Northern Bass festival 2025 lineup: Aitch, Dizzee Rascal, Pendulum

4 days ago

The full line-up for the reworked Northern Bass festival has been revealed, and includes English rapper Aitch, drum and bass DJs The Upbeats and grime pioneer Dizzee Rascal.
The event will once again take place in Kaiwaka, just outside of Mangawhai, north of Auckland, on December 30-31.
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Newsroom

7 hours ago

Newsroom

Authors call out Stanford's ‘racism'

Authors and key figures in New Zealand publishing have slammed government minister Erica Stanford's controversial decision to remove words in te reo Māori in new additions to a series of books used to teach five-year-olds to read. As reported by Radio New Zealand, a ministry document showed Stanford decided on the near-ban last October because she was worried five-year-olds would be confused by Māori words in the Education Ministry's Ready to Read Phonics Plus series. ReadingRoom reached out to 10 writers, publishers and booksellers for comment. Their response was not unanimous. Some were cautious in their replies, and some pointed to other, literacy-adjacent issues they felt were more important than the heat generated by an apparent culture war. But the majority felt plain disgusted. Catherine Chidgey has twice won the national fiction prize (The Wish Child in 2017, The Axeman's Carnival in 2023) and her latest novel The Book of Guilt has topped the number 1 position at the NielsenIQ BookScan bestseller chart for 14 weeks. She said, 'I'm appalled by Minister Stanford's decision to strip Māori words from children's books – a move cloaked in the spurious claim that it impedes English literacy, but reeking of racism and dragging us back to the 1950s. My own daughter has had no trouble reading and pronouncing both Māori and English in the same text, and this retrograde step is as needless as it is shameful.' Steph Matuku was a finalist at this week's New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults for her YA novel Migration, a dystopian space odyssey set 3,000 years into our possible future. She said, 'You know that cartoon with the pirate telling the mermaid not to play the thing because he doesn't like it? And she glares at him and says, 'I WILL FUCKING INCREASE THE FUCKING THING!' Yeah, well, I am increasing the reo Māori thing in all my books, so there. Toitū te Tiriti.' A striking feature of the children's book awards was the number of books which made significant use of te reo Maori. The judges included Stacy Gregg, who graduated Level 6 Aupikitanga at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa last year, and has sold over a million copies worldwide of her middle-grade fiction. She won the supreme award at the 2024 awards for her novel about growing up in Ngāruawāhia, Nine Girls, which has a five-page glossary at the front of Māori words in the text. She said, 'This Government made it quite clear from the day they took power and prioritised deleting all signage in te reo as the first thing on their to-do list that they are focused on elimination of the Māori language as a cultural powerplay. At every opportunity they have undermined the use of te reo and ignored their Treaty partner obligations. 'What I find astonishing is the sass of Erica Stanford's racism – I mean she's just so blatant with it. I guess that's what growing up on the North Shore does to you.' Rachael King is also a successful middle-grade writer. She referred ReadingRoom to her comments on Instagram: 'In New Zealand many Māori words are part of our lexicon and need to be taught just as much as English words FFS.' Shilo Kino has written fiction for kids and adults; her 2024 debut novel All That We Know was inspired by Māori and Pasifika students who held an Auckland schoolgirl to account for posing in blackface in a Snapchat photo. She said, 'Can I echo the words of Te Akatea, the Māori Principals' Association, associate president Bruce Jepson? 