Aves Appreciation Rubs off on Sydney Writer
It seems like “every single” New Zealander has some kind of “bird madness”, and Sydney writer Rebecca Shaw has now determined that she too is “infected”, “and loving it”. Shaw reports on her new-found…
Tag Archives: Guardian (The)
Trailblazing Georgina Beyer Dedicated to Community
Georgina Beyer, a former actor, drag performer, sex worker and radio host who pulled off a surprise victory as a Labour MP and later played a pivotal role in decriminalising prostitution, has died in…
Musician Jen Cloher Embraces Māori Heritage
With haka chants and ancient proverbs, Australian musician Jen Cloher connected deeply with Māori culture for their new album, I Am the River, The River Is Me – another personal reckoning after understanding their…
How The Fall Nearly Sank Flying Nun
When the New Zealand indie label Flying Nun got a chance to record a live album by Manchester band the Fall, the tensions fraying the group almost destroyed the record company – as documented…
Brendon McCullum Embraces Rugby Roots
Brendon McCullum’s former rugby coach and mentor at Kings High School, Darryl Paterson, reveals the ‘incredible self-belief’ the England cricket coach showed as a six-hitting, hard-partying youngster, Ali Martin reports for The Guardian. From a…
Eleanor Catton’s Latest Has a Serious Message
It has been 10 years since New Zealander Eleanor Catton became, at 28, the youngest writer to be awarded the Booker prize, Lisa Allardice writes in a profile piece for The Guardian. Her third…
Our Musical Counterculture Like No Other
“Cut off from the ‘swinging’ innovations of 60s London, a generation of New Zealand musicians forged an underground scene that propelled the nation’s modern identity,” Garth Cartwright writes for The Guardian. “For a nation now…
Kimbra on the Ups and Downs of Fame
At just 21, the New Zealand musician Kimbra became famous for her part in smash-hit duet Somebody That I Used to Know. So what happened after? The Guardian’s Katie Cunningham checks in with the…
Life on Scott Base Shared via TikTok
As part of the Guardian series ‘Life on the edge’, Scott Base redevelopment manager Matthew Jordan talks to Eva Corlett about what it’s like to live inside New Zealand’s Antarctica headquarters. “My work is supporting…
Why Katherine Mansfield Still Divides Opinion
In an edited extract from her foreword to Wild Places: Selected Stories by Katherine Mansfield, English author Helen Simpson asks: “How and why did Katherine Mansfield provoke such violent extremes of admiration and hostility, both…
Monica Galetti Took a Risk and Made It in London
New Zealand chef Monica Galetti, 47, speaks to The Guardian about her childhood in Samoa, controlling her temper, meeting the Queen and forgetting to curtsey. “Mum worked in New Zealand to provide for our family….
Pioneering Physicist Mark Warner a Selfless Mentor
We are all familiar with elastic bands and other soft, rubbery materials, but familiarity should not diminish our surprise at their properties. What other solids can be stretched many times their original length without…
Auckland Couple with New Baby Looks Ahead
Tuesday 15 November 2022 marked the day that the global population reached 8 billion, according to the United Nations. The impact of this is far-reaching, putting additional pressure on already stretched resources and challenging…
Cult Guitarist Roy Montgomery Records New Music
Beloved by the likes of Dry Cleaning and Grouper, New Zealand guitarist Roy Montgomery’s life has been hit by more than one tragedy, stories he traces in meditative instrumentals, Stevie Chick writes in a…
The Night Aotearoa Won More than a Rugby Match
“The Women’s Rugby World Cup was a milestone for seeing Māori culture and worldview deeply embedded in Aotearoa’s national identity,” Tāmaki Makaurau- Auckland-based photojournalist and writer Cornell Tukiri (Ngaati Hikairo, Ngaati Whaawhaakia, Kāi Tahu)…
New Zealand Win Women’s Rugby World Cup
“This was the biggest game of women’s rugby ever played and, somehow, it exceeded even that lofty billing. New Zealand are the Rugby World Cup champions but only after a quite stunning contest that…
Pandemic Responses to Music from The Beths
“Thanks in large part to an early 80s explosion of talent centred on Dunedin, and shared with the world via the Flying Nun label, New Zealand played a pivotal role in the evolution of…
Singing Shared Just How Marlon Williams Likes It
Group singing has been central to New Zealander Marlon Williams’ life, journalist and author Jenny Valentish writes for The Guardian. He likens it to a spiritual practice, “without the theory or having to worry…
World Media Reacts as Wallabies Crushed by ABs
The All Blacks clinched the Rugby Championship title after once more dishing up a dose of misery to the Wallabies at fortress Eden Park, Stuff sports reporters write. The media website provides reactions to…
New Zealand Mourns Death of Queen Elizabeth II
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has remembered Queen Elizabeth II as “extraordinary” in remarks echoed by leaders across the political spectrum as the country marked its first day of mourning for the monarch’s death, Charlotte…
Jacinda Ardern Implores Nuclear Weapons States
“Our world is at greater risk of nuclear catastrophe than at any time since the height of the cold war. Growing superpower tensions and two decades of stalled progress on arms control have pushed…
Margaret Urlich a True and Rare Talent
Auckland-born Margaret Urlich, an Aria award-winning singer and one of New Zealand’s most successful musicians, has died at her home in New South Wales’ Southern Highlands, aged 57. Michael Sun of The Guardian looks…
Inspirational Dancer Rodney Bell Tours Meremere
The love of Rodney Bell’s life is his lightweight titanium wheelchair. It is his partner in dance and an extension of his body, allowing him to weave into his performances the elements of earth,…
Conchord Bret McKenzie on His Serious Solo Debut
He has written duets for man and Muppet, parodied Morrissey in The Simpsons, and become Hollywood’s go-to for bringing ‘heart’ to the movies. Now Academy Award-winning Wellington musician Bret McKenzie, 46, is ready to…
Why Is Jacinda Ardern More Popular Overseas?
