IIML
@modernletters.bsky.social
680 followers 350 following 1.1K posts
The home of creative writing at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington. Undergraduate courses, MA and PhD. Also: harbour views and baking.
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modernletters.bsky.social
Written while Anne was CNZ-THW Writer in Residence at the IIML!
nzdodo.bsky.social
"The book that made me laugh: The Ice Shelf by Anne Kennedy. From the first page... it is a hoot. I especially love the way she skewers writing workshops and literary festivals."

Totally agree with @wendmyway.bsky.social – The Ice Shelf is an iconic, edgy, and oddly underrated instant classic.
‘You’ll laugh, you’ll cry…’: Wendy Parkins on the book everyone should read
Wendy Parkins, winner of best first book at the 2025 Ngaio Marsh Awards, recommends a must-read Victorian 'trauma novel'.
thespinoff.co.nz
Reposted by IIML
newsroom.co.nz
Sir Geoffrey Palmer and Chris Finlayson offer praise for the Waitangi Tribunal – and damning criticism of the coalition Government. Sam Sachdeva reports.
Hell hath no fury like an attorney-general scorned
newsroom.co.nz
Reposted by IIML
takahemagazine.bsky.social
'Wildly informative and generous…begins as an inquiry into the world of climate change activism and swiftly unfolds into an interrogation of the racist hierarchy of knowledge.'

Māia Te Whetū reviews 'Slowing the Sun' by Nadine Hura (Bridget Williams Books, 2025) ❤️🤍🤎

www.takahe.org.nz/takahe-114/
Reposted by IIML
whakatipu.bsky.social
I have a Master of Environmental Science and I and many of my science cohort are in the same situation - can't get a full-time job because there are almost no grad/entry level jobs out there www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Shrinking job market forces scientists to pursue careers offshore
After 13 years studying for a biology degree, Ian has had to apply - unsuccessfully - for labouring jobs.
www.rnz.co.nz
Reposted by IIML
drsian.bsky.social
#pukapuka Today’s finds: Natalie Morrison’s ‘Pins’ (fab cover, @toddatticus.bsky.social!) and H G Parry’s debut bookish fantasy, ‘The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep’. Wellington lit contains multitudes.
Two books from Wellington writers, face up, side by side. On the left is Pins, a slim volume of poetry from Natalie Morrison, featuring a packet of pins on a background I think of as duck-egg or maybe cerulean, but which the Former Public Servant says he calls teal. Let’s call it grue and let your native language decide for you. 

And on the right, H G Parry’s novel featuring an image of a bookshelf of leather-bound tomes, in tones of black, red and brown.
Reposted by IIML
thoughtfulnz.bsky.social
We had a discussion of this in June last year. Some NZ Uni's activated AI detection software options (Massey made the news www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/3503... ). Others took a look at the false positive rate and went "No way are we going to accuse 1000s of students of things they didn't do".
Reposted by IIML
junoryleejournalism.com
David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)
SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems...
SIMON: What?
SHAPIRO: ...Or saying...
SIMON: You imagine that?
SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over.
SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level.
SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this.
SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.
Reposted by IIML
flewoutof.bsky.social
Out in the world, our book celebrating the swerve poetry has taken towards exuberance, intimacy, eroticism, artistry and a gaudy beauty! I especially love the artist statements by the featured poets (Oscar Upperton: a rhyme is a way of getting an exclamation mark into a poem by stealth). !
dougalmcneill.bsky.social
Our book is released today. It's edited following the "grand elementary principle of pleasure". I love all the poems and critical essays we've gathered together, found much insight & delight in my co-editors' insights as poets, & hope youse can too. aucklanduniversitypress.co.nz/te-whariki/
Te Whāriki: Reading Ten New Poets from Aotearoa
Chris Tse to Tayi Tibble – what New Zealand poetry looks like now.
aucklanduniversitypress.co.nz
Reposted by IIML
clrenney.bsky.social
#nzpol

GOOD NEWS ALERT 🚨

Today the government relented to pressure from the @livingwageaotearoa.bsky.social and retained the requirement for contracted workers to be paid at least the Living Wage rate in Government Contracts. Around 5,000 workers will likely benefit from this decision
Reposted by IIML
olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social
repost this if an editor has ever saved you from yourself
blipstress.bsky.social
An actual hot take: Too many authors are afraid of editors watering down their voice or whatever and not afraid enough of editors letting you put any old slop on the page.
Reposted by IIML
newsroom.co.nz
NZ's best book reviewer on a major biography of the caustic, abrasive, sarcastic and loveable Chris Knox.
Book of the Week: To Chris with love
newsroom.co.nz
modernletters.bsky.social
Ingrid Horrocks reading from her Mary Wollstonecraft story at a packed launch for All Her Lives tonight - books were flying out the door!
modernletters.bsky.social
Why we must take measles seriously (and get vaccinated)
newsroom.co.nz
Comment from Auckland University: Measles vaccination levels in NZ have dipped well below that necessary for herd immunity, exposing us to diseases we thought we’d consigned to history.
Open the door to measles, and it won't stop there
newsroom.co.nz
Reposted by IIML
dougalmcneill.bsky.social
Our book is released today. It's edited following the "grand elementary principle of pleasure". I love all the poems and critical essays we've gathered together, found much insight & delight in my co-editors' insights as poets, & hope youse can too. aucklanduniversitypress.co.nz/te-whariki/
Te Whāriki: Reading Ten New Poets from Aotearoa
Chris Tse to Tayi Tibble – what New Zealand poetry looks like now.
aucklanduniversitypress.co.nz
Reposted by IIML
legallyfeminist.bsky.social
It's that time again, a #nzpol 🧵
What starts online doesn’t stay online.
The 2025 local elections have become the most toxic in memory, w candidates (esp women) harassed & forced to campaign from home. This is what happens when we treat online abuse as “just words”
www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/3608...
‘Scares the pants off me’: Toxicity surges in local elections
This year’s council elections are turning into the nastiest in memory, with a growing fear that online abuse could spill over into real-world violence.
www.thepost.co.nz
Reposted by IIML
keithwdickinson.bsky.social
Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.