Karoline Tamati, known to Kiwi music fans as Ladi6, is back with her new single Lightbulb - and she's confirmed there's more to come.

Her upcoming new album Le Va is her first big musical project in seven years.

This album promises to be a deeply personal project, as it was written as a tribute to Tamati's late mother.

"We had a very specific theme for this next record - which was that we wanted it to be more indicative of the live show. In the past, we hadn't had that so much, we'd sort of kept to the mellow end of soul and R&B."

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

David Nicholls is a critically acclaimed author and BAFTA-winning screenwriter - and he's set to make an appearance at this year's upcoming Auckland Writers Festival.

His bestselling book One Day sold millions of copies and went on to become a successful hit series on Netflix.

Off the back of his latest hit novel, You Are Here, Nicholls plans to address Kiwi fans - and open up about the pressures of success.

"I've written a lot of books set in the past and a lot of books with quite a large time scale - and this is like a little delicate chamber piece, even though it takes place against all these mountains and lakes and rivers. It's a character study."

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My Name is Emilia del Valle by Isabel Allende. Any new book from the wonderful Isabel Allende is a treat, and this is no exception. It begins in 1866 when an Irish nun becomes pregnant after an encounter with a wealthy Chilean who turns his back on them, and the baby and her mother have to fight for their place in the world. The child, Emilia del Valle, eventually becomes a writer and a journalist, and is eventually sent to cover the Chilean civil war along with a friend and colleague, Eric Whelan. There is history here as well as the romance, which makes it truly fascinating along with the romance. It was an extraordinary time.

The Pretender by Jo Harkin. Set in 15th Century England at the juncture between the Plantaganets and the Tudors, this is fiction which is fun, bawdy, historically interesting and never takes itself too seriously. It tells the story of a young boy who through his lifetime is known by a series of names. Firstly, he’s John Collett, growing up on a farm from which he’s one day uplifted by a couple of noblemen, becoming known as Lambert Simnel and told that he is in fact the 17th Earl of Warwick and will challenge King Henry 7th for the Crown. I loved it.

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.