THE GROOVE BOOK REPORT

Photography: Stella Gardiner @stellagardinerphoto Stewart Copeland — legendary drummer and co‑founder of The Police — returned to the Capital for the first time in nearly 20 years. Bursting onto the stage with a full‑throttle “Let’s Talk’n’Roll!”, he delivered the energy of a packed arena, even though the audience barely cracked 139 people in the stalls. Maybe the timing was off, coming right after Wellington Anniversary Weekend when half the city was still dragging itself back from baches and campgrounds. Maybe The Police have slid far enough into Classic Hits nostalgia that younger fans don’t really know Copeland anymore. Or maybe Ed Sheeran’s looming concert has already soaked up the city’s entertainment budget. Whatever the reason for the thin crowd, the two hours with Copeland were absolutely worth showing up for. Copeland has already zipped across Australia, and tonight he’s kicking off the Aotearoa leg of his Downunder tour. The ‘room-full’ may be small, but it’s switched on—e...

2026 Randell Cottage writer’s residency awarded to essa may ranapiri The Randell Cottage Writers Trust is delighted to announce that essa may ranapiri has been selected as Aotearoa New Zealand Writer-in-Residence for 2026. They will take up the six- month residency in July, and will use this opportunity to work on their first novel, Te Rama Tuna | Eeling by Torchlight, a coming of age story about two young trans Maaori friends/lovers. essa may ranapiri (Ngaati Raukawa, Ngaati Puukeko, Te Arawa and Clan Gunn) is a poet, writer and academic living in Kirikiriroa Hamilton. They have published a large amount of poetry, reviews and essays over the past eight years of working as a writer, most notably their two poetry collections, ransack (2019) and ECHIDNA (2022), and a forthcoming third collection, Puke, to be published in 2026. "ranapiri's project impressed the Panel for its boldness and groundbreaking nature.  It stood out amongst a very strong pool of candidates,...