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Emma Gilkison

Guest writer

Emma Gilkison is a writer based in Nelson. Her stories and essays have appeared in Folly Journal, The Listener, Next magazine, Sunday magazine, Your Weekend, Canvas and more. Her memoir – The Heart of Jesús Valentino (Awa Press) – was long listed for an Ockham Book Award in 2019.

Emma and her partner Roy with Jesús Valentino (Photo: Billie Brook)

Finding palliative care for our baby in a ‘luck of the draw’ health system

Our son died with the people who loved him best, comfortable and with the care he needed. Yet this happened in spite of, not because of, the hospital system.

By Emma Gilkison | 28th March, 2025

Roy, Emma, and Amaru (Photp: Billie Brook)

The Monday Extract: The Heart of Jesús Valentino

Former journalist Emma Gilkison writes about a routine scan at Starship, where a paediatric cardiologist said to her, "There are two issues with your baby’s heart."

By Emma Gilkison | 1st October, 2018