A sleepy bohemian neighborhood becomes the unexpected setting for an adventure story as a lively cast of characters that include a brilliant but troubled young writer, a voluptuous healer, and a shadowy cult and its sinister leader take on an ancient legend of the occult. From the mysterious and the horrific to the comedic and the erotic, Unspeakable Secrets of the Aro Valley is a dark and hilarious odyssey through Wellington’s underbelly that weaves through trail of riddles, a struggle for ultimate power, and a final, unspeakable secret.

A returning hero.A desolate valley.A missing mathematician.A glamorous and beguiling council bureaucrat with a hidden past.A cryptic map leading to an impossible labyrinth.An ancient conspiracy; an ancient evil.A housing development without proper planning permission.All leading to the most mysterious mystery of all.Mysterious Mysteries of the Aro Valley is a dark and forbidding new comic farce by the author of Unspeakable Secrets of the Aro Valley.

Danyl McLauchlan wanted to get closer to the hidden truth of things. But it was starting to look like the hidden truth of things was that nothing was real, everything was suffering, and he didn't really exist.In these essays Danyl explores ideas and paths that he hopes will make him freer and happier &– or, at least, less trapped, less medicated and less depressed. He stays at a monastery and meditates for eight hours a day. He spends time with members of a new global movement who try to figure out how to do the most possible good in the world. He reads forbiddingly complex papers on neuroscience and continental philosophy and shovels clay with a Buddhist monk until his hands bleed. He tries to catch a bus. Tranquillity and Ruin is a light-hearted contemplation of madness, uncertainty and doom. It's about how, despite everything we think we know about who we are, we can still be surprised by ourselves.'There are passages you'll read multiple times, not because it's difficult or obfuscating, but because it's complicated, and beautiful in the way that all complicated things are beautiful.' —Alie Benge, The Spinoff'An incisive exploration of what makes us human, from one of the

In 2017, Ministry of Health figures showed that one in five New Zealanders sought help for a diagnosed mood or anxiety disorder, and these figures are growing. Headlands: New Stories of Anxiety tells the real, messy story behind these statistics &­&– what anxiety feels like, what causes it, what helps and what doesn't. These accounts are sometimes raw and confronting, but they all seek to share experiences, remove stigma, offer help or simply shine a light on what anxiety is. The stories in Headlands are told by people from all walks of life: poets, novelists, and journalists, musicians, social workers, and health professionals, and includes new work from Ashleigh Young, Tusiata Avia, Danyl McLauchlan, Selina Tusitala Marsh, Hinemoana Baker and Kirsten McDougall. Edited by journalist Naomi Arnold, Headlands shows that some communities have better access to mental health services than others and it underscores the importance for greater understanding of the condition across the whole of society. It is not a book of solutions nor a self-help guide. Instead, it has been put together for all individuals and whanau affected by anxiety. It's also for those who are still suffering in silence, in the hope they will see themselves reflected in these pages and understand they are not alone.

A big, authoritative, hilarious illustrated account of New Zealand's funniest comedians.From the Kiwi Concert Party to The Topp Twins, Billy T. James to Rose Matafeo, Fred Dagg to Flight of the Conchords and Taika Waititi, New Zealanders have made each other laugh in ways distinctive to these islands. Funny As tells the story of comedy in this country through more than 300 pictures and an engaging text based on over 100 interviews with our best comedians. Published alongside a major TVNZ documentary series at a time when comedy has never been bigger, the book takes us inside the comedy clubs, cabarets and television studios where comedians work; it charts the rise of cartoons and skits, parody and stand-up; it introduces us to how New Zealand's funniest men and women have made sense (and nonsense) out of this country's changing culture and society. Funny As is the authoritative, hilarious story of New Zealand comedy.

Danyl McLauchlan wanted to get closer to the hidden truth of things. But it was starting to look like the hidden truth of things was that nothing was real, everything was suffering, and he didn't really exist. In these essays Danyl explores ideas and paths that he hopes will make him freer and happier - or, at least, less trapped, less medicated and less depressed. He stays at a monastery and meditates for eight hours a day. He spends time with members of a new global movement who try to figure out how to do the most possible good in the world. He reads forbiddingly complex papers on neuroscience and continental philosophy and shovels clay with a Buddhist monk until his hands bleed. He tries to catch a bus. Tranquillity and Ruin is a light-hearted contemplation of madness, uncertainty and doom. It's about how, despite everything we think we know about who we are, we can still be surprised by ourselves. 'There are passages you'll read multiple times, not because it's difficult or obfuscating, but because it's complicated, and beautiful in the way that all complicated things are beautiful.' --Alie Benge, The Spinoff