Toby Buck is a New Zealand writer living in Amsterdam. He’s won the Katherine Mansfield Short Story Award, the Landfall Essay Prize, and prizes in the Sargeson and Jancis Robinson Wine Writing Competitions.
Herman & The Serpent
interview - I talk with a friend who caught a serial killer. Mentioned in The New Yorker and LongReads.com top essays of 2024.
Happiness by Numbers
journalism - The UN World Happiness Report is out. But can Wellbeing really being measured? A feature for North&South Magazine. Interviews from NZ, the UK, Finland and Iceland.
Cabernation
wine - ‘A World Upside Down’ won the Judge’s Prize for Wine Writing in 2022.
Out of the Box
culture - A DIY Coffin Club that gets people used to the idea of death, while serving their community.
Oceania in Venice
art profile - The fabulous and complex Yuki Kihara talks ‘Paradise Camp’ at the Venice Biennale.
Jurassic Wines
interview - Sam Neill, winemaker and actor, talks about wines, the quiet life, family, history, and various fruit jams.
Gabrielle
feature - A cover story on South Pacific Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 and its effects.
Big Red
wine - Do New Zealand winemakers seek to create their own ‘big red’? Or would they prefer to change how we think about wine entirely?
‘Profound writing - full of persuasive visual detail, with an incredible ear for everyday speech.’
Emma Kneale, Landfall Journal Editor
I also make content for Magnum Photography, MTV, Lexus, National Geographic, Rockstar Games, VICE, Jaguar, TIME and others. Always happy to talk.
‘Brash, unapologetic and completely confident writing. It takes a series of risks, almost sinks itself, and somehow gets away with it. I kept returning to it and had to put it at the top of the pile.’
Charlotte Grimshaw, Mansfield Award Judge
From Exile
memoir - As published on Jancis Robinson.com at Christmas last year.
A Fresh Edition
design - I helped redesign one of the world’s great bookstores. Get to know Unity!
Prelude to a Road Trip
photography - Richard Brimer let me write the introduction to his image collection Road Trip, winemaking and people thoughout the NZ wine industry.