Claire Mabey

Books editor

Claire Mabey is a literary programmer and festival maker originally from Tauranga. She lives in Te Whanganui-a-Tara with her partner Andrew and her son, Charlie.

Current copyright and IP systems don’t work to protect taonga Māori. Image: Tina Tiller.

What happens to taonga Māori in the age of AI?

Experts explain how copyright and intellectual property frameworks are inadequate protections for taonga Māori.

By Claire Mabey | 3rd April, 2025

See How They Fall by Rachel Paris is a new crime novel set in Sydney.

‘People absolutely hate me’: Rachel Paris on her dream run as a debut novelist

'What I’ve learned is that with publishing there’s so much about luck and being in the right place at the right time.'

By Claire Mabey | 2nd April, 2025

Ali Mau’s memoir, No Words for This, is a brave, generous and compelling read.

‘Gripping, revelatory, generous and layered’: No Words for This by Ali Mau, reviewed

A conversation about Ali Mau's deeply affecting memoir.

By Claire Mabey

& Alex Casey | 1st April, 2025

The TV show Adolescene has sparked a conversation about reading culture among teenagers (Image: Tina Tiller)

Out of the internet and into the page: books for teenage boys

What’s the state of teen reading in Aotearoa? And what are the book that might lure our boys out the wilds of the internet and back to the page?

By Claire Mabey | 28th March, 2025

The reconciliation of Oberon and Titania by Joseph Noel Paton, 1847. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

What is fairy smut and why is everyone obsessed with it?

A beginner's guide to Acotar, romantasy and Mediavalcore.

By Claire Mabey | 22nd March, 2025

Just a handful of the authors coming to Auckland Writers Festival in May 2025.

Look who’s coming to Auckland Writers Festival 2025

Our picks for this year's most unmissable sessions.

By Claire Mabey | 12th March, 2025

Scenes from Adelaide Writers’ Week (Photos: Claire Mabey, Getty Images; design The Spinoff)

The Spinoff Essay: Diary of a writers’ festival

Adelaide Writers' Week was vibrant, resourced and thriving. So why, returning home with a head full of plans, did Claire Mabey feel unexpectedly sad?

By Claire Mabey | 8th March, 2025

All the finalists in this year’s Ockham NZ Book Awards (Design: Tina Tiller)

What the judges picked: the 2025 Ockham Book Awards shortlist, revealed

The 16 books still in the running for Aotearoa's biggest literary prizes.

By Claire Mabey | 5th March, 2025

Bookshops, cat shops and coffee: examples of ‘healing’ books that are selling in their millions.

The rise of the ‘healing’ novel and our sad need to cry

What's behind the soaring popularity of these little books designed to give us big feelings?

By Claire Mabey | 1st March, 2025

Sparrows feature heavily in this new poem from over under fed by Amy Marguerite

How to read a poem: mount street cemetery by Amy Marguerite

A close reading of a startling poem about the impact of an intense crush, set in a graveyard and plagued by sparrows.

By Claire Mabey | 26th February, 2025