Sally Blundell

3 weeks ago | nzreviewofbooks.com | Sally Blundell |C. K. Stead

A kingfisher, blue as blue, ‘lit up as if from the inside’, lands on a clothesline in a leafy suburb in Auckland. Of the three old friends chatting on the deck, only Don notices. He tries, and fails, to remember the phrase in a TS Eliot poem (presumably ‘After the kingfisher’s wing / Has answered light to light’). That night, the bird’s sudden flight presages another retreat into silence.

1 month ago | nzherald.co.nz | Sally Blundell

Kenji Ueda: Light-footed read that has a cinematic quality. Photos / Ayako Yokota / supplied Right paper, right pen, right desk – in this case, a weathered writing desk on the first floor of a stationery shop in downtown Tokyo – and the words will flow. This is the premise of Letters from the Ginza Shihodo Stationery Shop, a series of five short vignettes anchored in the “venerable” (the word is used often) stationery store in the upmarket Ginza shopping district.

Jan 13, 2025 | nzherald.co.nz | Sally Blundell

Home / The Listener / HealthBy Sally BlundellContributing writer·New Zealand Listener·13 Jan, 2025 04:00 PM14 mins to readSaveShare this articleReminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. Our warming planet will bring more infectious diseases via biting insects, ‘species leaps’ and contaminated food and drinking water. How prepared are we for emerging virus outbreaks? The dull queasiness. The gut cramps. Cold sweat on the forehead, a reeling stagger to the toilet.

Nov 3, 2024 | nzherald.co.nz | Sally Blundell

Owen Marshall: Exposes our deep capacity for friendship, empathy, resignation and hope. Photo / Reg Graham Book review: Since 1977, when the Listener published his story Descent from the Flugelhorn, Owen Marshall has delivered a masterclass in the art of the short story.

Sep 23, 2024 | nzherald.co.nz | Sally Blundell

SubscribeHome / The Listener / BooksBy Sally BlundellContributing writer·New Zealand Listener·24 Sep, 2024 07:00 AM11 mins to readSaveShare this articleReminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read. There’s a swamp behind the houses on SH67 in Birchfield, just north of Westport. A scraggly swamp, giving way to paddocks giving way to beach giving way to the driving surf of the Tasman Sea. “It wasn’t not dangerous,” recalls Becky Manawatu.