local loser

Multi-hyphenate poetic talent Jackson McCarthy streams in to local loser from Wellington to talk about his new book Portrait.

Damien Levi does his due diligence and pulls some of his favourite lines to chat about, as well as getting into pop music, blonde boys, Toni Morrison, and perk butts wrapped up like presents, among other engaging topics.

Some links you may be interested in from this episode include ⁠one to purchase ⁠Portrait, Paula Green's chat with Jackson on NZ Poetry Shelf, and Jackson on ⁠Instagram⁠.

Books mentioned:

• Portrait by Jackson McCarthy
• The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
• Lucky Creatures by Joseph Trinidad
• Fifty Shades of Grey by E. L. James
• Distinction by Pierre Bourdieu
• No Name in the Street by James Baldwin
• What to Wear by Jenny Bornholdt
• How to Be Happy Though Human: New and Selected Poems by Kate Camp
• Mixed Feelings by Maddie Ballard
• The New Animals by Pip Adam
• kluge by Pip Adam

Other notable figures mentioned:

James Tate, James Brown, Dougal McNeill, Frank O'Hara, Anthony Zemke, Toni Morrison, Charlie Rose, Kura Forrester, Graham Tipene, Edward Glissant, Simon Frith, Cadence Chung, Chris Tse, Keira Batten Coogan.

Damien can be found on ⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠.

The local loser theme song is composed by Karen Hu.

Joseph Trinidad joins the local loser family as he visits Tāmaki Makaurau for the Auckland Writers Festival.

Damien Levi chats with him about his debut essay collection, Lucky Creatures, shared connections to place, the power of memory, and Joseph does a reading from his book.

Some links you may be interested in from this episode include ⁠one to purchase Lucky Creatures, Mikee Sto Domingo's short story 'The Duende' and Joseph on Instagram.

Books mentioned:

• Lucky Creatures by Joseph Trinidad
• The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
• This Watery Place: Four Essays on Gestation by Emma Heaney
• Matrescence: On Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Motherhood by Lucy Jones
• My Dog Tulip by J. R. Ackerley

Damien can be found on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠.

The local loser theme song is composed by Karen Hu.

Damien Levi and local loser are back for a second season! Is the audio still unreliable? Yes! Should you still listen anyway? Please!

For the first episode of season two, Damien chats with playwright/zinemaker/artiste Nuanzhi Zheng about receiving Creative New Zealand money for something unexpected, the role of Head Girls in society, art schools, eating disrespectfully, and more.

As always, we can only hope the guest's audio improves across the season, but we thank you nonetheless for listening.

You may want to find Nuanzhi on Instagram or Substack, by a copy of her play Yang/Young/杨 (cowritten with Sherry Zhang) in Traces, or look at her website.

Damien can be found on Instagram or at his website.

The local loser theme song is composed by Karen Hu.

Damien is solo in the local loser studio today, recording a round-up/recap of reading in 2025, thanks to voice notes from past guests.

Alongside favourite reads from Nathan Joe, Sherry Zhang, Saraid de Silva, Josiah Morgan, Laura Vincent and Gabi Lardies, Damien adds in a running commentary and some of his own favourites from the year.

local loser will be back in 2026, but for now, some links you may be interested in are: the preorder link for Childish Palate by Shariff Burke, Damien's The Big Idea article, Torrey Peters and Andrea Long Chu in conversation on Stag Dance, and Josiah's review of Brandon Taylor's The Late Americans.

Damien can be found on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠.

The local loser theme song is composed by Karen Hu.

It's a surprise Friday episode from Damien Levi to coincide with the official publication date of Hoods Landing, the debut novel from his guest, Laura Vincent.

There's lots to learn about Hoods Landing, but Laura and Damien also get into what it means to let go of your book, ask why there are so many vape shops, decide they both actually like Auckland and lament bad writing.

Some links you may be interested in from this episode include ⁠a link to purchase Hoods Landing⁠, Laura's food blog hungryandfrozen.com, Jean Teng's Cringe, Emma Gleason's Crust, folu's unsackable and Laura's Instagram.

Damien can be found on ⁠Instagram⁠.

The local loser theme song is composed by Karen Hu.

Damien Levi is on uncle duties this week as he records with writer, editor and publisher Faith Wilson (and her baby boy, Mo.)

While Mo is distracted by peanut butter toast and the flashing lights of the audio software, Damien and Faith chat about grief, motherhood, Twitter cringe, phone games and arts criticism.

Damien forgot to ask Faith what she might want to plug, but you can find Saufo'i Press books on their website, check out the Pohewa Pāhewa: Te Rūma exhibition at Objectspace and get your own copy of The Bomb by Sacha Cotter and illustrated by Josh Morgan.

Damien can be found over on Instagram.

The local loser theme song is composed by Karen Hu.

Damien is back in the local loser seat and is beaming down to Ōtautahi Christchurch to chat online with Josiah Morgan, who was definitely called precocious as a child.

They go 'refined artist vibes' and get into the literary, not limited to Laura Borrowdale's collection Dead Ends from Tender Press, literary (and other pursuits) from power couple Claudia and Nathaniel Herz Jardine, and what it takes to write, rewrite and write back into, again, your own work.

Some links you may be interested in from this episode include Josiah's Instagram, a link to purchase Dead Ends or a link to preorder Ngā Pukapuka Pekapeka's second trio of works.

Damien can be found on Instagram.

The local loser theme song is composed by Karen Hu.

Damien Levi brings local loser's biggest fan, Saraid de Silva, onto the pod while he's visiting Wellington. Together they get right into it—what's being read, what's being kept for the archive, and what do you learn about yourself when you move to Wellington?

They also touch on trying to shake off the shackles of the digital age, rediscover discovering music and interrogate their feelings on earnestness.

Some links from this pod you may like include T-BOYS 4 PALESTINE, Amma by Saraid de Silva, and lobbying guidelines for the 'Unlawful Occupation of Palestine' Sanctions Bill.

Damien can be found on Instagram.

The local loser theme song is composed by Karen Hu.

In this EXCLUSIVE interview with recent Aotearoa departee, Nathan Joe, Damien Levi is primed to find out what convinced him to finally 'pull the leaver'.

From Austin, Texas, Nathan speaks to his next adventure as an MFA student, his first impressions of Austin, being a real adult and leaning into being pretentious.

Helpful links from this episode might include Nathan's Instagram, Kieran McLean's Substack⁠, Nathan's interview with Stuff and bad apple.

Damien can also be found on ⁠Instagram⁠.

The local loser theme song is composed by Karen Hu.

Damien gets soon-to-be former NZ Poet Laureate Chris Tse in the hotseat (a Danske Mobler chair in his apartment) to reflect on his three years in the role, the travel, the poems and the experience.

There are also some reflections on diversity and the publishing industry, reckons on why there's a literary gap between NZ and AUS, and two glowing recommendations for Lorde's Virgin.

Helpful links from this episode might include Chris's Instagram, the Ōrongohau | Best New Zealand Poems 2023 and the event listing for '(Re)generation next: The Poet Laureate steps down'.

Damien can also be found on Instagram.

The local loser theme song is composed by Karen Hu.