• Votes surge for local authors and new books in Whitcoulls Top 100 2026 List

    Posted on 23 July 2026

    Whitcoulls reveal that 26 New Zealand writers have made this year’s Top 100 – the highest level of local representation in the list’s nearly 30-year history. The results also point to a major shift in readers’ tastes, with an unusually high number of new titles entering the list for the first time, suggesting Kiwi readers […]

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  • NZSA members Morton & Keenan longlisted for 2026 ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize

    Posted on 21 July 2026

    2026 ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize The Jolley Prize is worth a total of $12,500 and is for an original work of short fiction of between 2,000 and 5,000 words, written in English. This is the sixteenth time the Jolley Prize has run and it is one of the world’s leading prizes for short […]

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  • Janet Frame Prize for 2026 goes to Hinemoana Baker

    Posted on 9 July 2026

    The trustees of the Janet Frame Literary Trust are delighted to announce that the Janet Frame Prize for 2026, worth $10,000, goes to Wellingtonian Hinemoana Baker (Ngāti Tupaia ki Te Aro, Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Te Āti Awa, Kāi Tahu, Germany, England). A celebrated poet, musician, performer and educator, Hinemoana Baker […]

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  • Puke Ariki NZ Children’s Book Week Writer in Residence Steph Julian

    Posted on 6 July 2026

      In celebration of the first New Zealand Children’s Book Week, Puke Ariki and Community Libraries in Taranaki are hosting a Writer in Residence Programme celebrating storytelling, creativity and the joy of reading for pleasure among tamariki, rangatahi and their whānau. For 2026, Puke Ariki is delighted to welcome local author Steph Julian as our […]

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  • Wellington Writers Walk brings te reo Māori sculpture to Wellington waterfront in time for Matariki

    Posted on 2 July 2026

    WELLINGTON WRITERS WALK RELEASE 2 July 2026 The sound of conch and pūkaea rang out across the Wellington waterfront on Thursday 25 June to welcome a group of writers, Te Wharewaka o Pōneke Trustees, representatives of local arts and literary organisations and friends and supporters of the Wellington Writers Walk, gathered for the unveiling of […]

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  • 2026 NFFD Competition Winners

    Posted on 30 June 2026

    Congratulations to this year’s winners, announced June 22 at events across Aotearoa! All long-listed stories, along with judges’ notes from this competition, will be published at the end of June. Watch Flash Frontier for updates. Read the winning entries HERE:    2026 National Flash Fiction Day edition of Flash Frontier. ADULT FIRST The other Jim by Kim […]

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  • Academy of NZ Literary – Southern Hemisphere Top 100

    Posted on 22 June 2026

    The Southern Hemisphere Fiction 100 The rest of ‘the greatest literature ever published in English’ Read on The Academy of NZ Literature website HERE   In May, the Guardian newspaper in the U.K. published a list of ‘the greatest literature ever published in English’, AKA ‘The 100 best novels of all time’, depending on which page heading […]

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  • New Voices of Aotearoa 2026 Announced: Meet the writers shaping the future of New Zealand literature  

    Posted on 19 June 2026

    FRIDAY 19 JUNE 2026     Eight standout authors set to define the next chapter of New Zealand writing have secured places on the 2026 New Voices of Aotearoa list. Selected by an expert judging panel and administered by the Coalition for Books, New Voices of Aotearoa is an annual initiative shining a spotlight on […]

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  • NZ Booklovers Awards 2027 now open for entries

    Posted on 18 June 2026

      Entries are now open for the NZ Booklovers Awards 2027. Books published between 1 January and 31 December 2026 are able to enter and the awards are open to both traditionally and self-published authors. Now in their 9th year, the NZ Booklovers have the following categories: NZ Booklovers Award for Best Adult Novel 2027 […]

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  • 2026 Verb Wellington Writer’s Residency to Una Cruickshank

    Posted on 11 June 2026

    Verb is delighted to share that Una Cruickshank has been awarded the 2026 Verb Wellington Writer’s Residency at Katherine Mansfield House!Una Cruickshank is a creative nonfiction writer from Pōneke Wellington, who likes to write about intersections between luxury goods, capitalism and natural history. She is the author of The Chthonic Cycle, which won the E.H. […]

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  • Call for judges of the 2027 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards

    Posted on 10 June 2026

    As the positive impact of the mid-May announcement of winners at the 2026 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards continues to be felt nationwide, the awards’ organisers are now on the search for judges for the 2027 awards. The New Zealand Book Awards Trust Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa has opened the call for […]

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  • Aotearoa New Zealand Children’s Book Week

    Posted on 10 June 2026

    Aotearoa New Zealand Children’s Book Week 15-21 August 2026 You can submit your NZ book recommendations to Read NZ HERE Here are stats on NZ reading If you are available to donate your time reading your book at a school or library community event during the inaugural Aotearoa NZ Children’s Book Week – sign up to […]

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