Fiona Farrell has been awarded the $100,000 Creative New Zealand Michael King Writer's Fellowship to research and write twin books, one fiction and one non-fiction, inspired by her experiences of the Canterbury earthquakes and the rebuilding of the city.
Overlapping claims and general confusion are delaying money payable to New Zealand for damage from the Canterbury earthquakes. The money involved is payable through reinsurance schemes taken out by insurance companies in this country, with firms overseas.
While most people are asleep at 5am in Christchurch, the city's florists and wholesalers are already hard at it, bidding for the best blooms. The industry has struggled after the earthquakes, but Katy Gosset finds enthusiasm levels high.
The Christchurch Cathedral has suffered massive damage, with its spire reduced to rubble and the roof caved in. There were visitors inside the building when the earthquake hit, and it is still unclear whether anyone was trapped beneath the rubble.
Parliament has adjourned for two weeks following the declaration of a national emergency after yesterday's devastating Canterbury earthquake. The leadership of the various parties took turns to acknowlege the disaster and pay tribute to it victims and heroes.
The Christchurch City Council is looking to Scandinavia for help with the earthquake re-build. Two Danish based urban design experts are working with the Council over the next four weeks to develop a draft plan for rebuilding the central city.
The remaining victims of the Christchurch's CTV building will be the focus of a Coroner's inquest next month, as families of those killed in the February earthquake continue to question the safety of buildings in the inner city.
Full coverage of the budget and the cuts to kiwisaver, working for families and student loans. Plans to raise between 5 and 7 billion dollars from partial asset sales and a new Earthquake Kiwi Bond to raise money for Christchurch.
Canterbury novelist Joanna Orwin has a new, futurist story of a New Zealand changed by cataclysmic volcanoes and tsunami, Sacrifice. And we hear about some of the stories in a post-earthquake Christchurch anthology, Tales for Canterbury.
Nat's been working on Earthquake relief in Christchurch with the development of the Christchurch Recovery Map and when not doing that, he's been looking at the iPad II, 3D Printers for schools, anti-lasers and other cutting edge tech.
Highlights from Radio New Zealand National's programmes for the week ending Friday 4 March. This week.......more news and interviews about the Christchurch earthquake and we delve into an ice cave created by Mt Erebus in Antartica.
A memorial service for the 166 victims of the Christchurch earthquake has been held at Westminster Abbey. Attended by the Prince of Wales and the High Commissioner for New Zealander, the ceremony was led by the Dean of Westminster.
Since the February 22nd earthquake, an influx of displaced Christchurch residents have made North Canterbury their temporary home. Cosmo Kentish-Barnes finds out how some people have coped with this dramatic event and what locals are doing to support them.
Johnny Moore is the owner of the Goodbye Blue Monday bar in Christchurch, which has been closed since the 22 February earthquake. He talks to Kim about the turbulent times since then and his career in the hospitality industry.
The Government is to provide income support to some workers who've lost earnings because of the earthquake in Canterbury. The support package will be offered to businesses with fewer than 20 employees, which are unable to operate or pay their staff.
Canterbury people whose homes were most damaged in last month's earthquake have waited nearly seven weeks to learn the future of their properties - and now they're being told it could be another two years before their houses are rebuilt.
Army takes control of central Christchurch, Cabinet earmarks money for Canterbury quake, More on the damage from the Christchurch earthquake, Heavy rain causes flooding in lower North Island and Fox Glacier crash report could take two years.
Base isolation has generally been considered an expensive system used mainly in commercial buildings to make them more earthquake resilient. Katy Gosset meets the University of Canterbury engineers who've developed a safe, low cost model that could work in our homes.
It's Canterbury's annual Cup and Show week. Organisers say the event has extra prominence this year, as the region's been robbed of many major events because of the damage to venues in the September and February earthquakes.
Today: a month on from the Canterbury earthquake, we take a comprehensive look at the recovery process from the Garden City; we get a glimpse at the Commonwealth Games and; trauma affects police involved in the recovery of Carmen Thomas' body.
Jim Hay keeps ticking along in a career that's spanned more than 30 years. He's a watchmaker and although he'll be the first to tell you time's just about run out on wrist watches, his skills in clock repairs are in demand since the Christchurch earthquake.
An investigation is continuing into the CTV site, where 115 people died in the Christchurch earthquake five years ago. Dr Maan Alkaisi, whose wife died in the collapse, is keeping a close eye on developments as engineers examine the site.
Postgraduate students who went on an exchange to Oxford after the February earthquakes at a function with Vice Chancellor Rod Car and Vice Chancellor of the University of Oxford Andrew Hamilton to sign a Memorandum of Understand between the two Universities.
The Prime Minister prepares for the Christchurch Call Summit in Paris saying governments need to protect their citizens from radicalisation, Police investigate who sent a threatening letter to the Earthquake Commission, A powerful 7.5 magnitude quake strikes PNG overnight.
Five years on from the Canterbury Earthquakes there is concern over a group of so-called forgotten victims - adolescent boys. Anti violence group Aviva say they have seen a rise in violent behaviour from this group. Elaine Lacey from Aviva joins me
Secret to Pacific growth is in its increasing working age population; CNMI school group is to challenge court gun ruling; Norfolk Islanders are seeking UN oversight, and; Lessons from the Christchurch earthquakes are being applied in Fiji to help heal.
A momentous day in Christchurch as a huge steel frame was installed as part of the stabilisation work for Christ Church Cathedral. Karyn speaks with project director Keith Paterson about the plans to return the famed rose window extensively damage in the 2011 earthquake.
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 3 March 2011 entitled, "Day 10, am - inside the Christchurch cordon".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 10 September 2010 entitled, "Return to normal? Not yet!".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 26 February 2011 entitled, "Day 5, 3am - inside the Christchurch cordon".