Guardian’s “Culture Professionals Network” series.
“[After the…
