Toby Buck is a researcher and writer and working at the intersection of place and ideas.

He’s won the Katherine Mansfield Prize, the Landfall Essay Prize, a Sargeson Commendation, and a D&AD Silver Pen. His essays, journalism, features, and criticism, have appeared in North & South, JancisRobinson.com, and The Spinoff.

Based in Amsterdam, at Quiet Publishing, he has also produced work for TIME, National Geographic, Tate Modern, Bloomberg USA, Quartz, Magnum Photography, and others. He works with international clients on writing and editorial projects that require rigour and a strong human voice.

Journalism

Featured Essays & Longform

Profiles & Reportage

Material Culture

Short Form

The Happiness Report

The new U.N. Liveable Cities report is out. But do relative global wellbeing metrics really work?

Economics & Policy Feature, North & South

In a still From Netflix the Serpent - a man and woman wearing sunglasses walking through an alleyway. The character is based on a famous serial killer. This article is about the man who stopped him.

Herman & The Serpent

The story of a friend who caught a serial killer.

Crime Feature, North & South

Gabriel

Onsite reporting on a Pacific Cyclone after three La Niña summers.

Climate Feature (Cover Story), North & South

Say Hello.

A cross-sectional diagram of a household water heater showing the cold water inlet, tank, heating element, and hot water outlet.

‘Profound writing - full of persuasive visual detail, with an incredible ear for everyday speech.’

Emma Kneale, Landfall Journal Editor

‘Brash, unapologetic and completely confident writing. His story takes a series of risks, almost sinks itself, and somehow gets away with it.’

Charlotte Grimshaw, Mansfield Award Judge

Simple line drawing of a palm tree on a small island with a hill, set against a black background.

↓ Profiles, Interviews & Reportage

A woman and a child in traditional attire standing on a grassy field, with a thatched-roof hut, palm trees, and three indigenous men dressed in traditional clothing with floral accessories praying in the background.

Oceania in Venice

A conversation with Yuki Kihara at the Venice Biennale.

Arts Profile, North & South

Portable Miracles

A look at the cultural logic behind a unique literature programme, the New Zealand’s Poet Laureate.

Culture Feature, North & South

A row of tall palm trees under a clear blue sky.

Out of the Box

A local DIY Coffin Club reveals grace, charity, happiness, and plain speaking on mortality … plus coffin painting.

Community Feature, North & South

↓ Wine, Food & Material Culture

Big Red

Are New Zealand winemakers re-imagining a new “big red” wine identity entirely? What does that say about changes in category, value, and tradition?

Food & Wine Feature, North & South

Regeneration

An essay celebrates wine, soil, and culture, in a deliberately complex piece that resists easy categorisation.

Jancis Robinson Judge’s Prize Winner

A man stands next to a vintage truck with the words "Central Two Paddocks Otago" written on it, in a green outdoor setting during daytime.

Jurassic Art

Sam Neill shares his lifelong love for wine, for family, and for the sensory poetics of viniculture.

Food & Wine Profile, North & South

Harvesters

A vivid portrayal of seasonal harvest workers in Hawke’s Bay (by photographer Richard Brimer) shows labour, landscape, and the effort behind luxury food production.

Photography Review, The SpinOff

↓ Commentary / Short Form

Espalier

A memoir on exile that ripples out into questions of memory and belonging.

jancisrobinson.com, Christmas Edition

Fresh Claret

An ode to the most collaborative of grapes.

jancisrobinson.com, JRWC2025

I’ve also made work for Alfa Romeo, Bloomberg, Bowmore Whisky, Jaguar, Lexus, Magnum Photography, MTV, National Galleries UK, National Geographic, Quartz Media, Rockstar Games, Tate Modern, The Contemporary Art Society, The Whitney, TIME Magazine, VICE, and others.