It goes to show, as Hare says, the audience - the way it reacts and responds and its current concerns - shapes theatre.

At 82, Gloria Steinem - the woman who spearheaded the women's liberation movement in the United States and beyond - was smoking hot.

The late artist worked on DC: The New Frontier, Catwoman, Parker and the Batman and Superman animated series.

In recent years there have been far too many reworks of Jane Austen novels.

The winners of the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards aren't the only local authors toasting success.

He cuts scrub to make ends meet and used to pretend to be looking at porn to hide his love of poetry from army mates.

The Auckland Writers Festival, under way at civic centre venues this week, is a testament to the continued value of the written word.

Decades of hard work for Stephen Daisley, a former shearer, farmer and soldier turned author, have paid off.

Sitting in their English teacher's office, seven McAuley High School girls are discussing their favourite books.

Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama appear to have much in common on the surface, but a new book on the two First Ladies reveals bitter animosity between them, Celia Walden writes.

Phil Lynott's name is a byword for rock 'n' roll excess. Now a new book explores why the shy church-goer found it so hard to resist temptation, writes Neil Armstrong.

One New Zealand fiction writer will wake up $50,000 better off on Wednesday thanks to a new literary prize.

COMMENT: We thought we knew who Americans were, but this year we have seen a new side to their character that has set me wondering about its origins.

Lisa Hilton's new novel is tipped to be the next big thriller, writes Stephen Jewell.

Strangely, here we have one autobiography of two people.

Graham Swift's consummate novella fills a day, 90-plus years ago post-World War I, when the servant class are free to visit their families.

Philosopher Julian Baggini talks to Dionne Christian about moral dilemmas and exchanging ideas.

And where to get them.

COMMENT: Four hundred years after the writer's death it's time to acknowledge Shakespeare has less to offer the modern world.

Male friendships have always fascinated American author Hanya Yanagihara.

Former soldier Glyn Harper, now Professor of War Studies at Massey University, has written numerous history books and children's books.

Prolific American writer Jane Smiley has been described as 'the best living American novelist'. She talks to Greg Bruce about Donald Trump, perfectionism and her mid-life crisis.

In this, the sixth in Jeffrey Archer's Clifton Chronicles, the master story teller continues the saga of the triumphs and tribulations of the Clifton and Barrington families.

A new book argues the view that World War I is a pointless conflict fails to consider myriad positive experiences that continue to shape our lives today.

Ian McGuire's story of brutality, greed and whaling - set aboard a boat off the coast of Greenland - is worth seeking out, especially for those of you who are not squeamish.

Former resistance activist and rape survivor Carmen Aguirre these days channels her revolutionary impulses into theatre and writing, says Dionne Christian.

Ghislaine Kenyon tells Craig Sisterson about why she felt compelled to write a book about Sir Quentin Blake, the most renowned illustrator of our time.

"Nothing moves forward in a story except through conflict," writes Robert McKee of Story Seminar fame.

Television comedian-cum-birdwatcher and writer Bill Oddie talks to Greg Bruce about his path through fame and depression.