takahē 115
Essay
Lost Libraries—Biblioclasm: a deadly sin: John Fenton
Art
Tony Guo: The Sweet Unbearable: Samuel Te Kani
Guest Fiction
Eye Contact: Ruby Porter
Fiction
How to Produce a Modern Flash Fiction: Christian Barragan
Lioness: Tina Cartwright
Crocodile in the Sun: Douglas Curran
The Cloudists: Andy McKenzie
Cherry: Jemma Richardson
Goodbye, Frankie Chen: Bernard Steeds
Guest Poetry
Five poems from My Bourgeois Apocalypse: Helen Rickerby
Poetry
Where I am finding you in these times: Jessica Arcus
Two poems: Maia Armistead
From the life: Tony Beyer
Stone: Jane Bloomfield
Alexandra Technique: Alexandra Cherian
Competition: Cadence Chung
Two poems: Lauren Connolly
Waiting for Dogot: Cian Dennan
Invasion Road: David Eggleton
cloud swallowed moon: Rachel Faleatua
The best crystal for protecting against fascism is a brick.: Joel LeBlanc
Two poems: Dorothy Lune
Overheard on Auckland Transport: Anuja Mitra
taken neat: Zia Ravenscroft
Just Us: Richard Reeve
Garlic man: Reihana Robinson
Two poems: Mark Russell
Just Before Culverden: Nigel Skjellerup
a week before my dad died: Leilani Tamu
Two poems: Anny Trolove
Ogygia: Nina Tulloch
do_you_know_how_fucking_weird_this_is.html: Freya Turnbull
Reviews
Before the Winter Ends, by Khadro Mohamed
Hoods Landing, by Laura Vincent
No Good, by Sophie van Waardenberg
Pastoral Care, by John Prins
show you’re working out, by liz breslin
2025 Monica Taylor Poetry Prize Winner
The Butcher of Whack-a-White: Jilly O’Brien
Published by The Takahē Collective Trust.
Art and Comics Editor: Andrew Paul Wood; Guest Essays Editor: Zoë Meager; Fiction and Comics Editor: Zoë Meager; Poetry Editor: Erik Kennedy; Reviews Editor: Ash Davida Jane, Angelique Kasmara; Board Secretary: Melanie Kwang; Chair: Zoë Meager; Copy Editor: Philippa Tucker; Cover Design: Tony Guo; Marketing and Website: Zoë Meager; Treasurer: Sam Dollimore; Fiction Readers: Clare Travaglia, Jill Varani, Latika Vasil, Lyndsey Knight, Margaret Moores, Melanie Kwang, Philippa Tucker, Rebecca Reader, Rebecca Styles, Ruby Solomon.
The Takahē Collective Trust affirms and upholds the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Between 1989 and 2022, we published takahē magazine in various digital and print forms from our base in Ōtautahi, and the Trust acknowledges Kāi Tahu as the kaitiaki and takata whenua of that land. Since 2023, the magazine has been published digitally by a more geographically dispersed team. The Trust recognises the mana whenua of all iwi throughout Aotearoa, as well as the traditional owners of other lands.
takahē is produced with the support of Creative NZ.