Travel in Day-to-Day Iran
New Zealand author and journalist Jill Worrall’s travelogue Two Wings of a Nightingale: Persian Soul, Islamic Heart about her 8km road trip through Iran was unveiled during a recent ceremony at the…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
On-the-Road Epicurean
Fat Freddy’s Drop keyboard player Dobie Blaze features in the Irish Times weekly feature “Booking the Cooks”, in which the Wellingtonian reveals his secret recipe for ravioli of abalone with sea urchin butter. “When…
Dallas Represents
“New Zealand’s finest” hip hop star Aucklander David Dallas, who recently signed with US label Duck Down Records, reveals plans for a return to America in July and says that he’s not troubled by…
Ahead of Season Four
As anticipation builds for the June 26 season premiere of True Blood, New Zealander Anna Paquin, spoke with The New York Times about her maturation on the show as Sookie Stackhouse, an…
Temple Built to Burn
New Zealand builder Chris “Kiwi” Hankins is putting his skills to use in Reno, leading the construction of the Temple of Transition – the latest super-sized art project for Burning Man 211….
Authentic Fresh Energy
Auckland director Christine Jeffs, known for acclaimed Indie films Sunshine Cleaning and Rain, has signed with the New York-based commercial production company Xenon for exclusive US spot representation. Xenon executive producer/founder Doug Robbins said…
Xena’s Mt Albert Eco-Home
Lucy Lawless, star of television series Xena and Spartacus, is returning to her roots in Mt Albert, Auckland where she is converting a large part of her estate into what has been described as…
Pioneer Territory Emerges
The sumptuous depiction of New Zealand in the 195s and ‘6s trumps the weepy story at the heart of one of the most expensive Dutch films ever made writes New York Times…
Making Her Own Rules
New York Times best-selling author of the Psy–Changeling paranormal romance series New Zealander Nalini Singh has just finished her latest novel, Kiss of Snow, the tenth installment of the series….
Frankfurt Guest of Honour
New Zealand will be the guest of honour at the world’s biggest literary gathering next year, the 212 Frankfurt Book Fair. Director of the Frankfurt Book Fair Juergen Boos said the New…
Paraparaumu Paradise
“For a small country, New Zealand has surfeit of coastline: over 9,400 miles of it, more than the contiguous United States (which has roughly 5,000), and enough to allow — in theory at least…
Tough Cookie’s Fit Tips
True Blood actress New Zealander Anna Paquin reveals her exercise regime secrets — and about the pressures to stay thin in Hollywood — in the June issue of American magazine Health. “I’ve always been…
Inspired By Nature
The stunning landscape of Waiheke Island (off Auckland’s east coast) is home to over 7,5 residents. Regenerating bush, an indented coastline, vineyards and olive groves are some of its defining characteristics. When…
With Light in Mind
A design by a group of Victoria University students, inspired by the New Zealand bach, is the first southern hemisphere entry in the international US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon competition held…
Top Chef to Open Kiwiana
In August, New Zealander and Top Chef season 4 survivor Mark Simmons, is planning to open Kiwiana in New York on Union Street. The restaurant will feature lamb and seafood, both of which New…
Leonine Frontmen Like It Nice
“If there’s one thing the Phoenix Foundation won’t abide, it’s dicks,” The Guardian’s Toby Manhire writes. “When it comes to dealing with other bands, says Luke Buda, the leonine frontman for the…
Infectious Influence
Radio 1 DJ New Zealand-born Zane Lowe and British producer Clare Chadburn jointly take the No 29 spot in the The Guardian’s Music Power 1 list — “the people exercising…
Written Words Prevail
New Zealand author Craig Cliff has won the Commonwealth Writers Prize best first book award, worth £5000,, for his short story collection A Man Melting, which judges called “highly entertaining and thought-provoking”. Glasgow-born Aminatta…
This is the Buzz
Hip-hop star Auckland-born Dane Rumble and Avalanche City recently featured on ABC’s top-rating celebrity gossip show What’s the Buzz. Rumble and Dave Baxter, brainchild behind and frontman of the folksy Avalanche City, were guests…
All Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs
Auckland’s Naked and Famous are included in a Guardian list of “12 new bands you have to catch” at one of this summer’s UK music festivals. “ New Zealand five-piece make the…
Paradise In the 21st Century
“New Zealand may well be the most desirable tourist destination in the world,” author Michael Tobias writes. “It is certainly among the most beautiful island nations on the planet, its biodiversity magnificent…
Blue takes best short in Cannes
New Zealand short film Blue, made by Aucklander Stephen Kang, has won the Canal Plus’ Grand Prix and Du Meilleur Court Metrage Best Short Film award at the Cannes Film…
Clay Figures Make US Debut
New Zealand artist Francis Upritchard will exhibit for the first time in the United States at the Cincinnati Art Museum and Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) next year. Upritchard’s “Wanting” (above) will feature…
South Pole Misadventures
A new book by New Zealand journalist and respected author on Antarctic explorers John Thomson says Edmund Hillary “cheated” his way to the South Pole in 1958. Thomson, author of Climbing the…
Leading Lights of Architecture
Auckland architecture firm Patterson Associates has been named as one of the five practices set to shape the future of architecture. World Architecture News, the top international architecture journal, announced the win…
Distinctly New Zealand Feel
New Zealand landscaper Sam Martin has landed a multi-million dollar contract to redevelop London’s iconic Battlesea Power Station. After sitting derelict for nearly 3 years, Europe’s largest brick building is now being revamped to…
Te Kanawa to Sing in Israel
“There may be imitators or wannabes, but there is really only one true diva — legendary soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa,” The Jerusalem Post’s David Brinn writes in a profile of the…
Coup for Moving Images
The Natural History New Zealand (NHNZ)’s archive sales arm has been chosen by National Geographic Channels Worldwide to represent its footage from the past 2 years. The National Geographic archive adds thousands…
Beauty in Clamorous Times
Tim Radford is the only person British writer Peter Forbes can think of who has been both literary and science editor of the Guardian. Forbes continues, in a review of Radford’s new…
Structural Snapshots
New Zealand’s best new buildings range from a bus shelter in Queenstown and an office tower in Auckland, to an opera house in Oamaru, houses on Waiheke Island, and an apartment in…
Bringing Life Force to Nevada
Hastings-based full-time Maori dance company Kahurangi recently performed at the Carson City Library in Nevada as part of a theatre in education tour of Canada and the United States. A performance by…
Bountiful Inspiration
New Zealand’s exotic landscapes and lush flora were the inspiration behind American artist Mary Powell’s monotype prints she is exhibiting at RiverSea Gallery in Astoria, Oregon. Each piece has been printed several…
Maori Forefathers Return Home
The remains of three Maori people, kept for 13 years in boxes in Lund, south Sweden, have been returned to a delegation from Te Papa led by the museum’s Kaihaut? Michelle Hippolite and representing…
Morrison Heads for the Hills
Temuera Morrison stars as Maori seafarer Kereama in the colonial, “pretty much your classic Western,” Tracker, which is reviewed by The Independent. “It is ostensibly the story of a manhunt: Kereama is…
Return of the Yeti Hand
Adventurer and Air New Zealand pilot Mike Allsop is in Nepal to return a replica of what some believe is the hand of a yeti to a remote monastery in the Everest region. Allsop…
Intrinsically Us
New Zealand-based documentary maker Leanne Pooley describes how she came to tell the award-winning story of the Topp Twins in an article featured in the Winnipeg Free Press. “ was well established as a…
Honoured by Opera News
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa was one of five artists recognised for their international musical achievements at the Opera News Awards held in New York at the famed Plaza Hotel on 17 April. German tenor…
Equally Sarcastic and Charming
