May
27
2020: the year of judging
posted in Writing
This year I’ve had the privilege of judging both the 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, and the 2020 Jan Medlicott …
Read ArticleKo wai koe?
Nic Low is a writer and arts organiser of Ngāi Tahu Maori and European descent. He whakapapas to Ōraka-Aparima at the bottom of the South Island, and is vice-chair of the Ngāi Tahu Ki Melbourne taurahere group. He divides his time between a bush retreat in the Castlemaine National Heritage Park, and Christchurch, NZ.
His first book is Arms Race, a collection of mischievous, polemical short stories out with Text Publishing. His second, a literary walking expedition through the Maori and European history of New Zealand’s Southern Alps, comes out with Text Publishing next year. His subjects are wilderness and adventure, technology and power, history and race.
Nic’s short fiction, essays and criticism have been published widely in Australia and New Zealand. He is a recipient of the 2018 CLNZ Writers’ Award, a 2018 Pushcart Prize nominee, and an alumnus of the 2017 Banff Centre Mountain and Wilderness Writing Program. He also judges literary prizes, most recently the 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, and the 2020 Jan Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction in the New Zealand Book Awards.
full bio
ARMS RACE & other stories
Twelve wildly funny and politically charged stories about the urgent questions of our time: data theft, internet memes, advertising, terrorism, indigenous sovereignty, drone warfare, opium addiction, syphilis, the moon landing, mining, oil slicks, climate change, giant octopuses; in this collection nothing is spared. Arms Race goes beyond satire, aiming for the dark heart of our collective obsession with technology, power and image.
Shortlisted for the Readings Prize and the Queensland Literary Awards; A Listener and Australian Book Review Book of the Year.
"Fierce and uncompromising ... seductive and frightening" - The Australian
"a bristling, playful energy" - Sydney Morning Herald
"brazenly funny" - The Thousands
Set variously in London, a Rajasthani village, remote Mongolia, the West Australian outback and mountainous New Zealand, these are prescient visions of the future and outlandish reimaginings of the past. Arms Race is an arresting debut from a fierce new voice in Australian writing.
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General HurtzFukuyama was wrong. History hasn't ended. It's been outsourced.
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The Lotus EatersThe man had a heavy beard, and the kind of morose gravity that makes talkative people act like fools. Filling his silence would be like shovelling sand into the sea.
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The Lotus EatersThis bar has been full of drunken Frenchmen since the year 1893. It has never been empty. These seats pass like batons in a relay. We sit and try to remember why we are here, but the truth is—we have come here to forget.
the lowdown
All the news that's unfit for print
Sep
25
CLNZ 2018 Writers Award
posted in Writing
I’m delighted to say I’ve been named as the recipient of the 2018 CLNZ Writers Award for my current project, …
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Jun
16
Rurumataikau / Whitcombe
posted in Photography
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Jun
16
Nōti Raureka
posted in Photography
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Jun
16
Nōti Hurunui
posted in Photography
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Jan
31
Mountain Weather
posted in Writing
2015. I’m in New Zealand, working on my second book Eight Passes. It’s about New Zealand’s Southern Alps, told through …
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General HurtzFukuyama was wrong. History hasn't ended. It's been outsourced.
-
The Lotus EatersThe man had a heavy beard, and the kind of morose gravity that makes talkative people act like fools. Filling his silence would be like shovelling sand into the sea.
-
The Lotus EatersThis bar has been full of drunken Frenchmen since the year 1893. It has never been empty. These seats pass like batons in a relay. We sit and try to remember why we are here, but the truth is—we have come here to forget.
portfolio
Writing, installation art, international cultural exchange, festival direction, graphic and web design.