In 2017, Jacindamania swept the world. A young, charismatic New Zealander led the Labour party to victory. But lately, Ardern and the New Zealand Labour government have slumped in the polls. In this episode…
Country Queen Tami Neilson at Her Imperious Best
“She’s laden with every music award her adopted homeland New Zealand can muster, but the queen of Kiwi country deserves a wider audience,” The Observer’s Neil Spencer writes in a review…
High Praise for Lorde’s London Night Out
Lorde is Kitty Empire’s ‘Artist of the Week’, The Guardian reviewer deeming the pop singer’s sold-out Alexandra Palace concert a “magnificent night out”. “By turns tearful and rocking out, the New Zealand star is on…
Chantelle Nicholson’s Apricity Airy and Elegant
New Zealander Chantelle Nicholson’s new London restaurant Apricity is “staffed by mellow, thoughtful, industrious types who genuinely care about how the restaurant scene affects our planet”, Guardian critic Grace Dent writes. “This is an airy,…
The Boys Star Karl Urban On New Superhero Status
Although Amazon’s The Boys is an ensemble show, Stuart Heritage writes for The Guardian, with a sprawling collection of superheroes and antihero vigilantes, New Zealander Karl Urban has emerged as the show’s lead. His…
How the Soldiers Who Met Harold Gillies Recovered
A history of pioneering first world war plastic surgeon Harold Gillies gives due weight to the stories of the men he treated, The Guardian’s Wendy Moore writes in a review of a new book…
Taika Waititi Portrait Wins Packing Room Prize
Sydney-based artist Claus Stangl has taken out one of Australia’s top art honours with his portrait of Academy Award-winning director Taika Waititi, The Guardian reports. Stangl won the packing room prize, a sub-category of the…
Author Meg Mason in Running for Women’s Prize
Sydney-based New Zealander Meg Mason, American Louise Erdrich, and Turkish-Briton Elif Shafak are among the contenders for this year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction, offering an ‘escape’ from global crises, Lucy Knight reports for The…
Yuki Kihara Celebrates Samoa’s Third Gender
Representing New Zealand at the Venice Biennale, the Samoan-New Zealand artist is foregrounding Samoa’s fa’afafine and transgender communities, and the climate crisis hidden from tourists, Jinghua Qian writes for The Guardian. Curated by Natalie…
Fiordland Bookseller Ruth Shaw’s Extraordinary Life
New Zealander Ruth Shaw has embodied many roles throughout her life: pig farmer, navy deserter, solo sailor, illegal gambler, environmentalist, chef to archbishops, psychiatric patient, failed escort. She’s been arrested twice and married four…
Ali Smith Discusses Mansfield, Woolf and War
In a piece for The Guardian, Orwell Prize winning author Ali Smith looks at how the first world war forced writers Katherine Mansfield and Virginia Woolf to rip up convention – and asks if…
Becky Manawatu’s Auē an Enthralling Bestseller
Things have gone right for New Zealand author Becky Manawatu. “Spectacularly,” Tina Makeriti writes in a review for The Guardian. “Unusually for a first book, Auē won New Zealand’s most lucrative fiction prize, the…
Andrew Barnes is Revolutionizing the Work Week
Andrew Barnes is speaking to Guardian journalist Tess McClure from one of his vineyards on Waiheke Island. On the scale of a globe, it’s a speck of land off the coast of a dot,…
In Awards Month Jane Campion Profiled
Ahead of the Baftas and Oscar ceremonies later this month, New Zealand film director Jane Campion and her director of photography, Australian Ari Wegner, discuss their nominations, filming through the pandemic – and what…
Mainstream Cottons on to Talented Melanie Lynskey
After 30 years of critical acclaim, but not mainstream fame, New Zealand-born actor Melanie Lynskey is getting noticed and it feels very, very strange to her. Her show, Yellowjackets, has steadily become a hit….
