• David Hill is announced as the 2019-2020 President of Honour

    The New Zealand Society of Authors is delighted to announce that David Hill is their 2019-2020 President of Honour.  This prestigious honour is bestowed on a senior writer and long-serving NZSA member in recognition of his or her contribution to writing and writers and the literary arts sector in New Zealand. The President of Honour delivers the annual NZSA Janet […]

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  • Publishers and Authors are pissed (sic) about Amazon’s upcoming Audible Captions feature

    Author’s Guild in the US says this feature breaches rights. Some authors and publishers are asking for their books to be withheld from the feature From THE VERGE B Andrew Liptak Earlier this week, Audible revealed that it was working on a new feature for its audiobook app: Audible Captions, which will use machine learning […]

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  • Government Making Plans –

    Encouraging signs for transformation of the sector By Keri Malthus Making plans  The Government has put a firmer timeframe around its planning to transform the creative sector. In a statement to The Big Idea, a spokesperson for newly-appointed Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford says the Government will begin to develop a formal Industry Transformation Plan […]

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  • Creative Industries feature in government vision and policy planning announcement

    The Government has launched a new approach to industry policy, aimed at growing more innovative industries in New Zealand and lifting the productivity of our key sectors. New Zealand has a strong economic foundation but our productivity has continued to fall behind our main competitors. To take advantage of the opportunities of the technological revolution […]

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  • Fake News v Press Freedom – Lies, Defamation and Digital Truth

    WHALE OIL: One man’s fight to save his reputation, then his life Truth is stranger than fiction. For Auckland businessman Matt Blomfield, the truth is stranger than strange. In May 2012, Blomfield found himself the target of a vicious online attack; the work of Whale Oil blogger Cameron Slater. The attack came out of the […]

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  • 2019 Wallace Foundation Short Fiction Contest Winners Announced

    The winners of this year’s Wallace Foundation Short Fiction Contest were announced at a special event during the Auckland Writers Festival last Saturday. Stories must be original, unpublished works of fiction and may be on any theme. The word limit is 2000 words. Samesame but different is delighted to announce the winners: Overall winner – […]

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  • Canadian Lawmakers Recommend Sweeping Progressive Improvements to Copyright Law – Music to our ears…

    The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage yesterday released its long-awaited report on artist remuneration, as part of Parliament’s Statutory Review of the Copyright Act. Titled Shifting Paradigms, the report makes twenty-two key recommendations focused on strengthening the rights of artists to control and earn from their work in the digital age.  The Writers’ Union of […]

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  • 100 NZ Stories, 100 Days: author starts short story campaign

    Northland author and NZSA member Michael Botur has launched a programme of publishing short stories every day for the next 100 days on social media and is encouraging other Kiwi writers to do the same. Botur said the #100NZStories100days campaign doesn’t hinge on any significant date. Rather, it’s about keeping short fiction writing in the […]

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  • SECONDARY SCHOOL BOOKLIST – NZ Books

    NZSA and NZBC have prepared this list for teachers with links to teachers notes, that are appropriate for use in the classroom. NCEA examiners bemoan the lack of local content, so this link, with resources, reading ages and themes will give our schools an annual GO TO list of what is in print. This link has been […]

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  • Jennifer Egan’s Guide to Literary Activism

    Award-winning novelist, journalist, and President of PEN America Jennifer Egan shares her top picks for our toolkit feature—ways to learn more and stay connected to the conversation—three people to follow, three things to read, and three organizations to check out and support. PEOPLE TO FOLLOW Acclaimed writer of fiction and nonfiction Valeria Luiselli Author and […]

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  • $1 million for Communities of Readers

    Hon Tracey Martin Internal Affairs A grant of $1 million to Te Puna Foundation will fund a new initiative designed to connect more children and young people to reading, Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin announced today. The Minister said improving children’s lives was a priority for the Government. “Helping with their reading and literacy development […]

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  • Reading in the digital age

    17 April 2019 The New Zealand Book Council According to Internet New Zealand, 93% of us use the internet once a day or more. We now get much of our information and pleasure from our online worlds. If we are reading, much of our reading will be online, on screen. Some things about the online […]

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