Sarah Catherall

Guest writer

Sarah Catherall is a Wellington freelance journalist. In 2020 she graduated with an MA in creative non-fiction from the Institute of International Modern Letters in Wellington.

I Carried This, by Nicola Pauling (Photo: Supplied)

A powerful reminder of New Zealand’s dark era of forced adoption

I Carried This tells the stories of five of the estimated 100,000 New Zealand women who were made to give up their babies in the 1950s and 60s.

By Sarah Catherall | 14th June, 2024

(Image: Getty)

The real Santa is more than likely a woman

Christmas traditions are tightly tangled up with female guilt and the urge to be a 'good mother'.

By Sarah Catherall | 21st December, 2022

(Image: Getty / Archi Banal)

Man alone: Elderly and isolated in Aotearoa

It feels like I see pairs and groups of older women everywhere, enjoying life – but the elderly men are always alone.

By Sarah Catherall | 20th October, 2022

Illustration: Erin Forsyth

The Sunday Essay: My mother, finally free

How do you grieve a parent when she was already lost to you years ago?

By Sarah Catherall | 4th July, 2021

Photo illustration: Tina Tiller/supplied

Remembering and forgetting

Sarah Catherall's mother has suffered from Alzheimer's for 14 years; it's been four years since she last recognised her family. Would she want to keep living this way?

By Sarah Catherall | 6th October, 2020

Lake Hayes, Central Otago (Photo: Getty Images)

Yeah Mum, I know: The tricky business of talking to teens about sex

Parents are increasingly being encouraged to talk to their kids about sex, and the unrealistic expectations created by porn. But how much information is too much?

By Sarah Catherall | 26th July, 2020