THE SHOP
The Raven & the Writing Desk started out as Books@DevonportWharf and operated on Devonport Wharf for 14 years before moving to two adjoining premises in Ruāwai in 2017 and changing the name to Books@Ruāwai. In 2026, the shop was rebranded as The Raven & the Writing Desk, an homage to the most famous riddle in literature, 'Why is a raven like a writing desk?' The riddle was posed to Alice by the Mad Hatter in Lewis Carroll's 1865 fantasy novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
The booksellers is open part-days from Monday to Saturday including holidays, with the exception of Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Day, Good Friday and Anzac Day.
Shane
Shane is an avid reader and writer, a finalist in both the Katherine Mansfield and Same Same but Different Literary Awards
Darryl
Darryl enjoys reading and writing and has owned his own businesses in Te Tai Tokerau for over ten years.
GALLERY
The Raven & the Writing Desk
5 Freyberg Road, Ruāwai, Northland 0530,
NEW ZEALAND
021 239 6200 (Shane) 022 050 0116 (Darryl)