Anna Woods
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annawoodsauthor.bsky.social
Anna Woods
@annawoodsauthor.bsky.social
Writer of short and long fiction, and occasional poems

Recent work on Newsroom, adda and in Landfall

Debut novel coming 2026

www.annawoodsauthor.com
Current read, the Goldsmith Prize winning novel We Live Here Now, by C. D. Rose, anyone read?

#booksky #litfic
November 26, 2025 at 5:08 AM
Continuing my E. M. Delafield jag with Thank Heaven Fasting. So great.

#booksky #litfic
November 17, 2025 at 1:56 AM
Just bought a book I’m excited to read: Out of the Blue - essays on artists from Aotearoa New Zealand 1985-20121, by Christina Barton. Yay for art history
November 14, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Happy Halloween #booksky. Wanna know what my spookiest read is?

Jane Eyre.

Hear me out…
October 31, 2025 at 6:14 AM
Deep in copyedits for my novel. Who wants to guess how many times I’ve used the word ‘hair’? Anyone?

#litfic #booksky
October 28, 2025 at 4:18 AM
Check out the 250th issue of Landfall, packed full of essays, poetry, fiction and reviews. And a new story by me.
October 16, 2025 at 4:12 AM
Currently obsessed with Diary of A Provincial Lady, by E M Delafield. Deadpan English humour. Loved it
October 8, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Just started I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith and already I’m hooked. Love the self deprecating, funny voice. Any Dodie Smith fans out there?

#booksky #litfic
September 5, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Excited to share my new story in takahē and read the other contributions. Weekend reading sorted!

#booksky #litfic #pukapuka
Out now! The 114th issue of takahē is free online for everyone to enjoy.

www.takahe.org.nz/takahe-114/

This issue is a little slimmer, but just as carefully curated with new words and art to challenge, stimulate and engross. We hope you love it.

Let us know your favourites! 🖤
August 29, 2025 at 11:34 PM
Turns out No Good, by Sophie van Waardenberg, was very good indeed, revealing an attention to craft lacking from many contemporary poems.

#booksky #poetrysky #pukapuka
August 26, 2025 at 4:48 AM
Excited to share my new story with you all, in the new issue of takahē, coming soon!
We're super excited to share fresh fiction from @annawoodsauthor.bsky.social, our Guest Fiction writer for the forthcoming 114th issue of takahē! 🖤
August 23, 2025 at 4:15 AM
Happy Poetry Day Aotearoa. I’m celebrating by reading the just released No Good, by the wonderful Sophie van Waardenberg. How about you?

#booksky #pukapuka #nzpoetry
August 22, 2025 at 4:33 AM
Late to the party, which is very on brand for me, but just finished Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, by Mario Vargas Llosa. Loved the increasingly unhinged radio serials and the backdrop of 1950s of Lima.

#booksky #litfic
August 16, 2025 at 5:35 AM
Started Air, the final book in the elements series, by John Boyne. I’ve really enjoyed the way these novels interconnect, so I’m looking forward to seeing how he brings it all together

#booksky #litfic
August 7, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Gave a school talk to an auditorium full of Y13s today. Was great to see them excited and engaged in the craft exercises.

#writersky
August 1, 2025 at 4:38 AM
I’m really enjoying Walk Through Walls, Marina Abromović’s memoir of her life and career as a performance artist. Her stories are wild.

#booksky
July 21, 2025 at 2:07 AM
In a bit of a reading slump. DNF on a book everyone raved about and not sure what to read next?
July 8, 2025 at 4:40 AM
Really enjoying the food descriptions in Butter. Reminds me of MFK Fisher’s sensuous food writing; an area of life too often overlooked in contemporary fiction.

#booksky #litfic
June 25, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Started Butter, by Asako Yuzuki and there’s a discussion about the size of one of the characters, described as huge, at ahem, 70kgs—which per a quick search is less than the average NZ woman. Love how fiction can give you a glimpse of another culture, without leaving your house.

#booksky #litfic
June 23, 2025 at 4:24 AM
When did the paper stock of novels become so thin? Started Dream Count, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and not sure if it’s the font (Goudy Oldstyle for my typography nerds) or the stock, but I can see the words on the other side of the page showing through and damn it’s distracting

#booksky #litfic
June 8, 2025 at 6:04 AM
Late to the party, I’ve finally read Audition, by Pip Adam; a book that explodes the idea of what a novel can do. The dialogue-laden first chapter was particularly hypnotic. Woolfian-Frameian genius.

Pip is criminally underrated in NZ. I hope the US release gives her the recognition she deserves.
June 7, 2025 at 4:17 AM
Finished Pale Fire and damn if it isn’t the cleverest novel I’ve ever read. The depth and layering, and in-jokes! Sadly, I can’t see many contemporary readers enjoying such a formally challenging book, and even more depressing, I wonder if it would even have found a publisher today?

#booksky #lific
June 2, 2025 at 3:37 AM
Reading Nakabov’s Pale Fire. He’s so inventive. Modern readers might struggle with the form, but a novel written as commentary on an invented poet’s masterwork is so damn clever. Reminds me a bit of Anne Carson’s Autobiography of Red, wonder if she read Pale Fire?

#booksky #lific
May 30, 2025 at 2:25 AM
Was so engrossed by the Auckland Writers Festival I forgot to post. Never fear, I’ll write a newsletter wrap up, so sign up if you want to read my ramblings (it’s free)

Topics may include: silicone body suits, skeletons missing skulls and horror as a literature of resistance

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Anna Woods
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May 23, 2025 at 6:15 AM
Excited to start on my Mother’s Day present. Heard so many good things!

#booksky #litfic #pukapuka #nzbooks
May 10, 2025 at 10:55 PM