How do you write about difficult subjects? When real-life disaster and grief are involved, how do you handle stories sensitively while being true to your artistic vision?

Gaylene Preston has turned Christchurch’s earthquake stories into TV drama in Hope & Wire; Rebecca Macfie has documented the true stories of the people affected by the Pike River mine explosion; and Lloyd Jones has not shied away from writing about war and other tough themes. They discuss with Finlay Macdonald what moves them to choose the hard subjects, and how they approach them.