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The Sunday Essay

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Creative New Zealand
Images by Tina Tiller

Lest we forget? The shame of our two-tier veteran system

Our laws are leaving many veterans who served after 1974 out in the cold. I know, because I'm one of them.
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By James Graham | 25th April, 2025
Guest writer
Illustration: Hope McConnell

David Hill: Seize the day

For all its virtues, Anzac Day – unlike its forgotten cousin Armistice Day – is a commemoration of war, not peace.
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By David Hill | 25th April, 2025
Contributing writer
Getty images

The Sunday Essay: Will I hurt my baby?

Madeleine Holden writes about her agonising first year of motherhood.
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By Madeleine Holden | 5th January, 2025
Guest writer
John Rillstone portrait by Adrienne Martyn, 1980 (additional design by Tina Tiller)

The Sunday Essay: Remembering my brother

The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.
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By Dougal Rillstone | 27th July, 2024
Guest writer
Getty images

The Sunday Essay: Are you there, Grandma?

From the bloodlands to the Polish Children’s Camp in Pahiatua, I went looking for Grandma Stefania.
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By Lou Annabell | 20th July, 2024
Guest writer
David Lange and his trademark specs. (Photo: Getty Images, Design: Tina Tiller)

The Sunday Essay: The Lange I knew

On the 40th anniversary of the election that swept Lange into power, his former press secretary reflects on one of the most beloved – and complex – figures in New Zealand politics.
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By Ross Vintiner | 13th July, 2024
Guest writer
Image by Tina Tiller

The Sunday Essay: The beginning of a book

Claire Mabey’s early brush with evangelical Christianity sparked a life’s fascination with the power of stories – and the fuel to write her own.
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By Claire Mabey | 29th June, 2024
Books editor
Times Square, New York City

The Sunday Essay: Can NYC ever live up to the hype? 

'Everything reminded me of the comfort of TV, the promise of a story.'
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By Sharon Lam | 22nd June, 2024
Contributing writer
Images by Tina Tiller

The Sunday Essay: Silly little chump

On the comfort we can find in co-opting uncharitable descriptions of ourselves.
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By Alex Smith | 8th June, 2024
Guest writer
Images by Tina Tiller

The entire history of my nose

From my Greek great-grandfather all the way to the cosmetic surgeon's office.
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By Hannah Jamieson | 1st June, 2024
Guest writer
In the place I grew up, I am always lost

In the place I grew up, I am always lost

Reflections on a childhood split across Hong Kong and Auckland.
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By Hannah Patterson | 25th May, 2024
Guest writer
Image: Tina Tiller

Bearing witness to a confession of murder

Nearly 30 years ago, two people told me they'd killed a woman they knew. I thought the truth would come out, that others would tell it. In the end, I had to. 
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By Tina Cartwright | 18th May, 2024
Guest writer
Image: Tina Tiller

Living across the road from Loafers Lodge

In some ways, I couldn't have been closer to the tragedy. In others, I was a whole universe away.
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By Kristin Kelly | 16th May, 2024
Guest writer
The Sunday Essay: A buzzy year

The Sunday Essay: A buzzy year

My husband is posted overseas for 12 months and I'm armed with an expensive, newfangled vibrator. Will I miss him? 
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By Penny Burrows | 11th May, 2024
Guest writer
The Sunday Essay: The books that electrify and consume you

The Sunday Essay: The books that electrify and consume you

I didn’t know books could open you back up; that reading could be a chemical event. I knew nothing.
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By James Pasley | 4th May, 2024
Guest writer
“I promise that I love you in this precise moment and I will reevaluate that love constantly based on your behaviour towards me.” (Images by Tina Tiller)

Dreaming of my not-wedding day

What does a forever relationship look like when you don't believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it?
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By Gráinne Patterson | 26th April, 2024
Guest writer
Illustration: Hope McConnell

Seize the day

For all its virtues, Anzac Day – unlike its cousin Armistice Day – is a commemoration of war, not peace.
avatar
By David Hill | 25th April, 2024
Contributing writer
Images by Tina Tiller

Lest we forget? The shame of our two-tier veteran’s system

Our laws are leaving many veterans who served after 1974 out in the cold. I know, because I'm one of them.
avatar
By James Graham | 21st April, 2024
Guest writer
Image: Tina Tiller

The Sunday Essay: On code switching and finding my voice

For some people, I sound too Malaysian. For others, not Malaysian enough. 
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By Abhi Chinniah | 14th April, 2024
Guest writer
Image: Gabi Lardies

The Sunday Essay: Piercing the living waters

I watch the surface of the Hauraki Gulf swarm with signs of life, but a struggle for survival is taking place underneath.
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By Gabi Lardies | 7th April, 2024
Contributing writer

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The Spinoff is subject to NZ Media Council procedures. A complaint must be first directed in writing, within one month of publication, to info@thespinoff.co.nz. If not satisfied with the response, the complaint may be referred to the online complaint form at www.presscouncil.org.nz along with a link to the relevant story and all correspondence with the publication.

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