Peter Jackson’s Beatles Epic Unmissable
“Nonplussed coppers, 60s London panoramas and the fab four very much alive … Peter Jackson’s film is moving and unmissable,” according to Guardian reviewer Peter Bradshaw, who rates the series five out of five…
Wānaka’s Nico Porteous Takes Gold in Beijing
Nico Porteous has dropped the curtain on New Zealand’s greatest Winter Games, overcoming the elements and a field of established champions to win the Olympic freeski halfpipe title, Bryan Armen Graham writes for The…
Rower Hamish Bond Retires After Three Olympic Golds
Dunedin-born Hamish Bond, 35, has announced his retirement from rowing, bringing down the curtain on a glittering career during which he became the first New Zealand man to win gold at three consecutive Olympics,…
Commentator Niki Bezzant Writes on Menopause
An edited extract from New Zealander Niki Bezzant’s book This Changes Everything: The Honest Guide to Menopause and Perimenopause, was recently published in The Guardian. “For centuries the symptoms of menopause were documented, but women…
The Power of the Dog Among Worthy Globe Winners
Jane Campion’s “handsome, complex and brilliant” western The Power of the Dog won best picture (drama) and best director at this year’s Golden Globes, along with best supporting actor for “the excellent” Kodi Smit-McPhee,…
Newcastle United Sign Striker Chris Wood
New Zealand striker Chris Wood has readily admitted he never envisaged a club triggering the £25m release clause in his contract at Burnley but, once Newcastle United activated it, he felt powerless to say…
Predator Free 2050 a Force for Nature
“Across the world conservation groups, researchers and volunteers are working to combat the key drivers of biodiversity loss identified by scientists,” Max Benato writes for The Guardian in a story that looks at “five…
Rose Matafeo Arguably Breakout Star of 2021
After winning a New Zealand international comedy festival award for stand-up in 2007, at the age of 15, Rose Matafeo has conquered just about everything she has ever attempted, Stuart Heritage writes for The…
On the Hunt for Lost South Island Kōkako
Birdwatchers around the world are being called on to turn detective and help in a search for some of the rarest birds on Earth, including New Zealand’s South Island kōkako, last seen in 2007. The…
Antarctic Explorers’ Logbook Found at MetService
“Priceless” artefacts linked to Antarctic explorers Ernest Shackleton and Captain Robert Falcon Scott have been unearthed in a surprise discovery within a dark storage room of New Zealand’s meteorological service, Eva Corlett reports for…
Angela Tiatia Shows at Massive Matisse Exhibition
In the accompanying exhibition to the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ new blockbuster exhibition Matisse: Life & Spirit, contemporary artists, including New Zealander Angela Tiatia, re-contextualise, challenge and complicate the modern master’s art…
Film-Making Set Jane Campion Free
New Zealand’s “trailblazing director” Jane Campion speaks to The Guardian’s Sean O’Hagan about how the #MeToo movement inspired her first feature in more than a decade, “revisionist western”, The Power of the Dog. That it…
Peter Jackson Takes Us into the Locked Beatles Vault
Ahead of his epic series Get Back, the New Zealand director Peter Jackson reveals the secrets of 60 hours of intimate, unseen footage of the Fab Four – and why it turns everything we…
Wagner’s Ring Cycle Gets Bold Samoan Rework
Here is an insane undertaking: a small London-based arts collective, Gafa, run by singers of Samoan heritage, putting on a complete Ring cycle – four vast operas, almost 15 hours of music – in…
What’s On Thomasin McKenzie’s Cultural Radar?
Wellington-born actor Thomasin McKenzie, who plays the lead in Edgar Wright’s Last Night in Soho, is interviewed for The Observer’s regular column, ‘On my radar’, one person’s snapshot of their current cultural life. Acting since…
Cricketing Pioneer Grace Gooder an Unsung Hero
Auckland-born Grace Gooder took six English wickets in one innings, yet was never picked for New Zealand again. Instead, she became a psychiatric nurse and spent her life caring for prisoners. In a story…
Monica Galetti Has Always Loved the Kitchen
Samoan-born New Zealand chef and Masterchef: The Professionals judge Monica Galetti talks about the making of an umu and how to use Marmite with The Guardian’s Tim Lewis, and discusses her move from the kitchen…
