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
Harvesters
wine - Richard Brimer’s photography exhibition Harvest is a little bit Humans of New York. Except it’s in Hastings, has zero pretension, and captures the diverse population of seasonal labourers who work the local vineyards and farms.
From Exile
memoir - As published on Jancis Robinson.com at Christmas last year.
Fresh Editions
design - I helped redesign one of the world’s great bookstores. Get to know Unity!
Portable Miracles
culture - An insight into the New Zealand Poet Laureate programme and how it came to be
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.