Panicked Super Rich Buying up NZ Bolt Holes
Hedge fund managers are buying up remote stations and land in places like New Zealand to flee to in the event of civil uprising against growing inequality, it has been claimed. With growing inequality and…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Geologists Solve Tectonic Mystery with Explosives
Local geologists may have finally explained how tectonic plates shift by blowing up hundreds of kilograms of dynamite in a 100km line from Glendhu Rocks in the Wairarapa to Queen Elizabeth Park on the…
Atea Oceanie a Cool Brand of Insouciance Hard to Beat
In just two years of being, the London-based womenswear label Atea Oceanie, founded by New Zealander Laura Myers, has risen through the ranks with its clever fusion of sportswear and fashion, Wallpaper magazine reports. Armed…
‘Theory Of Everything’s Anthony McCarten & Working Title Set Winston Churchill WWII Epic
After The Theory Of Everything garnered five Oscar nominations including Best Picture, writer-producer Anthony McCarten has signed a deal to work alongside producer Lisa Bruce and Working Title partners Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan…
Bill Culbert’s Exhibition Most Engaging to Hit Sydney in Years
“The work of internationally acclaimed, New Zealand-born, France-based artist Bill Culbert has the potential to change the way you shop as well as the way you view art,” begins Nicholas Forrest in a review…
Anna Smaill’s Debut Novel Communicated Through Music
New Zealand poet Anna Smaill’s debut novel The Chimes, reviewed in the Independent, is “dystopian fiction but not quite as we know it.” “Smaill draws on her training as a classical violinist to create a…
Singer Brooke Fraser Sheds Her Pop Folk Skin
Following a trio of successful folk-pop albums, Wellington-born singer Brooke Fraser, 31, re-emerged in 2014 with Brutal Romantic, a collection of dark, nervy electronica that doesn’t easily invite reductive descriptors like “organic” or “rootsy.” A…
Damaged Christchurch Mirrors Relationship in New Film
The feature-length Sunday, which has its Australian premiere at the 9th Byron Bay Film Festival, is set in Christchurch a year after the 2011 earthquake, where scenes of damage, poignancy and hope provide a…
Planting Trees in Public Spaces Leads to Healthier Society
University of Canterbury research has suggested that planting trees in public places could lead to a healthier society. The university research analysed the activities of 12,500 New Zealanders and found people living near parks and…
Danielle Cormack’s Toughest Role Yet
Auckland-born actor Logie-nominated Danielle Cormack, 44, came to the attention of Australian audiences playing a feisty and imperious solicitor in the ABC drama Rake. The character that followed in Underbelly: Razor was no shrinking…
ACT MLA Meegan Fitzharris Sworn in at Assembly
Incoming ACT Legislative Assembly member New Zealand-born Meegan Fitzharris introduced herself as “the first MLA from Gungahlin” at her maiden speech delivered when the former bureaucrat and government staffer was sworn in…
Stephen Hunter’s On-screen Transformations Continue
You might not recognise New Zealand actor Stephen Hunter, 46, from one of his biggest film roles without a bushy red beard, a huge, ring-shaped plait of red hair and a lot of bulky…
New Zealand New Festival to Wow New Yorkers
New Zealand gang culture, the art of sleep and a man who believes he is the key to putting another Clinton in the White House are among the offerings slated for the
Wellington Acting like a City but Loving like a Village
Wellington, which celebrates its 150th year as New Zealand’s capital, has a funky, creative vibe, which comes in part from a strong community feel. These characteristics make it one of the BBC’s 2015 “Hottest…
Jemaine Clement Stars as Israeli Fixer Opposite Sam Rockwell
The Utah filmmakers who begat Napoleon Dynamite made a triumphant return to the Sundance Film Festival with New Zealand actor Jemaine Clement playing opposite American funnyman Sam Rockwell in Don Verdean, a movie about…
Martin Basher Causing Big Waves in the Art World
New York-based New Zealander Martin Basher, 35, is included in an Art Collector magazine feature about the work of artists who have caught the eye of collectors and achieved commercially successful sell-out exhibitions. “There’s immediate…
Scott Dixon Sets Crazy Pace Winning Daytona’s Rolex 24
New Zealand’s most famous speedster, three-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon (pictured right), was the key to team Ganassi wining the prestigious annual Rolex 24 at Daytona on 25 January, according to team members. Dixon, 34,…
Australian Tech Millionaires Hold Queenstown Secret Summit
Some of Australia’s best-known tech millionaires were in Queenstown recently at a mysterious meet-up where the requirement for entry was having a company valued at over $100 million. Among the invitees were Seek co-founder Paul…
Cricket Legend Martin Donnelly Remembered in Warwickshire
