We’re excited to be giving away two copies of Islands Ever After by Majella Cullinane to our GrownUps members!
To be in the draw, simply make sure you’re a GrownUps member, signed up to our newsletter, and fill in your details at the bottom of the page.
From an award-winning author comes an exquisite collection of short stories spanning the 18th century to the modern day.
“We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep.”
The separating seas in these fourteen beautiful and thought-provoking stories are variously wide, wild and deadly. They segregate islands that are both physical and metaphorical, and isolate the disparate characters that inhabit them. And yet, beneath the surface of each uniquely individual tale lies a connecting undercurrent of shared human experience.
Among others: a student in Dublin hoping for love while finding himself isolated by language; a WW1 officer losing his sight on a quarantine island; an executioner who is reviled by everyone, including herself; a woman separated from her husband during the 19 lockdown; and a recent arrival who fights for survival during one of New Zealand’s great maritime tragedies. And throughout, historical figures and their ghosts stalk the pages.
Islands Ever After is a collection of short stories, spanning the 18th century to the modern day. Primarily set on the Isles across Ireland, Scotland and New Zealand, they explore the experiences of outsiders, immigrants, eccentrics and outcasts in search of connection, understanding and, above all, belonging.
Endorsements
“These beautiful stories have simply gripped my heart from first to last. Majella Cullinane’s stories encompass the contemporary and the terrifying historic with the same accomplished ease. These are stories that will make you laugh, or shudder, or, if you happen to have a failing mother, make you break down in wild sobs. There is a passionate fearlessness about this writing which I love.” – Dame Fiona Kidman
“Majella Cullinane writes with extraordinary delicacy and emotional force. These stories are rich with interior lives and imagined possibilities, alive to history, place, and the ache of what is lost or almost found. Moving effortlessly between Ireland and New Zealand, past and present, Islands Ever After is a beautifully controlled, deeply resonant collection – each story a small, potent world. Stunning.” — Catherine Chidgey
“Like Vincent O’Sullivan before her, Majella Cullinane understands that New Zealand voices and lives are also inflected with the accents and vocabularies of other, farther-flung places. These stories of hers take us on journeys through to the other side of the world and back, from the present moment to the remembered past, all rendered in a prose that is as precisely attuned to the many variations of its English – and Irish and Scottish – language as it is aware of its own particularly North and South Island tones and rhythms.” — Kirsty Gunn
“This collection of short stories is an exciting development in Majella’s already considerable writing skills, showing how she has matured and relaxed into her craft. While exploring very different scenarios and characters, at the same time each vivid piece offers a new angle on the shared underlying theme, which is in itself about connection. These stories moved me, startled me, made me smile, made me think. I believed in each one of the characters – even the ghosts! This is a thoroughly enjoyable and impressive volume.” — Harriet Allan MNZM (for services to publishing)
About the Author
Majella Cullinane writes essays, fiction and poetry. Originally from Ireland, she has lived in Aotearoa New Zealand since 2008 and Ōtepoti Dunedin since 2014. She has published three poetry collections with Salmon Poetry Ireland and Otago University Press.
Her debut novel, The Life of De’Ath, Steele Roberts (2018) was shortlisted for the Dundee International Book Prize, a finalist in the 2018 NZ Heritage Book Award, and longlisted for the 2019 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards Fiction Prize.
Her short stories have won, been shortlisted or highly commended in national and international competitions, and published in Greece, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK, and the US. She has been awarded residencies and fellowships in Ireland, New Zealand and Scotland. In 2020 she graduated with a PhD in Creative Practice from the University of Otago. She lives with her family in Kōpūtai, Port Chalmers.
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Terms and conditions
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You must be a GrownUps member and subscribed to our newsletter to be eligible to enter.
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The competition closes on 3rd June 2026. Winners will be notified via email by 4th June 2026.
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It is your responsibility to provide a correct New Zealand postal address for prize delivery. GrownUps is not responsible for prizes sent to incorrect addresses.
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Winners will be drawn at random by the GrownUps administration team.
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GrownUps employees and their immediate families are not eligible to enter.
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By entering, you agree to GrownUps using your name on social media as a winner of the competition.
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One entry per household.
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The prize is non-transferable and cannot be exchanged for cash or other items.
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You must reside in New Zealand, as the prize can only be delivered within New Zealand.
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You must be over 50 years of age to enter. Please ensure your membership details are up to date in your dashboard.
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