Simon Rich published his first short story collection three years ago. Now, aged just 26, his first novel has won critical acclaim. He talks to Stephen Jewell.

Moose were released in Westland in 1900 and in Fiordland in 1910 but unlike other such introductions they were not a success.

Simon Pegg had no plans to become a movie star. In fact he had no plans at all. So just how did the geek from Gloucester catch the eye of the world's best film-makers? It's all down to 'quantum attraction', discovers Tom Lamont.

Architects spend their working lives designing for the desires of their clients. A new book by John Walsh looks at what happens when they can please themselves. Rebecca Barry talks to the author. Pictures by Patrick Reynolds.

Toni Jordan's novels resist convenient labels, but that's exactly how the ex-scientist likes it.

There's more to writing a love story than one might think. Rebecca Barry meets aspiring and published authors of the booming romance genre.

Tania Anderson is a member of gospel supergroup Jubilation Choir.

In her new book, award-winning novelist Kelly Ana Morey has created a world out of research, imagination and a touch of personal experience that captivates and disturbs.

Fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson tells David Larsen how a dragon on a book cover lured him back to reading and changed the path of his life.

From the Sharpe books to Arthurian sagas, the prolific output of Bernard Cornwell has topped best-seller lists around the world. The secret is in the plot, he tells Robert McCrum.

Martin Bosley's new cookbook means his incredible dishes are yours to sample from the comfort of home.

It's hard to think of a better guide to our wild places than Gordon Ell.

A Kiwi cook and a global baker have cooked up a recipe for simple but tasty home meals.

A new book paying homage to five decades of live music in New Zealand is proof, says one contributor, Herald entertainment editor Russell Baillie, that every generation has gigs to remember.

Lloyd Jones' new novel will unavoidably face the towering legacy of Mister Pip: international acclaim, a Man Booker short-list placing, awards, local admiration, sales and a degree of controversy.

I suppose expecting a writer to match the impact of The Reader, Bernhard Schlink's extraordinary novel of a few years ago, is asking too much of him.