• Chris Tse is New Zealand’s next poet laureate

    When queer Asian-Kiwi writer Chris Tse started reading and writing poetry at the age of 16, he felt he’d finally found something he could pursue. “Poetry has always been this constant. It’s the thing I reach for, for comfort and connection, it’s helped me make wonderful friendships and relationships with people. It’s been a significant part of […]

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  • Tsunami poem wins National Schools Poetry Award 2022

    26 August 2022 Joshua Toumu’a, a Year 12 student from Wellington High School, has won the 2022 International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML) National Schools Poetry Award with a poem that creates a vivid snapshot of the aftermath of the Hunga-Tonga Hunga-Ha’apai eruption and the ensuing tsunami. Joshua, who is of Tongan, Papua New Guinean, […]

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  • Brown Ink – Script Development

    Playmarket’s Brown Ink development programme is looking for Māori and Pasifika writers with the best new and original work.   The programme offers playwrights a development workshop with a professional script advisor and actors dedicated to helping you develop your play. Plays selected for development for Brown Ink that have gone to professional productions include Still […]

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  • Book launch: Jumping Sundays by Nick Bollinger

    Join Auckland University Press and Unity Books to celebrate Nick Bollinger’s latest book – Jumping Sundays: The Rise and Fall of the Counterculture in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Auckland launch is part of the Auckland Writers Festival and is also the book’s official launch day – this Thursday 25 August. The event starts at 5pm […]

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  • Keri Hulme’s generous koha for Māori writers

    The original manuscript of the bone people, by legendary author Keri Hulme (Kāi Tahu and Kāti Māmoe), will be auctioned at Dunbar Sloane on the 11th of August, this year. Keri Hulme was the first New Zealander to win the prestigious Booker Prize in 1985. She was also the first writer to win the Booker Prize, […]

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  • Sir Julius Vogel Award Winners – 2022

    The winners of the Sir Julius Vogel Awards for 2022, recognising works from the 2021 year are now available. 2022 Sir Julius Vogel Awards The 2022 Sir Julius Vogel Awards winners have been announced. The awards recognize excellence in science fiction, fantasy, or horror works created by New Zealanders and New Zealand residents. The Sir Julius Vogel […]

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  • Congratulations to the winners of 2022 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults!

    The 2022 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults have just wrapped up and congratulations to all the winners! Atua: Māori Gods and Legends, by Gavin Bishop (Puffin, Penguin Random House) cleaned up, winning the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year Award and $7,500; the Elsie Locke Award for Non-Fiction and $7,500; and […]

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  • Adam NZ Play Award 2023

    Submissions are now open for the 2023 Adam NZ Play Award. Awards may be given in the following categories: – Best Play – Best Play by a Māori Playwright – Best Play by a Pasifika Playwright – Best Play by a Woman Playwright – McNaughton South Island Play Award – Dean Parker Adaptation or Non-Fiction Award The […]

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  • Verb Residency open for applications

    Verb Wellington and Katherine Mansfield House & Garden invite writers from anywhere in Aotearoa to apply opportunity to spend time in one of the world’s most vibrant literary cities to focus on your writing. For three weeks between 23 October – 13 November 2022 you will have a dedicated writing space at Katherine Mansfield’s birthplace […]

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  • Commonwealth’s adda calls for submissions

    The Commonwealth Foundation is delighted to launch the 2022-2023 adda call for submissions. Writers are invited to submit creative non-fiction, short fiction, short graphic fiction and poetry on the theme of healthy communities. What does health mean to us as individuals and as societies? How does the climate crisis impact our health? What is the […]

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  • J Wiremu Kane wins the Surrey Hotel residency

    The winner of the 2022 Surrey Hotel writers residency award in association with Newsroom is J Wiremu Kane. Ngāpuhi, queer/takatāpui, a doctor in a previous life, this year’s emerging Māori writer in residence at Te Herenga Waka–Victoria University, and the author of “Ringarewa”. Read more on Newsroom

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  • Challenging times for arts sector mean renewed strategic focus for Creative New Zealand over next four years

    CREATIVE NZ   NEWS Resilience, access, inclusion and equity, and wellbeing are Creative New Zealand’s strategic focus areas over the next four years, aimed at providing ongoing support while lifting the sector out of the challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic. These focus areas are included in our new medium-term strategy, the Statement of Intent 2022–2026, following from […]

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