“A sizable flock of admirers was left adrift after HBO grounded Flight of the Conchords in 29 after only two seasons,” Susan Wloszczyna writes for USA Today. “Turns out these Kiwi lads were a…
Facebook Hobbit Updates
Peter Jackson has posted his first video blog from the set of The Hobbit showing production starting on his 3D epic which is being filmed in New Zealand. The video on his
It Will Probably Be a Smash
New Zealander Nico Evers-Swindell, who plays the role of Prince William in the forthcoming film William and Kate: The Movie, is “saddled” with some rather dubious lines according to Guardian reviewer Stephen Bates. “Evers-Swindell,…
Mister Pip Makes Big Screen
New Zealander Andrew Adamson will direct the film adaptation of Wellington author Lloyd Jones’ award-winning book Mister Pip, with Hugh Laurie, of television drama House to star. Adamson, who’ll direct the project from a…
Singular Artistic Vision
Singer-guitarist of The Naked and Famous Thom Powers wasn’t as temperamental as Orson Welles but he did have a singular artistic vision his Auckland peers apparently could not comprehend. “I had a real difficulty…
Unique Creative Sensibility
New Zealand’s “famously scenic locations are a big draw for Hollywood filmmakers — but they’re not the only one,” Sangeeta Anand writes for Time. “New Zealand’s Large Budget Screen Production Grant offers a 15…
Home and Away Favourite
Singing star Brooke Fraser — described as New Zealand’s answer to Adele — reveals to News of the World’s Dan Wootton how she’s lent some of the songs from her impressive new album Flags…
Perkier Versions of the xx
“The Naked And Famous go one better than MGMT by having a girl in the band — the spectacularly named Alisa Xayalith, whose dreamy yelps combine with the hazy utterings of co-singer…
Helping His Hometown
New Zealander Phil Keoghan, host of The Amazing Race and chief marketing officer of drinks company Gatorade, along with New Zealander Sarah Robb-O’Hagan have organised a video titled ‘Christchurch Stay Strong’, using the power…
Formerly Good-Looking In Rio
Actor Jemaine Clement is the voice of a villainous cockatoo called Nigel in animated film Rio — The Movie, created by the makers of the Ice Age series. “Talk about ad-lib heaven,” director Carlos…
Wall of History up for Prize
Wellington’s Gibson Group is up for a global award for its 12-metre multimedia touchscreen display “Wall” designed to tell Copenhageners — and let them add to — the story of their city. The multimillion-dollar,…
NZPA To Close After 132 Years
New Zealand Press Association Chairman Michael Muir said the board of the 132-year-old agency has ordered a review to determine whether it could keep operating, and that NZPA would be closed within six months….
Elfin Airs For McKenzie
Former Conchord, Wellingtonian Bret McKenzie, is joining the cast of Peter Jackson’s epic The Hobbit as the elf Lindir from Rivendell. McKenzie previously played an elf nicknamed Figwit in The Fellowship of the Ring…
Winners at Caples in NY
Draftfcb New Zealand was named the top winner and most awarded agency in Australasia at the 33rd annual John Caples International Awards held in New York on March 24. Draftfcb NZ picked up eight…
Anthropologist Of Avant-Garde
Inglewood-born artist Michael Stevenson is exhibiting at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art through June 19. Stevenson, who is based in Berlin, has been described as an ‘anthropologist of the avant-garde’. This exhibition is the…
Recording Four Letter Words
New Zealand musician Simon Spire, 28, is forging a career on both sides of the globe simultaneously. Spire has lived in New York since 28. His second album, Four-Letter Words is due to be…
Stones Analogies Welcomed
Sam McCarthy, one half of Auckland duo Kids of 88, tells The Huffington Post’s Mike Ragogna the “whole ‘88’ thing sort of summed up the kind of cultural references and the bizarre things we…
Zowie Likes Left-Field Types
Electro pop star Aucklander Zowie — who opens Katy Perry’s shows in Australia and New Zealand during May — talks to MTV Australia about her idol Michael Jackson and about her debut album set…
Bold, Courageous and Anarchic
Te Aroha-born actor and co-founder of London’s Common Stock theatre group Frank Whitten, who died in February at the age of 68, was “a giant beanpole of a man who only seemed to open…