'It's an act of racism. It's a determined act to recolonise our education system, and it sends a very dangerous message and is immensely harmful and it's utterly shameful.' 'I would add that this is another blatant, aggressive, and ongoing attack on te reo Māori by the government. It is the deliberate and ongoing erasure of te reo Māori. When does it end?' She emailed again 13 minutes later, and wrote, 'Also for more than 1,000 years, the various dialects of te reo Māori were the only language spoken in Aotearoa. It took less than 100 years for the almost erasure of te reo Māori. So many of our elders, activists, pioneers fought for te reo Māori to thrive today, so it is more than infuriating to think the Government can get away with casually erasing te reo from all aspects of life, and in particular the most important, education.' ReadingRoom also contacted a prominent publisher who was happy to be named, objected to the education minister's decision, but their most expressive quote was the first thing they said and was off the record: 'It's madness.' Helen Wardsworth, co-owner of one of the most beautiful bookstores in New Zealand, Dorothy Butler Childrens Books in Jervois Rd, Auckland, also objected—but felt that it distracted from another issue. She said, 'We're not in favour of the change but would rather be talking about the fact that only 30% of schools have libraries and that lots of experienced Resource teachers of literacy and Māori will be losing their jobs soon.' The attack on libraries was also of chief concern to the great New Zealand novelist Lloyd Jones. He said, 'I don't think it is the end of the world. 'There may be sound pedagogical reasons for separating out Maori and English vowel sounds at that point of a child's learning. However, in my experience, we make a mistake when we under-estimate a child's capacity. Set the bar low and a child won't disappoint you. Set the bar high and the same child won't disappoint you (with some exceptions, those with learning disabilities etc…). 'For a true crisis, shift your eyes to Gaza, where the world and its most useless agency the UN looks on helplessly as a captive population is systematically starved to death. 'For a local crisis, look at the outrageous amount of money spent on linking Archives and the National Library by some needless and pointless internal route. Millions that could have been spent making the national library look like – a National Library.' Nicola Legat, publisher at Massey University Press and chair of the the New Zealand Book Awards Trust, distanced herself from the furore. She said, 'I'm not at all an expert on structured literacy and was interested to hear the views of various reading experts. Perhaps everyone has got a bit overexcited and has raced to conclusions, but that's the climate we are in and that has been created: tempers are hot and passions are inflamed and everything, even early readers, have become part of a culture war.' Final word to one of the guv'nors of New Zealand books for kids, David Hill. His first teenage novel, See Ya, Simon (1992), is a YA classic. He has published more than 50 titles over four decades and received the Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement in Fiction. He said, 'Erica is a well-meaning pupil who tries hard in class. 'Unfortunately, her progress is currently impeded by an inability to grasp certain concepts. These include: '1. Maori is one of Aotearoa New Zealand's official languages. It seems perverse to exclude it from any resource aimed at developing the language skills of young New Zealanders. '2. In the new, miraculous world of reading skills that places so much emphasis on phonics, it's worth noting that Maori words are spelt more phonetically than many English equivalents. (Try 'arero' and 'waka' against 'tongue' and 'yacht'.) '3. Knowledge of more than one language is universally accepted as enhancing memory, cognitive abilities and cultural understanding. 'If Erica pays attention to these and related issues, there remains a good chance that her next report card will be more positive.'

