Downstream from Nowhere is back in stock!
Kia ora koutou
Arohamai for the extended radio silence, 2026 has been a busy year for me.
Unfortunately, that busy-ness hasn't involved much (creative) writing but has rather been a mixture of my full-time job, governance and activism. This has involved the incredibly dispiriting experience of having my local community centre maliciously defunded by a hard-right member of Wellington City Council (more about that here). Bright spots may be particularly hard to come by in Pōneke but if you squint hard enough, you may be able to make out a positive future. The new library has helped. As has Te Ara Tupua. And Wellington Film Society has been going from strength to strength (come along to our live cinema!).
But in between the extreme weather events and emotionally charged town hall meetings, I have managed to crank out another print run of my debut novella Downstream from Nowhere. For those that haven't yet managed to get their hands on a copy, the book is a fake history at a non-existent valley seen through the eyes of six different unreliable witnesses. It is full of beautiful art (maps!!!) by really talented Aotearoa artists.
Buy your copy here.
If you need more convincing, read on for some glowing coverage it's received.
Jared Wiremu Kane (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Manu, Ngāti Toro, Te Māhurehure) was the 2025 Verb Wellington Writer in Residence, Katherine Mansfield House & Garden. In his picks for the Post's best books of 2025 he wrote:
"A self-described staunchly serious history, Downstream From Nowhere brutally skewers the ongoing Pākehā myths of taming and civilising an empty and savage land. The Messines area is a stand-in for every pocket of this whenua brutalised by colonisation. And it's really, really funny."
Yasmine Serhan is running for the Green Party to be the first Palestinian MP in Aotearoa. She raved about the book in her Instagram story saying "Have finished it in 5 days and enjoyed it so much!!!!"
I received a profile in the Timaru Courier that opened with "He was raised in Timaru, and now he is raising eyebrows."
One of my mum's friends texted her saying "I have been pondering on your Johnny's book. I think he is like the modern writers like Joseph Heller or Kurt Vonnegut with humorous satire. Look forward to the next one."
And if you think a bunch of praise from friends and family is a bit subjective, that's just me trying to adhere to the spirit of the book. Anyway, wait until you read what my partner wrote:
“Crawford observes, with rightful spite and pettiness, generations of settlers (derogatory) who have done their best to thieve and claim all that they imagine can fill this void: meaning, stories, labour, art, bodies, history, diadems from Costume Cave (rest in power), tenuous DNA links, and of course, land itself.”
Nabilah also painted the piece which forms the basis for the cover art so if you don't want to take her word for it, just judge the book by its cover!
Get yours now.
xoxo JC
