• NZCYA AWARDS SHORTLIST SHOWS STRENGTH OF NEW ZEALAND CHILDREN’S PUBLISHING

    New Zealand’s children’s publishing is in fine health. That’s the verdict of the judges for the 2019 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults after they faced the daunting challenge of whittling down a shortlist for this year’s awards. “The quality of submissions was impressive this year,” says convenor of judges Crissi Blair. […]

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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 Stories must be original, unpublished works of fiction and may be on any theme.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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  • Auckland Writers Festival Continues Its Record-Breaking Run

    People of all ages flocked to the 2019 Auckland Writers Festival this week, which broke its previous attendance record with more than 82,000 seats filled across seven days of tremendous conversations, inspiring performances and theatres filled with laughter at venues throughout the city’s centre. The Festival, which has seen year-on-year growth in the last eight […]

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  • 2019 Michael Gifkins Prize for an Unpublished Novel awarded to Tom Remiger’s Soldiers

    Tom McLean, writing as Tom Remiger, is the winner of the 2019 Michael Gifkins Prize for his novel, Soldiers (shortlisted as The City). Remiger receives a publishing contract with Text and a NZ$10,000 advance against royalties. The award was accepted on his behalf this afternoon at a party held during Auckland Writers Festival week. The […]

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  • OCKHAM NEW ZEALAND BOOK AWARDS 2019 WINNERS’ ANNOUNCEMENT

    OCKHAM NEW ZEALAND BOOK AWARDS 2019 WINNERS’ ANNOUNCEMENT ‘Urgently Relevant’ Novel Wins Country’s Richest Literary Award Dame Fiona Kidman has won this year’s $53,000 Acorn Foundation Fiction Prize at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards for her novel, This Mortal Boy, a work described by the judges as ‘moving, memorable, authentic and urgently relevant to […]

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  • National Poetry Day 2019

    https://youtu.be/yICpsit29lw Unleashing the unifying power of poetry in New Zealand communities On Friday 23 August 2019, Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day will once again give New Zealanders the opportunity to come together and unleash the power of poetry in their own communities.  Last year, a massive 150 events took place nationwide – double that of […]

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  • NEW ZEALAND BOOK AWARDS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS LAUNCHES 2019 AUTHOR EVENTS PROGRAMME UNDER EXCITING NEW BANNER

    The New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults has announced the 2019 dates for its successful nationwide series of finalist author events under an exciting new banner – Books Alive. Large scale Books Alive events for school children will take place in Dunedin, Christchurch, Hamilton and Wellington in the week leading up to […]

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  • Storylines ‘What Now’ TV2 Kid’s Pick announced

    Congratulations to Stacy Gregg! The Fire Stallion by Stacy Gregg (published by Harper Collins) was announced on TVNZ2 on Sunday 14th April as the Storylines Kids’ Pick of the Storylines Junior Fiction Notable Books on What Now. The response to the competition was ‘unprecedented’ according to the What Now producers. Lyla by Fleur Beale (Allen & […]

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  • Honorary doctorate for literacy champion Dame Wendy Pye

    Educational publishing entrepreneur and literacy advocate Dame Wendy Pye, who received an honorary Doctor of Education. ‘Teaching the world to read’ has been educational publishing phenomenon Dame Wendy Pye’s mission and mantra for 35 years. Now, Massey University is celebrating the life-changing impact of her early literacy resources to children all over the planet, from […]

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  • NZ, Oz writers shortlisted for 2019 Commonwealth Short Story Prize

    10 April 2019 Two New Zealanders and one Australian writer are among the finalists for the 2019 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. New Zealand writer Maria Samuela was shortlisted for ‘Bluey’, as was Harley Hern for ‘Screaming’. Australian writer Emma Ashmere was shortlisted for her story ‘Nightfall’. Samuela, Hern and Ashmere are among 24 writers to […]

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  • Three talented writers shortlisted for Michael Gifkins Prize for an Unpublished Novel

    Text Publishing and the New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc) are thrilled to announce the shortlist for the 2019 Michael Gifkins Prize for an Unpublished Novel. Three outstanding manuscripts have been chosen for this year’s shortlist: Into the Green Fields by Susan Paterson The City by Tom Remiger Isobar Precinct by Angelique Kasmara […]

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  • WELCOME TO THE 2019 NFFD COMPETITION – 5 days to go

    Send your best 300-word story * Cash prizes * Adult and Youth competitions Adult (19+) First Prize: $1000 Second Prize: $400 Third Prize: $100* Judges: Siobhan Harvey and Lloyd Jones Youth (18 and under) First Prize: $200 Second Prize: $100 Third Prize: $50 Judges: Eirlys Hunter and Gail Ingram Winners will be announced June 22 at the National Flash Fiction Day […]

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