News of New Zealanders via Global Media

Surprise Advance and BBC Film Deal for NZ Author

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 living as a jobbing non-fiction…

Waiheke Island a Paradise for Art Lovers

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 Time Out Dubai. In an…

Not Since 1974: Kiwi Dollar to Hit Parity with Aussie

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 topped the charts with his…

Sun City Poms Ageing Gracefully in Vivid Colour

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 desert retirement community of approximately…

McGeechan picks England to beat All Blacks

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 and venerated coach, is a…

Eating Mince Pies off the Subway in New York

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 popular as both bagels and…

It happened in NZ first: Oceanic Apocalypse

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 netting of salmon farm pens:…

Against The Wind: One of the Greatest Comebacks in Sports History

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 America’s Cup on San Francisco…

Perceptive Debut Novel Immediately Engrossing

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 Train to Paris, inspired by…

Ngai Tahu Investments Pay off

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 have now turned their situation…

Echo Park Band Gets It Right in Los Angeles

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 with a tour at legendary…

Swiss Helicopter Wingsuit Flight Caught on Film

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 footage was taken by American…

‘Housebound’ Debuts at SXSW

‘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 one of the strongest in…

Crane Brothers One of Australia’s Top Suiters

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 Australia to buy a suit. “No…

New Zealand Stays 4th in the Women in Work Index

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 America (16th) and the UK…

Twilight Star Dons Dul’s Eco-Tux for Oscars

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, 23, lead designer at iconic…

Tracing Maori Ancestry for Worldwide Family Tree

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 iwi learn more about their…

Get out of Your Routine, Says Fitness Exec

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 power. The New Zealander is…

NZ Prepares to Wear ‘Big Boy Pants’

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 the flag, which features the…

Overland Journey in a Balloon for the World’s Kids

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 the UNICEF Flying…

Research Flock Saudi Arabia Bound

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. Pregnant ewes and lamb will…

Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson Quadskis into Lake Como

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 a race against co-presenter Richard…

Dame Kiri Returns to Covent Garden Stage

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 Kanawa celebrated her 70th birthday…

Brooklyn DIY Drummer on her Influences

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 2010. Formerly of Auckland, Campbell left…

Cuttlebone Works on Display at Melbourne Flower and Garden Show

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 Melbourne, moved to the seaside…

Medal-Winning Weightlifter Heading Minnesota Wine Subsidiary

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 for the subsidiary

New Zealanders Fight to Pull Back Kakapo from Extinction

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 feathered parrot that teeters on…

Virgin Media Boss Building Company up from the Top

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 June. For much of the…

Warner Bros Buys Rights to NZer’s Book with Bradley Cooper to Star

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 who will also produce. At least…

New Crustacean Species Could Unlock Secrets of the Deep

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 secrets of the deep sea. NIWA…

Wellington Crema the Crop!

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 weights Melbourne, Rome and Seattle. There’s…

There’s a New Sheriff in Town

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 fictional town of Walpole, New…

Egg of Bird Thought Extinct for More than a Century Found in NZ

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 a century. The storm petrel is…

At Home in Manhattan with Makeup Artist Valery Gherman

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 apartment with Canadian photographer Derek…

Visit the City Reinventing Itself with Art

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 earthquake”. “There’s no camouflaging the damage,”…

Kiwi Leads the Trail in Iconic Alaskan Sled-dog Race

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 68 other mushers began the…

Creation Is a Completely Divine Concept, Says Catton

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 to talk about her next…

Prince George’s First Royal Trip to Be New Zealand

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 announced. The Prince, who will be…

Warriors Season Full of Hope. Again

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, kicks off on Thursday, with…

Air NZ Soars Above Qantas

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 time round, it’s Air New…

Springsteen Covers Royals at Mt Smart Stadium

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 his Auckland show at Mt…

Finn’s NY-Inspired Third Album a Whirlwind of Weirdness

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 Noisey premieres the new video…

New Book Describes Athens Before the Bubble Burst

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 of 2009 as startling reports…

Miami Concert a Fine Showcase for Young Conductor

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 Fiesta” in February. “With a colourful…

Meticulous Coach Adds Polish to Irish Flair

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 at a Dublin hotel as…

International Stage for NZ Writing

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 brought in as guest editor…

Debut Radio Single Heavy Seas Rolling out in UK

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 Street Preachers fame. London-based Cross talked…

Kiwi Whisky Judged One of the Greats

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 Single Malt has been adjudged…

Whare Kea Lodge Amongst the World’s Best Hotel Dining

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 and London’s Mandarin-Oriental Hotel, where…

Promoting an Egalitarian Workplace with a Global Approach

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 firm and how an egalitarian…

Lorde & the Perfectly Formed Sentence

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 from Devonport who improbably conquered…

Exceptional Mountain Biking Trails Abound

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 adventure-seekers rushing toward the beach…

Top Burger from NZ’s Adventure Capital

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 in small town New Zealand. After…

Rose McIver Stars in Flowers in the Attic TV Sequel

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 Virginia Andrews’s Flowers in the…

Serial Entrepreneur Forging His Own Online Spice Routes

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,” Glenda Korporaal writes in a…

Pioneering People Who Value Community Rebuild a Theatre

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 earthquake on the morning of…