Aotearoa New Zealand Review of Books

Māori Poetry

Hopurangi – Songcatcher: Poems from the Maramataka
by Robert Sullivan

Poems set over three months of the Māori lunar calendar, the 'ultimate star waka'.

Tru ParahaMay 29, 2024

Asian Fiction Poetry Verse Novel

Fox Spirit on a Distant Cloud
by Lee Murray

Exploring the 'wilderness of the uncharted' in a stunning mix of history, myth, poetry and fiction.

Angelique KasmaraMay 24, 2024

LGBTQIA+Māori Memoir Nonfiction Politics Society

Hine Toa: A story of bravery
by Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku

A compelling memoir: 'vital to write, vital to publish and vital to read.'

Paula MorrisMay 24, 2024

Illustrated Nature Nonfiction Science

Six-legged Ghosts: the Insects of Aotearoa
by Lily Duval

A visually stunning' account of our insect world, 'part story, part history, part philosophy'.

Amy McDaidMay 15, 2024

Art History Māori Nonfiction Photography Society

A Different Light: First Photographs of Aotearoa
ed. Catherine Hammond and Shaun Higgins

'Mirror and portal': photographing New Zealand people and places in the nineteenth century

Joyce CampbellMay 14, 2024

History Māori Nature Nonfiction Science

Hard by the Cloud House
by Peter Walker

'Like a dagger at a pyjama party': the histories of a giant raptor.

Sally BlundellMay 14, 2024

Children’s Literature Fantasy Fiction Māori

Brave Kāhu and the Pōrangi Magpie
by Shelley Burne-Field

A debut novel that offers 'a fresh, hawk-like dive into the fictional lives of our native manu'.

Sonya WilsonMay 3, 2024

Art Illustrated Memoir Nonfiction

Dear Colin, Dear Ron: Selected Letters of Colin McCahon and Ron O’Reilly
by Peter Simpson

The 'illuminating' record of a long friendship and forty years at the heart of New Zealand visual art.

Leonard BellApril 29, 2024

Essays History Memoir Nonfiction Society

The Unsettled: Small Stories of Colonisation
by Richard Shaw

A 'courageous book' on Pākehā ‘journeying back into the map of memory'.

Paul DiamondApril 5, 2024

Essays Nonfiction

The Beautiful Afternoon
by Airini Beautrais

Dazzling essays that 'explore not just personal experience but travels in knowledge'.

Anne KennedyApril 5, 2024

Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Māori Novel

The Space Between
by Lauren Keenan

A tale of two outsiders, Māori and Pākehā, in 1860, while Taranaki tumbles into war.

Kelly Ana MoreyApril 3, 2024

Asian Fiction Literary Fiction Novel

Amma
by Saraid de Silva

A debut novel that feels like 'an instant classic'.

Sanjana KhusalApril 3, 2024

LGBTQIA+Poetry

i’m still growing
by Josiah Morgan

A 'full-throttle' collection of 'quiet meditations and violent outcries of desire'.

Sophie van WaardenbergMarch 27, 2024

Crime Fiction Fiction Mystery Noir Novel

The Call
by Gavin Strawhan

A 'smart, complex, nuanced' crime story.

Andrew Paul WoodMarch 20, 2024

Asian Fiction Literary Fiction Novel

When I open the shop
by Romesh Dissanayake

'Acutely observed' comedy and pathos in this debut novel.

Angelique KasmaraMarch 15, 2024

Fiction Novel Thriller

The Night She Fell
by Eileen Merriman

A taut thriller about brittle med students in Dunedin, their drugs and disguises.

Clare TravagliaMarch 6, 2024

Children’s Literature Fantasy Fiction

The Grimmelings
by Rachael King

Contemporary Aotearoa, Scottish mythology and 'a generous dollop of the fantastical' in a gripping and original novel.

Erica StrettonFebruary 28, 2024

Fiction Literary Fiction

Because All Fades
by Freddie Gillies

'Young people travelling' in a 'confident and fresh' debut novel set in Europe.

Rebecca HillFebruary 23, 2024