Charlotte Grimshaw

Jan 13, 2025 | nzherald.co.nz | Charlotte Grimshaw

It’s too late for him Bashar Assad to rejoin humanity. But did he once have some instinct to fix what was wrong? Photo / Getty ImagesOpinion by Charlotte Grimshaw Once in Istanbul, walking home from dinner, I began to feel ill. It was Ramadan. In the parks, families were breaking the fast by picnicking outside in the hot dark. All the next day, I lay in bed, shivering with fever. The hotel stood between two mosques and every few hours the call to prayer rang out.

Dec 10, 2024 | nzherald.co.nz | Charlotte Grimshaw

An image of Mafiaoso types came to mind during debates on NZ's gang-patch ban, writes Charlotte Grimshaw. Photo / Getty ImagesOpinion by Charlotte Grimshaw A favourite weekend activity in Menton on my Katherine Mansfield fellowship was to walk the coastal path to Monte Carlo, have lunch and ride home on the bus. Some days in the casino cafe, we sat next to a table of men who looked as if they would be perfectly comfortable, perhaps even quite creative, with murder.

Nov 23, 2024 | nzherald.co.nz | Charlotte Grimshaw

US President-elect Donald Trump, singer Kid Rock and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Photo / Getty ImagesOpinion: There’s always someone who’ll tell you you’re fussing about nothing. While you’re grimly contemplating the next Trump presidency, the sanguine voices pipe up. You’re being hysterical. He’s not so bad. He’ll make us money. He’s great. Pardon him! Who cares if people stick it to the elites? They don’t listen to experts, these cheerful commentators, because they rely on “common sense”.

Nov 5, 2024 | nzherald.co.nz | Charlotte Grimshaw

Alan Hollinghurst: “You’re in the company of a stylist; the prose will be elevated by keen observation, accuracy, sensitivity.” Photo / suppliedIn 1988, when Alan Hollinghurst published his first novel, The Swimming Pool Library, it was original, striking and above all, beautifully written. It was recommended to me by my mother, whose innate prudishness was eclipsed, in this case, by her unerring instinct for brilliant prose. “You have to get through all the …” she said, pushing the novel at me.

Nov 1, 2024 | nzherald.co.nz | Charlotte Grimshaw

Charlotte Grimshaw: "After months in Menton admiring the sea and mountains and Mediterranean skies, I’m struck all over again by the landscape back home." Photo / Getty Images Opinion: A friend who works in a public hospital told me, “You’ve come home at a difficult time. There are cuts and freezes everywhere. I can’t hire staff.” A news journalist described colleagues feeling under attack. They’re told they should make money as a business, and they’re vilified online as “fake news”.