Dionne Christian
Arts & Books Editor
Arts & Books Editor, NZ Herald
We are your advocate, Aotearoa. Uncovering stories that matter, asking hard-hitting questions of those in power, live-blogging sport events, monitoring the highs and lows of the NZX and providing Premium expert opinion and analysis. Bringing you distinctive, quality journalism and breaking news from across New Zealand and around the world. With specialists working together to create indepth reads, engaging video, and unmissable podcasts.
Check out Dionne’s latest content
'Bring the arts back' to school - but not as we know them
Arts focus to boost classroom creativity should be the new norm, say school heads.
Getting paid to play - major new fundraiser launched for Kiwi creatives
NZ musician helps launch major new arts funder by giving back to fellow performers.
Are these New Zealand's best books? Ockham award finalists revealed
Finalists named in New Zealand's premiere book awards.
Dark lady emerges from the shadows
400 years after England's first woman poet made her name known, she's finally being heard.
The Book of Mormon a masterclass in satire with heart
The world's most 'inappropriate' musical is about to open in Auckland.
Revealed - the woman who funds New Zealand's richest book award
New Zealand's richest literary award donor reveals her identity to boost local book trade.
Boosted: Arts crowdfunding site rejuvenated and relaunched
Want to support NZ art and literature? It's about to get easier to donate.
Roger Hall winds it up for booming new play
New Roger Hall play to open in Auckland before North Island tour. Will it be his last?
How theatre is helping to make refugee kids feel that NZ can be home
Why could an Auckland arts group become vital to youth as NZ's refugee quota increases?
Hilary Barry as you've never seen her before
NZ Youth Choir celebrates 40th anniversary - here's why it's good news to Hilary Barry.
Leading choreographer leaps into festival role
Surprise appointment as Auckland Arts Festival names new artistic director.
The forgotten women who powered early New Zealand
New book challenges idea that a colonial woman's place was in the home.
On Skid Row - the Kiwis at the heart of the 'worst manmade disaster in the US'
LA's Skid Row is not a place you want to visit so why are kiwi theatre-goers going there?
Just a small town boy - New Zealand's Broadway star comes home
Maungaturoto to Broadway - the remarkable success story of panelbeater's son Hayden Tee.
Kiwi rock opera takes long road to Auckland
Hamilton father of four's rock opera a novel way to deal with a midlife crisis.
Playing with a classic - Janet Frame's Owls Do Cry swoops onto the stage
Janet Frame's literary masterpiece Owls Do Cry now a world-first stage production.
Youth at risk charity gets major boost
Charity that helps youth at risk gets major boost from event organisers extraordinaire.
Does reading help with feeling well? NZ writer probes the links
Former physiotherapist turned writer wins major New Zealand award.
A phantom at the opera? Young singers confront ghostly challenge
Will there be a phantom at the opera? Not when it comes to young stars.
Star NZ opera singer's frightening new role: "It freaks me out. I get spooked."
Opera star knows the real things that scare don't go bump in the night.
Playwright brings home new perspectives on Pacific lives
A decade away, Samoan playwright returns home to show us what she's learned.
Top groups scoop awards for making arts fairer
A theatre group started to help the homeless wins top arts award.
Broken pasts and severed futures: NZ author's remarkable survival tale
It took 10 years for Kirsten Warner's debut novel to appear, a bigger fight was to come.
Pop-up Globe farewells Auckland
One of Auckland's most popular cultural attractions is leaving to travel the globe.
Want to have a tough conversation? Try singing instead
Is singing about life's big issues better than talking? Aucklanders urged to give it a go.
NZ theatre adds another chapter to its history with opening of new play
NZ's first locally written and produced Filipino play spotlights Pinoy experience.
NZ kids' book of the year is 'the bomb'
The best NZ books for children and young adults have been named.
Kiwi's connection to conman at heart of the play
New Zealander's meeting with conman at the heart of Six Degrees of Separation.
Dionne Christian discovers a Clevedon workshop reviving forgotten skills
We might be intrigued by the past - but do we really want to live there?
Getting better with age? The power of wisdom
Getting better with age? NZ's top female stars tell us about staying on top.
Explosive new drama: if the children are our future how far would we go for them?
The fall-out could be unpredictable - play's moral-dilemma leaves audiences gasping.
Art meets science in new light festival
Cutting edge of art and science highlighted in Auckland's new Tūrama festival.
Dance career continues to blossom
One of our most senior contemporary dancers is back in town and ready to bloom.
Drawing on music to tell new stories of Mozart
Award-winning illustrator Donovan Bixley to join forces with APO to make Mozart magical.
Embracing contradictions: Power at Basement Theatre
It's not quite a tribute to Little Mix but celebrates the music, style and contradiction.
Theatre-maker hears sound of music and tiny feet
Meet the NZ/USA theatre family who could be our answers to the Von Trapps.
Health of harbour top of mind during hikoi to art exhibition
Art exhibitions usually open with wine and cheese, this one starts with a hikoi and hangi.
Once upon a time musician Priya Sami was afraid of theatre but not any more
Tough as a musician's life may be, Priya Sami can't imagine doing anything else.
