Author Interview: Una Cruickshank

The Chthonic Cycle is one of the most spectacular non-fiction debut releases of 2024.

The core of Una’s debut collection is a brilliantly curated series of true-life essays that traverse time and illustrate Earth’s interlocking cycles of death and reuse.

Some of the stories Una delves into to explore this concept are: a giant squid’s beak passing through a whale’s intestines to end up as bottles of Chanel No. 5; the sap of a billion-year-old tree emerging from the ocean as a drop of amber; and finally, millions of storm released Lego pieces that float towards the Cornish coast.

The work as a whole is warm, clever, lyrical, sensitive, and inquisitive - written in a beautiful poetic style, yet full of astounding facts. At one extreme, many of the stories in the book are microscopic in scale, and at the other end of the scale, some are cosmic in reach, but somehow through her prose, both viewpoints are often visible in the same moment. A brilliant read for any enquiring mind.

Una Cruickshank was born in Tamaki Mākaurau Auckland and now lives in Pōneke Wellington. She has an MA in Creative Writing from the International Institute of Modern Letters at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington, as well as another, earlier MA. When not writing outstanding non-fiction essays, she frequents the libraries and cinemas of Wellington, works at an audiovisual archive, and has a love of karaoke. The Chthonic Cycle (2024) is her first book.

We were thrilled when Una took time out from her very busy schedule to discuss her work with us, and we wish to extend our heartfelt thanks to Una.

This interview was done in conjunction with Caffeine and Aspirin, the arts and entertainment review show on Radioactive FM. The interview was conducted by host Tanya Ashcroft, and facilitated by Te Herenga Waka University Press.