Author interview: Anthony Lapwood

Anthony Lapwood photo used with the kind permission of Te Herenga Waka University Press and copyrighted by Ebony Lamb.

Anthony Lapwood’s (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Whakaue and Pākehā) fabulous collection of short stories Home Theatre has just been released. Home Theatre is a collection of dreamlike, interlinked short stories set in a Wellington apartment building that was formerly a radio factory. They are loosely connected by a recurring, time travelling, character that features in several of the stories. Whilst there is definitely a magical realist feeling to some aspects of the stories, there are also elements of social realism and social commentary, for example apartments in the stories are damp or suffer from ant invasions. The tales in the collection range in time, from the early 20th to modern times. Most of the stories are also strongly driven by both plot and character. A sense of community, or lack of it, also features in several stories. It all makes for a thoroughly compelling and enthralling read. The collection has already received glowing critical responses from the likes of Radio New Zealand.

We were thrilled when Anthony  took time out from his very busy schedule to discuss Home Theatre, and we wish to extend our heartfelt thanks to him. For more information visit  Te Herenga Waka University Press.

This interview was done in conjunction with Caffeine and Aspirin, the arts and entertainment review show on Radioactive FM. It was conducted by host Tanya Ashcroft. You can hear the interview, as well as find a selection of Anthony Lapwood’s work that is available to borrow, below.


Home Theatre / Lapwood, Anthony
Home Theatre is a collection of dreamlike, interlinked short stories set in a Wellington apartment building that was formerly a radio factory.”

Middle distance : long stories of Aotearoa New Zealand
“The stories in Middle Distance travel from the empty expanses of the southern ocean to the fall of a once great house, from the wharekai of a marae to the wasteland of Middle America. Longer than a traditional short story and shorter than a novella, the long story is a form that both compresses and sprawls, expands and contracts, and which allows us to inhabit a world in one sitting.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Year’s Best Aotearoa New Zealand science fiction and fantasy, V3
“When borders closed last year, Kiwi science fiction and fantasy took readers on flights of imagination through space and time. This anthology contains a selection of the best short science fiction and fantasy stories published by Aotearoa New Zealand writers in 2020.” (Catalogue)