• Introducing the Lynley Dodd Children’s Writers Award

    Major news from the Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi whānau! We have a brand new $30,000 award for mid-career children’s writer in Aotearoa New Zealand – generously backed by our nation’s very own children’s literary legend, Dame Lynley Dodd DNZM. This award is made possible thanks to the huge act of generosity from Aotearoa New […]

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  • Site for NZ readers spotlights local books in digital formats: KETE Books

    News release July 2, 2024 Kete Books, the website dedicated to helping readers discover New Zealand books and authors, has been rebuilt and is now live, connecting New Zealanders to their local books in all formats at an enhanced level. Created by The Coalition for Books, ketebooks.co.nz is the place to discover reading ideas and inspiration, find […]

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  • The 2024 Katherine Mansfield Sparkling Prose competition is open

    This year’s competition is for works of fiction up to 1888 words – a reference to the year of Mansfield’s birth. All submissions must follow the theme, however loosely, of ‘haunted’. You can write your work in any form – short story or hybrid or another imaginative form, but please note this is not a competition for […]

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  • Aotearoa New Zealand’s national writer-residency organisation announces its 2025 Writers in Residence Programme

    Media Release 27 June 2024   The Michael King Writers Centre is pleased to announce that next year’s programme of residencies at the historic Signalman’s House on Takarunga Mt Victoria in Devonport, Auckland, is now open for applications. Writers awarded a residency can look forward to peaceful accommodation, the use of a writing studio, a […]

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  • NZ Booklovers Awards 2025 now open for entries 

      What do Nick Davies, Eileen Merriman, David Hill, Lauren Keenan, Brianne Te Paa, Jane Ussher, Lucy Corry, Stacey Morrison, Jeremy Sherlock, Fiona Sussman, Dr Hinemoa Elder, Vasanti Unka, Kirsty Powell, Gavin Bishop, Fiona Kidman, Kimberly Andrews and Jo Seagar have in common? They are all talented authors and some of the previous winners of […]

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  • The ASLA DANZ Children’s Book Award 2025 open for entries

    The ASLA Diversity in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand Children’s Book Award is back for 2025 to celebrate and spotlight even more underrepresented children’s book creators! Following a hugely successful first year, The ASLA DANZ Award, previously The DANZ Award, is returning bigger and better in its quest to reward and celebrate diverse and ground-breaking […]

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  • 2024 Prime Ministers Award for Writers open for application

    Nominations are now open for the 2024 Prime Minister’s Awards for Literary Achievement. Do you know of a New Zealand writer who has made a notable contribution to New Zealand literature in the genres of fiction, non-fiction, or poetry? Awards of $60,000 are made in each category. Help to celebrate and recognise artistic excellence and […]

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  • Announcing the mentees and mentors for the first annual NZSA Kaituhi Māori Mentorship Programme

    The NZ Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa Te Kaituhi Māori has announced the inaugural recipients of its The NZSA Kaituhi Māori Mentorship and Kupu Kaitiaki Programmes. We are pleased to announce the five emerging writers who have each been selected for a six-month opportunity to work closely with an acclaimed Māori writer as their mentor […]

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  • The Michael King Writers Centre announces recipients of  International Exchange with Australia

    Media Release New Zealand writer Dominic Hoey and Australian writer Kathryn Heyman have been announced as the recipients of the 2024 New Zealand-Australia residency exchange, an international residency programme held by Varuna, the Australian National Writers House in collaboration with the Michael King Writers Centre in Auckland.   The four-week residency exchange will take place […]

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  • Tracy Farr is winner of the NZSA Laura Solomon Cuba Press Prize 2024!

    Announcing the NZSA Laura Solomon Cuba Press Prize 2024 winner The New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa (PEN NZ Inc) congratulates Tracy Farr on winning the NZSA Laura Solomon Cuba Press Prize with her manuscript Wonderland. The prize was created by the NZSA and the Solomon family to fulfil the wishes of […]

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  • Applications open for NZSA Peter and Dianne Beatson Fellowship 2024

    A $10,000 Opportunity for Writers Applications open for NZSA Peter & Dianne Beatson Fellowship 2024 Calling for applications from writers of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and drama with a literary track record, who are currently working on a new project. The Peter and Dianne Beatson Fellowship is awarded each year to a mid-career or senior writer […]

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  • Kete Books Winter Reading catalogue out now

    New NZ Books… Here’s a link to the Winter Reading campaign on the Coalition website: https://coalitionforbooks.nz/winterreading2024  This year’s catalogue features exciting new fiction, books for tamariki and rangatahi, a wide range of compelling nonfiction, and a selection of brilliant new books for Matariki. It brings together 77 new books from Aotearoa published in the lead-up […]

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