New Zealand culture is booming – do we have Jacinda Ardern to thank for it? | Nell Frizzell

As a half Kiwi, the only cultural exports I had growing up were the bloke from Crowded House and Shortland Street. How times have changed

When I was growing up, the sum total of New Zealand's contribution to global culture was, essentially, the singer from Crowded House and Shortland Street - that's to say, middle-of-the-road music for a middle-of-the-day soap opera crowd. I probably only noticed because my father is from New Zealand - he still uses the Edmonds cookbook and memorably described the birth of my son as far out" - and since the age of about nine I have held a Kiwi passport.

So it has been a particular thrill this year to look across the listings for the Edinburgh festival fringe and see that it is packed with young, exciting New Zealand talent genuinely rivalling that from Europe and America. There's Rose Matafeo, of course; star and co-writer of Starstruck, competitor in Taskmaster and voice in the forthcoming Moana 2. There's Guy Montgomery, standup and presenter of Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont Spelling Bee, which is simply clamouring for a UK television deal. Then you have standups Alice Snedden, Paul Williams, James Roque, Guy Williams and clown Trygve Wakenshaw.