New play for teens aims to prevent sexual violence
New play for New Zealand teens aimed at preventing sexual violence is a must see.
Let's hear it for the boy; Auckland's giant new kid in town
There's a stride in the humongous lad's step but where, exactly, is he headed?
Hunt launched for New Zealand's best school songwriter
Could the next best song Andrew Lloyd Webber hears be written by a Kiwi kid? Here's how.
Theatre epic to open in Auckland next week
New Zealand theatre companies join forces for epic history-maker like no other seen here.
Books for young readers reflect diverse New Zealand
The year's best books for New Zealand children and young adults named.
Roger Hall's knighthood new chapter for NZ theatre
Playwright Roger Hall honoured for key role in the development of New Zealand drama.
Land made of land - the tragic story of one of our Pacific neighbours
The story of Banaba Island, told at the Pacific Dance Festival, is likely to shock
A ballet for our times
A new version of Swan Lake is a ballet for our times, says the Royal NZ Ballet.
New York beckons for young musicians
Two Auckland school pupils will play at New York's Carnegie Hall after competition wins.
A new Tuke sails onto the international stage
The Tuke family name is known in NZ for gold-medal sailing; now add dancing to the mix.
(Dis)ability no barrier to moving it in Madagascar
Sisters Amber and Anna Stevenson are among a group of kids making NZ theatre history.
Mum's the word for Go Girls star Bronwyn Turei
Go Girls star reflects on parenthood and family roles.
Slam dunk! New Zealand poets make history
Creative NZ teens score a global first, taking slam poetry - Aotearoa style - to world.
Ockham book award winners named
One of New Zealand's favourite novelists takes top prize at Ockham NZ Book Awards.
Razztwizzler show to leave your chuggling along with Dahl
Roald Dahl comes to Auckland in all-singing orchestral show with a touch of Bond.
Regal role a jewel in the crown
Actress Theresa Healey: When you're asked to play the Queen, you don't say no.
A bleak chapter in NZ: The dawn raids and Operation Pot Black
Gallery exhibition tells of the random stopping in the streets of anyone with brown skin.
Oh boy! Giant sculpture to make huge impact on city's art
Potters Park to get one of the largest public artworks Auckland has seen.
Roger Hall's Middle Age Spread lives on
Playwright's most celebrated work has been revived for his 80th birthday.
No of-fence taken at artist's unusual entry
NZ artist Judy Millar has her first international survey show - in Switzerland.
Murwillumbah: Pleasing patterns of Tweed
The drive to Murwillumbah is almost as great as its gallery, writes Dionne Christian.
Author Greg McGee on what's been keeping him up at night
Author Greg McGee on the necessary secrets that kept him awake at night.
Mandela and me: Exhibition curator on bringing together a life
Mandela My Life: The Official Exhibition opens in Auckland today.
Pop-up Globe to hit the road as 'cockpit theatres'
Get ready Dunedin, Nelson, Christchurch, Wellington, Napier, Hamilton and New Plymouth.
Forget Wonky Donkey, here comes Dinky
Sequel to best-selling Wonky Donkey to be released this year.
The art of crafting a living room
Art and craft of living central to a first-of-its-kind exhibition at an Auckland gallery.
Cultural festival creates musical harmony
Musicians unite in harmony for Auckland International Cultural Festival.
Alliance urges creative approach to good health
Arts and well-being united in creative alliance aimed at making NZ a healthier place.
New look, new perspective for city art gallery
New-look art gallery poses the question 'are we too big to care?'
Classical artists unite for peace
Classical musicians and singers dedicate concert to Christchurch.
New matchmaking service aims to change the stories we tell
Fancy a hot date with a book or movie? A new matchmaking site could be perfect for you.
Theatre review: A Man of Good Hope - the road is long but well worth taking
"A Man of Good Hope" is musical theatre at its most relevant, writes Dionne Christian.
New York artist never far from NZ
One of our most recognised painters to get honorary doctorate 64 years after graduation
Astroman rockets back to the 1980s
Watching TV was part of the work for the cast of a new comedy which celebrates 80s NZ.
Stacey Morrison: I was embarrassed because I couldn't speak my language
Hits host Stacey Morrison on what it means for Auckland Arts Fest to foster te reo Māori
Are these New Zealand's best books? Finalists for Ockham book awards named
And the finalists are - the short-list for the Ockham NZ Book Awards is announced.
Hallelujah! Arts festival champions te reo
Auckland festival unveils new programme to champion te reo through the arts.
UK duo shaking up art and science to visit New Zealand
How to make art from our earthquakes? UK duo set to show in Wellington this autumn.
Resilient hero on epic journey of hope
How did an 8-year-old boy survive war and famine to become a man of good hope?
'That's What Friends Are For' performance is part play, part experiment
Group will see whether actors can befriend people in the audience in just one hour.
Walk this way - biennial event gears up to be a triumph again
Need to know: How to make the most of Waiheke Island's stunning Sculpture on the Gulf.
As it stands - how giant sculpture inspires top NZ dancer
Dancer Ross McCormack looks at one of NZ's biggest steel sculptures and wants to move.