Legendary New Zealand batsman, Ngaruawahia-born Martin Donnelly, who also briefly played rugby for England, was a member of the Warwickshire County Cricket Club in the late 1940s impressing local fans with his skill. “As a…
Routeburn Track a Spectacle of Jaw-Dropping Scenery
For the ultimate adventure the Wall Street Journal recommends escaping into the “supersize spectacle” of one of New Zealand’s nine Great Walks for a tramp along the 32-km Routeburn Track. Journal correspondent Robin Kawakami (pictured)…
Sundance Comedy Immeasurably Funnier with Jemaine Clement
Jemaine Clement plays the lead role in indie romantic comedy People, Places, Things as penny-pinched New York graphic novelist Will Henry who is struggling upstream with life and the numerous females in his orbit,…
Kate McIntosh’s Joyous Creation Hits Vancouver Festival
New Zealand-born Belgium-based dancer and conceptual performance artist Kate McIntosh took her “favourite theatrical creation” Dark Matter to this year’s PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, one of Vancouver’s signature events. “It’s a joyous,…
Eleanor Catton Blasts Critics’ Jingoistic National Tantrum
Award-winning author Eleanor Catton has hit back at figures in New Zealand who reacted with anger to her criticisms of the country’s “neoliberal, profit-obsessed, very shallow, very money-hungry politicians”, describing the vicious attacks she…
New Zealand Hails Expert For Crowned Chinese Scientist Award
Dr. Phil Rolston, senior scientist at New Zealand’s AgResearch Lincoln institute, has been awarded China’s top science prize for his work in farming. Dr. Rolston, received the award at a ceremony hosted in Beijing earlier…
RBNZ Wins Central Bank Of The Year Award
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand, which led industrialised nations in first starting to raise rates after the financial crisis, has won the Central Bank of the Year award. The kiwi is now approaching…
Alice Mabin Captures Historic Cattle Drive in Bestselling Book
New Zealander Alice Mabin is as comfortable on the back of a horse as she is behind a camera and is living her dream in a world where those two loves collide, battling the…
Rob Tucker’s Still Lifes a Highlight of NY’s Outsider Art Fair
According to Vogue, 27-year-old Devonport artist Rob Tucker’s still-life paintings were one of the highlights at New York’s Outsider Art Fair on from 29 January through 1 February. Tucker uses whatever materials he…
How Irish Zoologist Suzanne Burns Fell in Love with NZ
There are many “weird, wild and wonderful aspects to living in New Zealand” that have made Irish woman Suzanne Burns, 40, fall “hopelessly in love with the country.” Burns, a zoologist and wildlife guide…
Bloody Good Film: A Biting New Zealand Comedy Takes America
Film Comment, the magazine of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, has its January/February cover boy a blood-drenched Jemaine Clement from What We Do in the Shadows. Co-written, co-directed and co-starring Clement…
Revised Views of World War One’s Bloodiest Conflict
As the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign approaches, the Smithsonian Magazine looks back at one of the bloodiest conflicts of World War I, which claimed the lives of 2721 New Zealand soldiers –…
Outflanking the Tolkien Fans on Tongariro
Before Peter Jackson and his film crew rolled into town, Mount Doom went by the humble name of Mount Ngauruhoe, the fearsome volcano which forms the centrepiece of New Zealand’s Tongariro Alpine Crossing, the…
Near-Death Experience Inspiration for Mark Major’s Game
Seven years after New Zealander Mark Major, 28, fell down a 9m-deep hole in Beijing and broke his back, he has turned his near-death experience into a tongue-in-cheek mobile game called, Plummet Free Fall,…
Riding a Whole New World of BMX Clay Trails at PMP
For a trails rider, an appealing aspect of New Zealand is the PMP trails, located not far from the bustling metropolis of Auckland. This sculpted greatness is a dramatic clay theme park…
Spiderways Plots with Helium Balloon Record-Breakers
New Zealand company Spidertracks, which specialises in airline tracking equipment, recently partnered with the pilots of helium-filled balloon expedition Two Eagles, enabling the American and Russian pair to set a world record. Spidertracks,…
Te Papa’s Autochrome Collection Illuminates the Everyday
Lissa Mitchell, curator of historical documentary photography at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, explores the work of three photographers creating autochromes in early 20th-century New Zealand. Mitchell’s writing features on the…
Peter the Great’s Hobbit Premieres in China
Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson was joined by Weta Workshop’s Richard Taylor (pictured far left) in Beijing for the Chinese premiere of the final Hobbit installment on 19 January. This was Jackson’s final stop on his…
Arbitration Stars Audley Sheppard and Wendy Miles Made QCs
New Zealand arbitrators, Clifford Chance construction disputes partner Audley Sheppard (pictured) and Boies Schiller & Flexner partner Wendy Miles, feature among the five leading solicitors on the latest Queen’s Counsel list in England and…
