New Zealand Listener

Windows of the soul

efore Christmas I was on a plane, circling over Sydney. The last time I’d wanted to travel there, pre-pandemic, I’d had to cancel because the place was ringed with fire. Since then the city had been so continually rained on, there were troubling outbreaks of mould. Now it was lashed by storms, and as we approached, the pilot had announced that only one

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from New Zealand Listener

New Zealand Listener3 min read
Uncovering Our Past
There’s a Māori whakataukī (proverb) that says, “Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua. / I walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on the past.” The loop of past, present and future speaks to New Zealand Wars: Stories of Tauranga Moana, the la
New Zealand Listener6 min read
Weaving Welsh With Waiata
You probably saw it on the news. Last month, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa ONZ, one of our most revered cultural figures, was honoured at Parliament. The occasion was Dame Kiri’s 80th birthday but this was a celebration of a life, not a day. There were speeche
New Zealand Listener5 min read
‘That German boy’
On the day after World War I began, my father, at 18, volunteered with enthusiasm to join the Bavarian Artillery. He survived the terrible Battle of the Somme, won two Iron Crosses and ended the war, defeated, in a military hospital in Alsace. Lieute

Related Books & Audiobooks