Ralph Hotere, one of New Zealand's most acclaimed and provocative artists, has died.

A Banksy mural at the centre of a controversial auction has been withdrawn from sale at the last minute, the council campaigning for its return to the UK says.

If its subject were less illustrious, this memoir would probably receive little attention.

He may have lived just briefly in Wellington with his family when he was a teenager, but New Zealand has an important place in British comic artist Rufus Dayglo's heart.

Yolanda Bartram has body painting in her blood. Her mum was a trained theatre artist in the Netherlands, using a young Yolanda as a canvas. Life & Style Editor Nicky Park visited Yolanda's Auckland studio to watch her paint a wolf on to the bare chest of Hannah, a 19-year-old "exhibitionist". “For me it’s normal to paint naked people but I guess a lot of people would find it strange,” Yolanda said. “I like to think I’m a collector of images. I have things in my head that I like to see.” · You can check out Yolanda at work at The International Tattoo and Art Expo, happening this weekend in Hamilton. Visit the website for more info.

Ella Mizrahi and Celia Harrison are bringing Auckland to life - their events company, Celery Productions.

A visiting world-renowned French prehistorian has backed calls to protect New Zealand's Maori rock art, describing some of our centuries-old works as powerful.

It was an astute piece of marketing on the part of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra to launch its 2013 season with Tan Dun conducting his Martial Arts Trilogy.

The 19th century novels I still like give a strong sense of demanding to be read aloud to an audience. But by 1950, I would say, that lingering expectation of how a novel delivers had changed, in most languages and even most genres.

All sorts of unexpected, unsettling things happen in these 30 short stories. In Phoenix, Arizona, jobless Victor heads south with his nation's worst-ever storyteller to reclaim parental remains.

Graham Reid gets his fill of fine food and fascinating art on an uncrowded island.

A previously unknown short story written by Katherine Mansfield will be unveiled at the National Library in Wellington today.

This fishing fleet has nothing to do with cod or snapper. It’s a witty, whimsical account of the boatloads of British belles, who, from the mid-18th century to the mid-20th century, were shipped out to India to marry English males.

Compare these two statements. "If the foreign forces are ready to leave our country ... then we can help them. But if they insist on continuing the war, we don't have any other way than fighting." An Afghan warlord, speaking in 2009.

We're back at work, the kids are back at school and already the summer break is an all-too-distant memory. Joanna Mathers finds out what the rest of 2013 will have in store for us.