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Paula Harris

Guest writer

Paula Harris is an award-winning poet and accidental essayist. Her poetry chapbook “i make men like you die sweetly” is being published in the US by dancing girl press in September 2019. You can read more of her writing at paulaharris.co.nz. Instagram: @paulaharris_poet Facebook: @paulaharrispoet

Linear TV showing nothing (Image: Archi Banal)

A hopeless quest to find something half-decent to watch on linear TV

Watching whatever was on TV used to be fun. Why is it so bad now?

By Paula Harris | 29th May, 2023

Image: Archi Banal/disappointingaffirmations.

The power of the disappointing affirmation

Positive affirmation quotes often aren't helpful. But taking the piss out of them can be.

By Paula Harris | 28th January, 2023

The Sunday Essay: The girl in the sundress, standing in front of the shed

The Sunday Essay: The girl in the sundress, standing in front of the shed

Because I was six when my grandfather died and we have super dysfunctional dynamics, I don’t really know what happened in my family.

By Paula Harris | 14th August, 2022

raspberry cheesecake

The Friday Poem: how to cook cheesecake on a bbq by Paula Harris

A new poem from Paula Harris.

By Paula Harris | 21st August, 2020

Want some non-beige ideas for your interior design? Look no further!

Real-life home decor tips from a real-life creative person

Beige and on-trend? Not for this poet. Paula Harris gives some real-life, applicable decor advice.

By Paula Harris | 16th February, 2020

Not much of a life: Two years since I was wrongly sectioned

Not much of a life: Two years since I was wrongly sectioned

By Paula Harris | 10th November, 2019

How shit I am: a poet on her first slam

How shit I am: a poet on her first slam

Prolific, award-winning Palmerston North poet Paula Harris somehow manages to be stroppy and properly vulnerable all at once. Here, she writes about her first slam competition – and why she cried all the way home.

By Paula Harris | 19th August, 2019

Alison Holst on your television in 1984 (NZ on Screen)

That one time I spent Christmas with Alison Holst

A chance encounter leads to a Christmas-phobe having a magical dinner with the first lady of New Zealand food.

By Paula Harris | 25th December, 2018

Photo: Getty Images

On being sectioned on Friday the 13th

A personal essay by Paula Harris: "I was admitted, under the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992, to the secure unit of the psychiatric ward just after noon on Friday the..."

By Paula Harris | 29th October, 2018

Photo by: BSIP/UIG via Getty Images

Her name was Allie

Writer and poet Paula Harris reflects on a childhood friend's experience with abuse - and how her upbringing affected how she viewed that abuse.

By Paula Harris | 22nd October, 2018