Anthony Lapwood
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Anthony Lapwood
@antzlapwood.bsky.social
660 followers 240 following 190 posts
Fiction writer. He / him. Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Whakaue, Pākehā. Winner of the Hubert Church Prize for Fiction, for my story collection Home Theatre. Views my own.

www.anthonylapwood.com
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antzlapwood.bsky.social
Xmas is just around the corner... So I'm doing a book giveaway!

Win a copy of my prize-winning story collection Home Theatre 🏠🎭

Simply reply below with a good book you read this year.

Draw closes 5pm NZST Sunday 30 November.

#pukapuka @thwupbooks.bsky.social
Cover of Home Theatre with Xmas themes cheaply added: a Santa hat stuck on a man standing in an apartment window, a red nose and reindeer antlers stuck on a glowing horse in the window above.
November 29, 2025 at 4:06 AM
antzlapwood.bsky.social
"Which is essentially what all novelists do," he said. "We go to a party and then tell why it was awful."

From "The Penthouse" by Andrew Holleran.
Salient excerpt from "The Penthouse" by Andrew Holleran: "So tell me about Proust," he said, turning to the novelist, who had promised to give Ashley a reading list. "What's his schtik?" "His schtik?" said the novelist, raising his eyebrows. "In twenty-five words or less," said Ashley. "Well...," said the novelist. "Proust is a man who went to a party—and then went home and wrote a book about what was wrong with it. Which is essentially what all novelists do," he said. "We go to a party and then tell why it was awful."
November 16, 2025 at 11:48 PM
antzlapwood.bsky.social
"Great! The voice of the writer won through."

This must go down as one of the best authorial prefaces.

Anyway, finally giving myself a proper education and giving this #pukapuka a read.
June 11, 2025 at 9:03 AM
antzlapwood.bsky.social
Keen to explore the art of the short story through a series of supportive workshops? 👍

Apply for CREW 254 @modernletters.bsky.social by 20 June ✍️

What have current students said? Course: excellent. Teaching: excellent. Top marks 😎

www.wgtn.ac.nz/modernletter...
ANTHONY LAPWOOD Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Whakaue, Pākehā [Photo of Anthony outdoors] Course Convenor CREW 254 Short Fiction | He Kōrero Paki 2025 T1 & T2 What advice would you give to someone who wants to write? "Get good at noticing the specifics of the world around you and in the worlds of your stories. As they say, the universal is found through the specific. What you notice is also fundamental to developing your voice – the act of speaking is first of all an act of seeing." What do you love about teaching creative writing? "Nothing beats seeing emerging writers start to find their voice and tell the stories that only they can tell, with the confidence that comes from knowing how to deploy their craft effectively." What's something you get students to do in your workshop? "I like to ask students to summarise each other's stories. Sometimes they worry they'll fail the 'test' by not remembering every plot point. But the aim is to remember what was worth remembering – what stood out for them as a reader."
June 5, 2025 at 2:35 AM
antzlapwood.bsky.social
Finally, sunshine 🌞
A tortoiseshell cat sitting on a yellow table, basking in sunlight, face raised to the sky.
May 3, 2025 at 12:51 AM
antzlapwood.bsky.social
Sole annotation in the back of a found copy of The Miserables by Damien Wilkins: "Lawyers accrediting pp 105"

#pukapuka
April 21, 2025 at 9:08 AM
antzlapwood.bsky.social
My short story "Catch" – about fish farms and gay neanderthals – is free to read in the latest issue of @takahemagazine.bsky.social 🎣👬

www.takahe.org.nz/catch/

#pukapuka #shortstories
Excerpt: Catch 6 April 2025 | in t113 They have escaped to this region on the recommendation of Josh’s friend, who has family down this way. Josh and his partner, Matt, don’t think they know anyone else who lives or holidays here—not regularly. The whole environment is abnormally clean, the air and the freshwater springs, the bush, the [text cuts off] Excerpt: They have two fish now in the chilly bin and, feeling hungry, decide that’s enough. They can always come back another day, there’s no shortage of time. Even though they caught one fish each, Matt killed them both. Josh had wanted to kill his own, but in the end, with the awl in his hand, he had been unable. He’d known that if he tried, he would hesitate and falter, and it would be bad—worse than before. Quicker. Quicker. Though he had been right about the top [text cuts off] Excerpt: Perhaps they should have asked an attendant to kill the fish. An attendant mentioned it was an option when showing them the rods. The attendants seem almost eager to do the killing for you. Josh sips his IPA and studies his partner. Do you reckon neanderthals were gay? he says. Cover of takahē issue 113, April 2025. Masthead states: fiction, poetry, art, essays, reviews.
April 11, 2025 at 12:29 AM
antzlapwood.bsky.social
Junk mail doesn't come more junk than this 🤮
Cover of an idiotic, racist booklet titled 'STOP CO-GOVERNANCE' by one Julian Batchelor.
February 17, 2025 at 6:31 AM
antzlapwood.bsky.social
This felt so good #X
X platform notification confirming my account is deactivated.
January 27, 2025 at 5:07 AM
antzlapwood.bsky.social
Reminded lately of this modern masterpiece, "America" by Maurizio Cattelan 🚽🪙
Photo of a functional toilet made out of gold.
January 21, 2025 at 7:39 AM
antzlapwood.bsky.social
Owls Do Laugh: the lost sequel

