Toby Buck is an award-winning writer and editor working at the intersection of place and ideas.


He’s won the Katherine Mansfield Prize, the Landfall Essay Prize, a Sargeson Commendation, and a D&AD Silver Pen, and his essays, journalism, and criticism, have appeared in North & South, JancisRobinson.com, and The Spinoff.

Based in Amsterdam, at Quiet Studio, he has produced commercial work for National Geographic, Tate Modern, TIME, Bloomberg USA, Magnum Photos, and others. He works with international clients on writing and editorial projects that require intellectual rigour and a strong human voice.

Journalism

Featured Essays & Longform

Profiles & Reportage

Material Culture

Short Form

In a still From Netflix the Serpent - a man and woman wearing sunglasses walking through an alleyway. The character is based on a famous serial killer. This article is about the man who stopped him.

Herman & The Serpent

The story of a friend who caught a serial killer.

Featured Essays & Longform

Is This Happiness?


A critical exploration of the UN World Happiness Report. Can global wellbeing be quantified, or do metrics obscure more than they reveal?

Gabriel

Onsite reporting of a Pacific Cyclone.

Any questions? Ask away…

A cross-sectional diagram of a household water heater showing the cold water inlet, tank, heating element, and hot water outlet.

‘Profound writing - full of persuasive visual detail, with an incredible ear for everyday speech.’

Emma Kneale, Landfall Journal Editor

‘Brash, unapologetic and completely confident writing. The story takes a series of risks, almost sinks itself, and somehow gets away with it.’

Charlotte Grimshaw, Mansfield Award Judge

Simple line drawing of a palm tree on a small island with a hill, set against a black background.

↓ Profiles, Interviews & Reportage

A woman and a child in traditional attire standing on a grassy field, with a thatched-roof hut, palm trees, and three indigenous men dressed in traditional clothing with floral accessories praying in the background.

Oceania in Venice


A conversation with Yuki Kihara at the Venice Biennale.

Portable Miracles


A look at the cultural logic behind a unique literature programme, the New Zealand’s Poet Laureate.

A row of tall palm trees under a clear blue sky.

Out of the Box


A local DIY Coffin Club reveals grace, charity, happiness, and plain speaking on mortality … as well as coffin painting.

↓ Wine, Food & Material Culture

Big Red

Are New Zealand winemakers re-imagining a new “big red” wine identity? What does that say about red wine, and changes in category, value, and tradition?

Regeneration


Essay-style exploration: this JR Prize Winner ‘A World Upside Down’, celebrates wine, soil, and culture in a piece that resists easy categorisation.

A man stands next to a vintage truck with the words "Central Two Paddocks Otago" written on it, in a green outdoor setting during daytime.

Jurassic Art

Sam Neill goes beyond celebrity to discuss a lifelong craft, his own family story, and the sensory poetics of viniculture.

Harvesters

A vivid photo portrayal of seasonal harvest workers in Hawke’s Bay (by Richard Brimer) shows labour, landscape, and the real hands behind food production.

↓ Commentary / Short Form

Espalier


A memoir piece that ripples out into larger questions of memory and belonging. jancisrobinson.com, Christmas Edition

Fresh Claret


An ode to the most collaborative of grapes. Notes of home, nostalgia, wild strawberries, and the coast.

I’ve also made work for Alfa Romeo, Bloomberg, Bowmore Whisky, Jaguar, Lexus, Magnum Photography, MTV, National Galleries UK, National Geographic, Quartz Media, Rockstar Games, Tate Modern, The Contemporary Art Society, The Whitney, TIME Magazine, VICE, and others.

Feel free to reach out.


And to Nancy and Dave, who keep emailing … No, I don’t ‘do’ plumbing or electrical work in Lancashire.

And I have not done so in the past for you before, as you keep insisting.

All other projects, I’m happy to discuss. :)

More creative writing here.