After finally including non-white leads in the forthcoming 'The Force Awakens', it's been announced a new novel will include the franchise's first openly gay lead.

Publishers Penguin Random House has expressed its disappointment over the ban of Into The River saying "young people benefit from having access to coming of age books".

The prohibition of any work carries serious consequences for free speech, writes Dominic Sheehan. It acts as a chill wind to future endeavor, a warning not to push boundaries.

Attorney-General Chris Finlayson says the Government should review the law on the classification of books after the interim ban on Ted Dawe's teenage novel.

With a shirtless Richard Madden and a breathless Holliday Grainger playing the leads, the latest adaptation of Lady Chatterley's Lover was expected to leave the nation hot under the collar.

What this ban highlights, is that far from being the 'poor sister' to fact, fiction can be seen by some, to be just as dangerous, writes Dana Wensley.

The head of the Christian lobby group Family First said he never demanded the award-winning book Into the River be banned.

Ted Dawe is the children's author of the first book to be banned in New Zealand for at least 22 years.

New Zealand's newest poet laureate says his latest accolade is 'very acceptable' but you suspect he'd rather talk about his love of cats of dogs.

Most Kiwi dads read to their children but mums read to them more, a survey has found.

And Then There Were None has emerged as the best of Christie's wide selection of novels.

JK Rowling has created a Twitter storm by revealing today is the first day of Hogwarts for Harry Potter's son.

Coming to MTV in January 2016, ‘The Shannara Chronicles’ is a new TV series based on the best-selling fantasy novels by Terry Brooks.

Jack Nicholson once offered Princess Margaret cocaine at a dinner party held in her honour - but she spent the night dancing with John Travolta instead.

Boy Star James Rolleston and Youtube sensation Jamie Curry among a star-studded cast for movie of the debut novel by Eleanor Catton.

Eva Gabrielsson, the partner of the late Stieg Larsson, has described David Lagercrantz as an "idiotic choice" for the job of writing a sequel to Larsson's Millennium trilogy.

We're a nation of dog-lovers - and a new book pays tribute to the canines who are our loyal companions.

Even razor-sharp detectives grow old and slow down.

Embracing literature and inspiring kids across Auckland and Northland, the Storylines family days are coming to town.

Fish ladders are structures that Britons began building in the 19th century when they started damming and blocking waterways.

There are too many Michael Moorcocks. I don't mean the books - although there are a bewildering number of those, there could never be too many for his admirers.

In this final volume of Graeme Lay's fictional trilogy on the life of James Cook, we confront a very different man to the legend or, for that matter, the first two books in the series.

How do you spell these bears' name? The answer could hold the key to a vast conspiracy, theorises a tinfoil hat-wearing Karl Puschmann.

Some of the world's top sports legends, actors and musicians, including Serena Williams and Dustin Hoffman, are spilling the secrets to their success. Want to become a tennis phenomenon or a Hollywood star? Just sign up, says Abigail Jones.

Playwright Gary Stalker's intriguingly titled work pulls off a surprising feat with sophisticated, unashamedly literary writing.