The Featherston Booktown Podcast

A small book called Imagining Decolonisation has been a notable bestseller in New Zealand. People want to know more about decolonisation and colonisation, but often don’t know where to start. Our expert panel came together for a fascinating kōrero on this topic: Papawai Marae Kaumātua Paora Ammunson (Ngāti Moe, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa, Rangitāne, Te Arawa); writer and Te Tiriti o Waitangi policy advisor Tῑhema Baker (Raukawa te Au ki te Tonga, Ātiawa ki Whakarongotai, Ngāti ToaRangatira); writer, advocate and researcher Tina Ngata (Ngāti Porou); award-winning Irish author, playwright, journalist and farmer John Connell; and celebrated historian and author James Belich. John Campbell was the moderator.
Recorded at the 2025 Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival.
https://www.booktown.org.nz/

One of New Zealand’s biggest constitutional issues is how state law and tikanga Māori intersect. Join tikanga expert and lawyer Te Raumawhitu Kupenga as he unpacks this with a distinguished panel: former High Court Judge, Māori Land Court Chief Judge and longtime Waitangi Tribunal Chair Tā Edward Taihakurei Durie; Māori rights champion, Treaty expert and lawyer Annette Sykes; Treaty and public law expert and barrister Natalie Coates; and lawyer, mana whenua and Papawai Marae chair Herewini Ammunson).

Recorded at the 2025 Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival.
https://www.booktown.org.nz/

Vincent O’Malley writes that war in the Waikato between July 1863 and April 1864 ‘goes to the very core of who we are as a nation’. The crippling legacy was loss of life, economic and cultural deprivation, land confiscation and over 150 years of ignored hurt and anguish. This kōrero – featuring historians and academics Tom Roa (Waikato, Ngāti Maniapoto), Joanna Kidman (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Raukawa), James Belich, Vincent O’Malley and moderator Peter Biggs – shared perspectives on the Waikato War and the way its consequences continue today. The discussion was opened & closed by Paora Ammunson.
Recorded at the 2025 Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival.
https://www.booktown.org.nz/

Norwegian author Lars Mytting’s book Norwegian Wood – the definitive woodcutter’s bible to preparing firewood – spread like wildfire around the world. No wonder, when our relationship with fire is ancient and universal and the age-old rituals around chopping and stacking wood continue to be a part of 21st-century life. Lars Mytting was in conversation with John Campbell.
Recorded at the 2025 Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival.

Thanks to the Nordic Council of Ministers and Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki.
https://www.booktown.org.nz/

Today’s episode was recorded at a special event at The Royal Hotel in Featherston in November 2025, where journalist and author Ali Mau was in conversation with fellow journalist Melody Thomas. 
It was a fascinating discussion that was equal parts provocative, honest, and amusing. Ali’s memoir, No Words for This, is powerful, raw and beautifully written.

Many thanks to our partners Hedley’s Books & Harper Collins Publishers.

Please note that this episode contains depictions of abuse and sexual assault.
https://www.booktown.org.nz/