Aotearoa New Zealand Review of Books

Asian Fiction Literary Fiction Novel

U.X.O.
by Brannavan Gnanalingam

A powerful exploration of a civil war and the 'act of forgetting'.

Himali McInnesSeptember 25, 2026

Fiction Literary Fiction Novel Science Fiction Speculative Fiction

kluge
by Pip Adam

The human, inhuman and 'unchecked power' in 'a digital, late-stage capitalist world'

Maya Jackson-LiewSeptember 10, 2026

Poetry

Beyond the Border by Owen Marshall and The Interview Rose by Elizabeth Smither

New collections of 'brief frames' from two of our most celebrated writers

Sophie van WaardenbergSeptember 2, 2026

Fiction Literary Fiction Novel Science Fiction Speculative Fiction

Nova
by Tim Corballis

A 'self-contained world launched into deep time' begins to fall apart.

August ElworthyJuly 29, 2026

Art Biography Music Nonfiction Photography

The Clean: in the dreamlife you need a rubber soul
by Richard Langston

A story of psychedelia, darkness and being artist outsiders 'in a country that didn’t always embrace them'.

Philip MatthewsJuly 17, 2026

Fiction Literary Fiction Mystery Noir Novel

LIT
by Anna Woods

An artful debut about suspicion and obsession in a moneyed, manipulative Auckland

Rebecca HillJune 24, 2026

Māori Memoir Nonfiction

Te Kaikaukau / The Swimmer
by Witi Ihimaera Smiler

A year of te reo immersion, and 'delirious, superb voyaging beyond the words to the worlds they came from.'

Pamela MorrowJune 10, 2026

Essays History Nonfiction Society

The Good Settler
by Richard Shaw

'What many of us want to leave is not this place but its past': essays on interrogating the national narrative.

Stephanie JohnsonJune 5, 2026

LGBTQIA+Memoir Nonfiction

What We Remember, What We Forget
by Siobhan Harvey

Working out the 'puzzle of the past' in an intimate, often painful memoir.

Sara BucherJune 3, 2026

Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Māori Novel

The Other Catherine
by Lauren Keenan

A century-spanning novel about 'the forgotten women, Māori and Pākehā,' in turbulent times.

Rebecca HillMay 27, 2026

Asian Fiction Literary Fiction Novel Pasifika

Banjara
by Shana Chandra

A 'captivating debut novel' that explores the psychic trauma of migration from India to Fiji and Aotearoa.

Cybonn AngMay 20, 2026

Poetry

The Ballad of Joe Taihape by Glenn Colquhoun and Perverse Verse by Michael Gould

Ballads, bites and rule-bending.

James LittlewoodMay 7, 2026

Fiction Literary Fiction Novel

The End and the Beginning
by K. J. Holdom

A charged debut about young boys sent to fight in the last days of World War II.

John PrinsApril 24, 2026

Memoir Nonfiction

Night, Ma
by Elizabeth Knox

A remarkable memoir of a 'period of calamity after calamity, in rapid succession, like a maul of rocks in a river gorge'.

Sally BlundellApril 10, 2026

Art Illustrated Nonfiction Photography

Slow Burn Ahi Tāmau: Women and Photography Māreikura Whakaahua
by Lissa Mitchell

A powerful case against the gendered narratives 'across time and generations of creative practice'.

Hamish ConeyMarch 25, 2026

Biography Literature Nonfiction Poetry

Ruth Dallas: A writer’s life by Diana Morrow and This Moment, Every Moment: Ruth Dallas, Collected Poems

Re-discovering 'the brilliant and necessary Southern Aunt of New Zealand letters'.

Greg O'BrienMarch 17, 2026

Fiction Literary Fiction Novel

The Black Monk
by Charlotte Grimshaw

A 'psychologically unsparing' novel that is both 'a rant and a confession'.

Philip MatthewsMarch 13, 2026

Art Illustrated Nonfiction Photography Society

New Zealand Photography: Collected
by Athol McCredie

A 'pristine' updated account of 'two centuries of looking at each other' through photography.

Hamish ConeyMarch 3, 2026