#pukapuka #JanetFrame #OwlsDoCry 🦉📖
January 16, 2025 at 8:13 AM
antzlapwood.bsky.social
Great show from Beastwars last night! Vocalist Matthew Hyde is one of the most enigmatic and charming performers in #NZmusic, an unpretentious but commanding bogan wizard. He's also something of a kindly uncle with his banter: "Have a good summer!" "Happy '25! Can't get any worse, they say!"
November 23, 2024 at 10:59 PM
antzlapwood.bsky.social
Toitū te Tiriti. Good to support the hīkoi today – not just against Seymour's racist bill but this Government's full racist agenda 🖤🤍♥️✊
November 19, 2024 at 4:42 AM
antzlapwood.bsky.social
I'm delighted to teach CREW254 Short Fiction | He Kōrero Paki for @modernletters.bsky.social again in 2025 — not once, but twice!

Join me to explore the art of the short story in T1 or T2. The application deadline for T1 is the 1st of December, so get writing! ✍️💚

www.wgtn.ac.nz/courses/CREW...
ANTHONY LAPWOOD Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Whakaue, Pākehā [Photo of Anthony wearing a red shirt and brown coat.] Course Convenor CREW 254 Short Fiction | He Kōrero Paki 2025 T1 & T2 What advice would you give to someone who wants to write? “Get good at noticing the specifics of the world around you and in the worlds of your stories. As they say, the universal is found through the specific. What you notice is also fundamental to developing your voice — the act of speaking is first of all an act of seeing.” What do you love about teaching creative writing? “Nothing beats seeing emerging writers start to find their voice and tell the stories that only they can tell, with the confidence that comes from knowing how to deploy their craft effectively.” What’s something you get students to do in your workshop? “I like to ask students to summarise each other’s stories. Sometimes they worry they’ll fail the ‘test’ by not remembering every plot point. But the aim is to remember what was worth remembering — what stood out for them as a reader.”
November 15, 2024 at 3:24 AM
antzlapwood.bsky.social
If you wonder how writers pick names for characters, this is the cheap bass amp I've had for about 20 years, and the name of the boyfriend of the main recurring character in my book Home Theatre is... (yes, it's the word beginning with Ash- ).
Close up of a bass guitar amplifier with the headphone jack and power switch and the lettering: BA 4012 BASS AMPLIFIER Ashton
September 22, 2024 at 3:43 AM
antzlapwood.bsky.social
It's been a humbling experience and a privilege being a judge for this year's fiction category for the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.

