Christine's articles, profiles and reviews have been widely published in newspapers, magazines and online. Her areas of interest are literary non-fiction, the arts, health, education and travel.
A selection of her published works are below.
UNEARTHING THE PAST
Winner of the 2014 Calibre Prize for an Outstanding Essay. Published in Australian Book Review, April 2014. (Purchase the print edition or subscribe online)
On 7 July 1989 the air was thick with heat in the Toyama district of tokyo. Tsuyu, the rainy season, had just ended, leaving the atmosphere dense. At the former government health building location, a large pit was being dug for the new national Hygiene and Disease Prevention Research Centre. The workers buzzed around the site, their foreheads glistening in the sun. The mechanical digger plunged deep into the earth, scraping against rock as it brought up a mound of dirt. something pale shone through the soil. At first, it looked like pieces of ceramic. on closer inspection, the workers realised it was human bones.
Twenty-five years later, their identities are still unknown...
Force of nature
Published in Winnings, June 2022
It’s a rain-splattered Friday in February when I first chat to designer Collette Dinnigan. The east coast of Australia is being pummelled by wild weather, causing fatal floods and catastrophic damage from Bega all the way up to Bundaberg. Rain pelts the pavement and lashes the trees outside my home in Sydney, sending branches crashing to the ground. Dinnigan is 120 kilometres away, calling from her home in Bowral in the New South Wales Southern Highlands, but the conditions there are the same: rain, rain and yet more rain.
Dinnigan is better acquainted than most with the volatile, destructive power of nature, having lived on a yacht from the ages of 8 to 11 …
Dream Up Better Health
Published in Prevention, May 2011
Science shows that simple self-analysis of your dreams can help you sleep better, live healthier and feel happier.
ELECTROLITE
Published in Silverlimbo, issue 2.
Jun Tagami's snapshots of daily life cut an arc through the prosaic like a warm knife divides butter. His pictures isolate ordinary moments – a guy opening his car door, two girls in conversation, a boy asleep on a rug – yet they are suffused with such impenetrable stillness that they take on an almost surreal quality.
THRILL ME, CHILL ME
Published in Women's Health, May 2010
Christine Piper satisfies her need for speed on a hair-raising bike ride in Bolivia.
Whoosh! Approaching a bend in the road, I brake and my bike skids, sending rocks over the edge and down an 800m-deep abyss. "Oh. My. God. I almost died!" It's no exaggeration, as I'm riding along Bolivia's Yungas Road, otherwise known as "The World's Most Dangerous Road".
Probiotics: The Latest Wonder Food?
Published in Healthy Food Guide, December 2009
We know they're good for digestive health, but could probiotics have other benefits? Christine Piper seeks the latest expert advice.
COULD THEY LIVE AGAIN?
Published in The Sun-Herald, April 5, 2009
Progress in mapping the extinct woolly mammoth's genome has untangled some mysteries of the past and raised exciting possibilities for the future.
RHYTHM NEWS
Published in The Sydney Morning Herald, November 6, 2006
Music education is booming as more people seek a harmonious diversion, writes Christine Piper.
It's seven o'clock and the sweet hum of music fills the air. No, it's not coming from the nearest pub blaring music videos on plasma TVs – it's coming from the classrooms of community music courses as a growing number of people discover the benefits of musical performance and appreciation.
VIEW MASTER
Published in Silverlimbo, issue 1.
An interview with celebrated cinematographer Christopher Doyle, best known for his long career in the Hong Kong movie industry.