Book news

How the NZ book scene is reaching people while we are under lockdown, including microbiologist extraordinaire Siouxsie Wiles’ tips on lending books during lockdown: “If you are sharing or borrowing hard copy books outside of your bubble you might want to quarantine them for three days before getting stuck in.”

The Ockham Book Awards: Kiran is an Ockham Fiction Champion

Animalia by Jean-Baptiste Del Amo, tr. Frank Wynne (Fitzcarraldo Editions) has won the Republic of Consciousness 2020 Prize

Book reviews

KD: The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone by Olivia Laing. Her forthcoming book Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency is published soon; she writes about it here. Two other soothing books for lockdown are Wanderlust and Field Guide to Getting Lost both by Rebecca Solnit.

LK: Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking by Samin Nosrat.

JT: Cherry Beach by Laura McPhee-Browne

Not books

KD: Nathan for You: the ‘Finding Frances’ episode

LK: The Spinoff’s The Real Pod podcast – RIP

JT: Chris Parker’s Felt Animals on Instagram, cartoonist Sarah Laing’s Covid-19 Diaries, Yoga with Adriene, and online Zumba

The To-Be-Read Pile

KD: Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell, Notes from an Apocalypse by Mark O’Connell, The Willd Laughter by Caoilinn Hughes, Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell, Specimen by Madison Hamill, Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor (60 pages away from finishing), A Girl’s Story by Annie Ernaux

LK: Don’t Go to Sleep in the Dark by Celia Fremlin, Torpor by Chris Kraus, Postcards From the Edge by Carrie Fisher. Untold Night and Day by Bae Suah, translated from the Korean by Deborah Smith.

JT: The Third Rainbow Girl by Emma Copley Eisenberg, Adults by Emma Jane Unsworth, Rest and Be Thankful by Emma Glass, Going Dark by Julia Ebner, State Highway One by Sam Coley and The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante.

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Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Kirstin Mead from the Regional Business Partners’ Network.

Business owners around the country will have been watching to see what the government is doing to help with the massive disruption caused by Covid-19.

One of the things that’s being offered is extra funding to support business through the Regional Business Partners Network. This funding allows for mentoring and support so businesses can make plans to get through this crisis. But what is the RBPN? How can you access it? Is it for you? And what help is available?

This week we are chatting to one of the regional business partners in this network. Kirstin Mead has been working with the programme for the last three years, helping companies in the Bay of Plenty access advice, support, and matched funds to grow their businesses.

Now there are special services covering current needs like continuity planning and HR – and you don’t need to match funds to access up to $2000 of specialist by-the-hour advice. RBPN can also connect you to mentors and make introductions to people that could help you and your business grow.

To talk through her journey into helping business, what the network is, what help is out there and how you can get it, Kirstin joined Business is Boring for a chat.

Head along to the Regional Business Partners Network website to see what help is available for you.

Either download this episode (right click and save), have a listen below or via Spotify, subscribe through iTunes (RSS feed).