The essay, that brilliantly elastic literary form once described by Zadie Smith as the best way to reflect ‘messy reality’, is making a glorious comeback.

Daisy Hildyard’s collection The Second Body is a brilliantly lucid account of the dissolving boundaries between all life on earth.

The essays in Ashleigh Young’s collection Can You Tolerate This? roam freely between preoccupations, yet are consistently entertaining in their search for clarity amid uncertainty.

In her artful, intelligent collection Break.up, Joanna Walsh simultaneously flees and pursues an ambiguous partner.

Our panel discuss the contemporary essay, and debate whether information overload has created a demand for personal voices. The event is chaired by writer and broadcaster Sinéad Gleeson.

Presented in association with Creative New Zealand in partnership with Publishers Association of New Zealand.