Budget eats: Discover culinary gems on the French and Italian Rivieras

NZ Herald

a day ago

NZ Herald

Budget eats: Discover culinary gems on the French and Italian Rivieras

Old roads lead to classic delights. Photo / Stephen Emms Marseille France's second-largest city will never win awards for cuteness. Yet its cosmopolitan urban feel is unique on the Riviera, its sometimes frenetic neighbourhoods alive with international markets and street food. Start at the Marche Des Capucins in Noailles, the web of streets lined with tempting multicultural stalls, all spices, wet fish and exotic pastries. It feels more north African than southern French (tip: try the mahjouba, a type of savoury Algerian crepe for a couple of euros, or the Tunisian 'brik', a tuna, egg and potato pastry). For something more sit-down, most restaurants in the smarter Vieux Port area serve a plat du jour for €16. Often, it's a beef daube (slow-cooked aromatic stew) and at the tiny hole-in-the-wall Pain A L'Ail, it's just €9.90 ($19.30). Your unmissable stop in this port city should, however, be La Boite a Sardine, its quirky interior furnished with fishing memorabilia, from life jackets to buoys, shelves piled with tinned fish cans. Here, the owner talks you through the daily changing chalkboard menu (in English if you prefer): super fresh plates of marinated anchovies in golden olive oil and stuffed butterflied sardines with fresh sourdough are just €7 a pop. The manager at La Boite a Sardine discussing the menu. Photo / Stephen Emms When evening rolls in, hit relaxed craft beer bar Les Berthom, which serves local pilsner for €4 and oozing croque-monsieur for €9. A final tip: swap Michelin-recommended Sepia (although its €57 three-course menu is worth it if you have the cash) for its adjoining bar Julis, a guinguette offering cheaper tapas alongside phenomenal sea and city views. Don't miss the specialty sardines in La Boite a Sardine. Photo / Stephen Emms Nice If you're as penny-pinching in this famed southern French resort as we were, head straight to the outdoor market at Cours Saleya in Vieux Nice, open every day except Monday, and renowned for local products like olive oils and pistou. Two must-try specialities, cooked over a wood fire, are pissaladière, a delicious flatbread stuffed with olives, onions and anchovy, and socca, flat chickpea pancakes. Both can be bought at the legendary Chez Theresa, a stall trading since 1925, for about €3 (it also does a signature chard pie). Warning: the queue moves slowly at weekends. Enjoy a day out at Cours Saleya. Photo / Stephen Emms Grab the freshest snacks at the market. Photo / Stephen Emms For a vibrant dinner, try Berco in the winding cobbled streets of the old town where, if you can bag a table, small plates hover at about €6. If it has to be the palm tree-lined promenade, hip hangout Babel Babel serves iconic local specialty, panisse (chickpea fritters) at €6. Dine at Berco for a cheap, but filling dinner. Photo / Stephen Emms Take your food for a picnic by the beach. Photo / Stephen Emms Sanremo One train journey along the cerulean sea later, and Sanremo is just over the border into Italy, its steep old town known as the 'pinecone' and topped with a highly photogenic 18th-century church. Food-wise, the best bargains are to be had at city institution La Tavernetta, which dates back to 1950 and serves sardenaira (the Ligurian version of pissaladière with anchovies, local olives, garlic cloves and capers), or focaccia formaggio for €1.20, while coffee is a humble euro and, during aperitivo hour, an ice-cold glass of wine or frizzante is just €1.50. La Tavernetta is a city institution, one you should not skip. Photo / Stephen Emms Try a variety of breads for cheap at La Tavernetta. Photo / Stephen Emms For more carby steals, Buon Apetito is another long-running bakery, its slices of focaccia al formaggio, pizzas, and torta slightly pricier at €2.50-€4. Roam the daily market, Mercato Annonario, for the tasty torta di verdura di zucca (courgette pastry); cheaper still, here are sardenaira slices around one euro. Don't forget that during aperitivo hour, ordering a spritz or a negroni at most bars often comes with a plate of enticing snacks, including pizzas, meats and cheeses, for the price of the drink; this alone keeps costs down. Sanremo's infamous Mercato Annonario. Photo / Stephen Emms Genoa This port city is seemingly unfathomable at first, its dense network of old town alleyways breaking out into vast piazzas, its harbour, the Porto Antico, an unlikely mishmash of architectural styles. But stay focused, and just off Piazza Corvetto in the theatre district is historic bakery, La Farinata dei Teatri. Supposedly unchanged since 1861, it's known purely for its eponymous crispy chickpea pancake, fresh from the oven and served in a wide pan for a few euros. Genoa's historic bakery, La Farinata dei Teatri. Photo / Stephen Emms The classic crispy chickpea pancake fresh from the oven. Photo / Stephen Emms Meanwhile, a 15-minute walk away is the Mercato Orientale. This food market, in a former 17th-century convent cloister, makes a fascinating wander, with fritto misto or pesto lasagne around €6 at Bar del Mercato (tip: ask for a local wine to match it). Upstairs is a contemporary streetfood market, home to a mouthwatering range of outlets (300g of tagliata at La Carne is €18), while an enoteca allows you to try different wines at lowish prices. Shop for fresh produce at Mercato Orientale. Photo / Stephen Emms A tasty plate of pesto lasagne for €6. Photo / Stephen Emms Finally, off central Piazza Raffaele de Ferrai, end your coastal rail trip with a melt-in-the-mouth lasagne (€12.50) at Trattoria Rosmarino, served Genoese style using white beef and pork ragu.

NZ Herald

4 days ago

NZ Herald