Nick Bollinger
Renowned New Zealand music journalist, broadcaster and author Nick Bollinger has won the Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2023 with his latest publication Jumping Sundays: The Rise and Fall of the Counterculture in Aotearoa New Zealand. Nick has also written three other titles, Goneville: A Memoir, How to listen to pop music, and 100 Essential New Zealand Albums. The well-known voice of Radio New Zealand’s The Sampler and The Listener’s music columnist for two decades, it all began when aged five, he heard The Beatle’s hit, Twist and Shout. Nick worked as a postie and trained as a teacher before finding an outlet for his musical obsession which he has pursued ever since.
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2023 festival sessions
Music Writing 101
Nick Bollinger in conversation with Belinda Jackson
We’ve been listening to Nick Bollinger talk about music on Radio New Zealand and reading his reviews in The Listener for years. Don’t miss the opportunity to hear the author of How to Listen to Pop Music and 100 Essential New Zealand Albums discuss the art of writing about music with Marlborough’s Vinyl in the Vines founder Belinda Jackson.
Jumping Sundays
Nick Bollinger in conversation with Robbie Burton
In his latest book, the Ockham illustrated non-fiction award-winning Jumping Sundays: The Rise and Fall of the Counterculture in Aotearoa New Zealand, Nick tells the story of beards and bombs, freaks and firebrands, self-destruction and self-realisation, during the ‘60s and ‘70s, a turbulent and definitive period in New Zealand’s history and culture. ‘Bollinger puts a personal and personable stamp on this critical decade with words, sights and sounds that surprise and delight,’ writes cultural historian Bronwyn Labrum.