Graeme Simsion and Wife Anne Buist Literary Double Act
Auckland-born author Graeme Simsion and Anne Buist are Australia’s hottest literary couple, according to the Age, spurring on each other to keep the words – and surprises – coming. Buist is showing signs of nerves…
Pat Lamb Stays on at His Transformed Connacht Club
New Zealand-born head coach Pat Lam, 46, has transformed Galway’s Connacht club from a development side for provincial rugby players to one genuinely competing with the best teams in UK’s Guinness PRO12 competition. And the…
Art of Learning Author Lance King Motivating Kids in Bermuda
Author of educational programme the Art of Learning, New Zealander Lance King, has been invited to address students and their parents in Bermuda at the country’s oldest school, Warwick Academy. King has delivered his programme…
Tesla Co-Founder Ian Wright Has More Electric Ideas
A decade ago, New Zealander Ian Wright and a few tech-minded buddies got together bent on creating a fast and cool electric car. They called the company Tesla Motors. Now, Wright is…
New Zealand Baches Get a Luxury Makeover
A bach on the beach has long been the embodiment of the New Zealand dream, with the traditional version often a modest structure haphazardly pieced together with corrugated iron and reused timber. Lance and Nicola…
Meet John Bougen the World’s Best-Travelled Man
Thirteen years after he began exploring the globe, New Zealander John Bougen expects to be named the world’s best-travelled man by the end of the year. And he knows who to thank. “I had the…
Snowmaker Mark Eldring Skips Summers for Colorado Slopes
Snowmaker and groomer Mark Eldring, 32, originally from Mount Maunganui, has experienced one summer in the last nine years opting for winters instead shaping slopes around the world. Eldring is part of a small crew…
Julian Robertson’s Legacy from Hedge Funds to NZ
Billionaire Julian Robertson is renowned on Wall Street for being a pioneer in the hedge-fund industry in the 1980s and, more recently, for being a philanthropist who is giving much of his fortune away…
Amos Chapple Couldn’t Resist Shooting in the Coldest Place on Earth
New Zealand photographer Amos Chapple says he shoots travel photos aimed at the news sections of papers and which need a headline to hang a story on. It got down to -31 degrees Centigrade…
Tabby Besley to Be Honoured by the Queen for LGBTI Advocacy
At just 22, Tabby Besley is set to be honoured by the Queen for her work for the LGBTI community, the only New Zealander to be awarded the inaugural Queen’s Young Leader award, a…
Jane Campion’s Sweetie a Beautifully Strange Debut
Writer-director Jane Campion’s “mysterious visual style was showcased” in her 1989 film debut Sweetie, a “left field story about the love-hate relationship between two sisters,” the Guardian’s Luke Buckmaster writes. “Campion has made a career…
Animation Tutor Oana Croitoru Wins International 3D Print Comp
Aucklander Oana Croitoru, aka “Oana Jones”, has won first prize in the MakerBot Ghostly Vinyl Challenge for her hand-cranked record player featuring a 3D printed 15 cm-cube turntable. Croitoru is a tutor at Auckland’s Animation…
Michael Wayne Plant Named One of Six Imaging Ambassadors
Sony UK has announced that New Zealand-born Michael Wayne Plant has been named one of six photographers to join its Imaging Ambassadors programme, which is run on Sony’s behalf by the World…
Oscar Nominations for Screenwriter Anthony McCarten
Among the five Oscar nominations announced for the Stephen Hawking biopic The Theory Of Everything came a nod for New Plymouth-born producer and screenwriter Anthony McCarten. McCarten has been nominated twice as co-producer and…
Poet Lang Leav Offering up More Romance
Best-selling poet and artist Lang Leav has just released her second collection of poems, Lullabies. The New Zealander cemented her name in publishing history with a Best Poetry win at the Goodreads…
Meet the New Zealand Opera Trio That Outsold Lorde
Lorde may be the greatest New Zealand musical export of 2013, but back home, she’s got competition. The members of the improbably popular operatic trio Sol3 Mio, buck all the current trends in the…
Oamaru Embracing the Steampunk Vibe
Technology blog Boing Boing visits “amazing steampunk town” Oamaru, which though “probably best known for its large colony of blue penguins”, is also the steampunk capital of New Zealand. “Oamaru has fully embraced the steampunk…
Peter Jackson Embarking on WWI Museum Project
Peter Jackson is leaving the battle for Middle Earth behind to dive into some real-world war history curating a collection of artifacts at a new museum in Wellington. The temporary museum will open in…
Malaghan Institute Observes Extraordinary Cell Transfer
New Zealand and Australian scientists have observed DNA moving between animal cells in a breakthrough discovery that may lead to a better understanding of a range of human diseases and new gene therapies. The team…
