Appreciation

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The best photos of the Queen and her dogs

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A semi-fictional memoir by Jackson C. Payne, son of the late Bill Payne, ex-con, winner of the 1993 Sargeson Literary Fellowship, author of a classic book about New Zealand gangs, and writer in residence at the Alhambra in Three Lamps.

The son of the famous writer

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You need this book in your life, right now, this instant. Steve Braunias recommends a New Zealand classic.

Book of the week: a guide to the hot pools of New Zealand

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Alex Casey talks to Task Keddy and Harry Dickinson of Shortland Street fame, on how the progressive soap consistently challenges middle New Zealand. 

‘When it’s going well you can get away with a fuck tonne’: Shortland Street’s Blue and Gerald on bringing LGBTQIA to Ferndale

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FFS! It's Xmas Eve, and you still haven't done your Xmas shopping? We identify 10 kinds of readers and match them with 10 books published in 2016 guaranteed to bring pleasure and that.

Last-minute Xmas shopping crisis solved: 10 books for 10 kinds of people in your life

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You've seen all the other best-of books lists and as the saying goes: they're shit! Yean nah this is the only one you need, as the Spinoff's team of democratic experts bring together memoir, history, survivor's stories, boxing, shops and other subjects from real life.

Best books of 2016: the 20 best books of non-fiction

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New Zealand literature! What is it, who reads it, and why does it exist? Some or none or all of these questions are about to be answered in the first annual Spinoff Review of Books literary awards!!!

Best book, best old author, best hair – it’s the first annual Spinoff Review of Books literary awards!!!

Leonard Cohen at the Arena in Geneva, 27 October 2008

So Leonard Cohen has died. It is, says Simon Wilson, the end of the Bacchanal.

Suddenly the night has grown colder

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One of the year's best books is End of Watch, by the great master of readable fiction, Stephen King. Steve Braunias recalls an appointment with the author in London.

The shining, sort of thing: Steve Braunias meets Stephen King

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A tribute to writer Russell Haley by Ian Wedde.<br />
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Russell Haley 1934–2016: An appreciation by Ian Wedde

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Steve Braunias runs deep surveillance on the judges of the 2017 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.

Writers! Have you fucked up your chances of winning a prize by having a row or something with a judge?

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Linda Burgess examines the case of American novelist Cathleen Schine, who seems more famous for leaving New Yorker critic David Denby for another woman than she does as a writer who is adored by Meg Worlitzer and Alison Lurie.

Why Cathleen Schine is the best literary novelist you’ve never heard of

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Steve Braunias leads a special Spinoff investigation into fresh claims that 1971 was the greatest year in music ever.

Book of the Week: Was 1971 the greatest year in the history of New Zealand music?

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An excerpt taken from the introduction to Dad Goes to the Movies (1941), a World War II diary edited and published by Auckland writer Jaq Tweedie, the daughter of serviceman Les Tweedie.

The Monday Excerpt: ‘Dad told me once he thought the RSA were a bunch of fools who just liked to drink and brag’

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A tribute to the great illustrator Peter Gossage by whanau member and author Paula Morris.

Rhymes with sausage: A tribute to Peter Gossage, by Paula Morris

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Harry Potter fan Charlotte Graham reviews Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

Harry Potter and the cursed script: An expert assesses the new adventure

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We conclude our special week-long look at the work of fiction master Don DeLillo with a piece written exclusively for the Spinoff by  Jesse Kavadlo, Professor of English and Humanities at the Maryville University of St Louis in Missouri, and president of the Don DeLillo Society.

DeLillo Week: A message from the Office of the President (of the Don DeLillo Society, in St Louis, Missouri)

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Every day this week we look at the work of maybe the world's greatest living writer - Don DeLillo. Today: Thom Shackleford appraises the master's latest novel, Zero K.

DeLillo Week: The world we may soon wake up to, as warned in Don DeLillo’s latest novel

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Every day this week we look at the work of maybe the world's greatest living writer - Don DeLillo. Today: a long, brilliant conversation about the master, between Tom Moody, the head of the US fiction bureau at the Spinoff, and Thom Shackleford, who has great hair.

DeLillo Week: Probably the most brilliant literary conversation ever recorded in New Zealand, as two men of letters discuss Don DeLillo

Every day this week we look at the work of maybe the world's greatest living writer - Don DeLillo. Today: Thom Shackleford walks through five of the best of the master's novels.

DeLillo Week: A bluffer’s guide to the masterpieces of maybe the world’s greatest living writer

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The Friday Poem: ‘Mitochondrial Problem’ by Evangeline Riddiford Graham

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The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending April 18

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The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience.

What access to puberty blockers means for trans young people and their whānau

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Barcelona's city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? And why can't we do it here?

How superblocks can help reimagine city life

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Yes, they're better for the environment. No, that's not a good enough reason for me to use them. 

Hear me out: You can shove your reusable period products

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The government's plan to get 50,000 people off jobseeker support by 2030 has had a rocky start.

20,000 more on jobseeker benefits than this time last year

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Student advocates are calling for 'drastic measures' to force the university to take their concerns seriously.

Auckland uni students threaten rent strike over rising accommodation fees

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A new novel set in Wellington is a narrative of grief, and an ode to beautiful food writing. 

A love letter to Wellington: when i open the shop by romesh dissanayake, reviewed

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The government has made it well known it expects departments to cut roles. We break down the numbers as they currently stand.

An updated tally of the public sector job cuts

 Season finale, beloved Youtube recapper James Mustapic presents the inaugural 

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Congratulations to all the deserving winners.

If you haven’t already, use your time wisely and watch 

all of James’ Shorty Street Scandal videos on Youtube

The Spinoff

AppreciationDecember 12, 2014

Street Week: The Shorty Street Scandal Awards

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AppreciationDecember 12, 2014

Street Week: The Shorty Street Scandal Awards

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