My heartfelt congrats to two very deserving winners in Lioness by Emily Perkins and Ruin by Emma Hislop. Thank you for your finely made words 📚💚🎉 #pukapuka
May 15, 2024 at 7:59 PM
antzlapwood.bsky.social
Apart from his unusual guitar strap technique and sonic genius, the part about Steve Albini I admired was his support for other artists, especially the ones that never made it big, and underdogs in general. Here's a few bits I collected when I saw Shellac, including Albini's pick and signature. RIP.
A scrapbook collection from seeing Shellac play at Bodega in Wellington in 2015. Including Steve Albini's used guitar pick, the setlist (a grid of song options from different albums that they selected from on stage) which is signed by Albini, and Todd Trainer's splintered drum stick.
May 9, 2024 at 8:57 PM
antzlapwood.bsky.social
The set texts will offer a broad sense of what's possible in a short story, and provide illustrations and examples for our discussions on craft. Here's the list from the course reader (I'll no doubt recommend more fantastic authors and stories along the way...)
Charles Baxter: ‘On Defamiliarization’ Rabindranath Tagore: ‘A Day’ Simon Armitage: ‘The Experience’ Jorge Luis Borges: ‘Borges and I’ Raymond Carver: ‘Cathedral’ George Saunders: ‘Victory Lap’ *William Brandt: ‘His Father’s Shoes’ Donald Barthelme: ‘The School’ *Authors from Aotearoa Tomoyuki Hoshino: ‘Pink’ J.G Ballard: ‘The Drowned Giant’ *Maria Samuela: ‘Bluey’ Flannery O’Connor: ‘A Good Man Is Hard to Find’ *Airini Beautrais: ‘Sin City’ James Baldwin: ‘Sonny’s Blues’ Anton Chekov: ‘The Kiss’ *Pip Adam: ‘The Kiss’ *Authors from Aotearoa Ursula K Le Guin: ‘The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas’ *Gina Cole: ‘Black Ice’ Junot Diaz: ‘How to Date a Brown Girl (Black Girl, White Girl, or Halfie)’ Italo Calvino: ‘The Distance to the Moon’ *Keri Hulme: ‘A Tally of the Souls of Sheep’ Lorrie Moore: ‘You’re Ugly, Too’ Jamaica Kincaid: ‘Girl’ *Authors from Aotearoa *Barbara Anderson: ‘Up the River with Mrs Gallant’ *Frank Sargeson: ‘A Great Day’ Ernest Hemingway: ‘In Another Country’ John Cheever: ‘The Swimmer’ *Airana Ngarewa: ‘Pātea Warriors’ *Tracey Slaughter: ‘Deleted Scenes for Lovers’ Ted Chiang: ‘The Great Silence’ *Authors from Aotearoa
May 4, 2024 at 1:05 AM
antzlapwood.bsky.social
I'm thrilled to be joining @modernletters.bsky.social to teach CREW 254 Short Fiction | He Kōrero Paki.

Together, we'll investigate the art of the short story through supportive workshopping of student writing and discussing a range of published examples.

More details and how to apply below ✍️💚
Introducing ANTHONY LAPWOOD (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Whakaue, Pākehā). [Photo of Anthony.] Course Convener CREW 254 Short Fiction | He Kōrero Paki. "I love helping emerging writers develop their confidence and their voice, so they can tell the stories that only they can tell, in the best way that they can tell them." "Fundamental to the workshop as a process for developing our craft is the act of giving respect. We respect each other as learners, and we respect the writing and its potential." "One piece of advice is to get good at noticing what catches your attention in the world around you and in the worlds of your stories. What we notice is fundamental to what stories we tell and the meaning we make."
May 4, 2024 at 12:56 AM
antzlapwood.bsky.social
Gorgeous Sunday arvo exploring exhibitions at The Dowse, featuring:

👻 Through the Wall of Birth and Death, by Nell

🧶 Good Bones, by Michele Beevors

🏞️ Takoto Ai Te Marino, by Raukura Turei

🏰 Lumplandia, by Becky Richards
March 10, 2024 at 6:53 AM
antzlapwood.bsky.social
This AI summary has it about right, over on Storygraph (an alternative to Goodreads)...

#pukapuka #HomeTheatre
STORYGRAPH PREVIEW Powered by AI (Beta) Home Theatre by Anthony Lapwood is a good fit for those seeking a collection of interconnected stories that blend the fantastical and the real, exploring themes of human connection, identity, and the search for belonging.
December 30, 2023 at 7:26 PM
antzlapwood.bsky.social
Had such a lovely time at this Wairarapa Word event talking about short and very short fiction with @jackremiel.bsky.social and Philippa Tucker. Thanks to all who came along and to the tireless organisers who do such an incredible job! #pukapuka
December 8, 2023 at 9:03 AM
antzlapwood.bsky.social
Fabulous night telling tales with @chrisjtse.bsky.social at The Dowse (converted into a cosy inn with complimentary mead and grazing platters) in conjunction with their Faerie Land exhibition. Thanks to the fantastic Gemma for organising! 📚🧚🏻🍻
November 23, 2023 at 6:56 PM
antzlapwood.bsky.social
This is your annual reminder that my #pukapuka Home Theatre is a Christmas book! Sorta like how Die Hard is a Christmas movie. Great holiday reading for all the family (well, it's probably R16, also like Die Hard). Get them one copy each so there's no fighting 🎄🎭📖
November 15, 2023 at 8:17 AM
antzlapwood.bsky.social
Ngā mihi nui everyone who came out for LitCrawl this year -- for the big one-oh anniversary. Special thanks to those who popped into either of the events I was in: Tenderness of the Tāne, and Queer Fear 📚💚
November 11, 2023 at 8:21 PM