• 2024 Commonwealth short story prize shortlist announced – 3 New Zealanders feature on a Pacific shortlist of four

      World’s most global literature prize shortlists 23 writers from 13 countries 3 New Zealanders feature on a Pacific shortlist of four: 31-year-old Anna Woods from Auckland, 46-year-old Pip Robertson from Christ Church and 31-year-old M Donato a New Zealander of Filipino heritage, from Wellington Judges hail ‘a dream list’ which will leave readers ‘startled […]

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  • Anne Kennedy to judge $1000 Poetry Prize – Kathleen Grattan IWW Sequence 2024

    International Writers’ Workshop NZ Inc 12 April 2024 Anne Kennedy is the judge of The Kathleen Grattan Prize for a Sequence of Poems 2024 with a first prize of $1000 for the winner. Anne is a Tāmaki Makaurau poet, novelist and teacher. Awards include the Prime Minister’s Award for Poetry, the NZ Post Book Award […]

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  • Huia wins 2024 Bologna Prize, Best Children’s Publisher in Oceania region

    10 April 2024   Books+Publishing Huia Publishers, based in Aotearoa New Zealand, is the 2024 Oceania winner of the Bologna Prize (BOP) for the Best Children’s Publisher of the Year. The Māori-owned independent publisher has been operating since 1991, with a mission to ‘share stories that resonate with our people, that reflect our experiences and that value our culture and […]

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  • Storylines Margaret Mahy National Awards Day & Award Winners

    Congratulations to all of the 2024 Storylines Award winners who were presented with their awards on Sunday 7 April at an event held at the National Library of NZ in Parnell, Auckland. The 2024 winners are; Storylines Gaelyn Gordon Award: The Dragon Hunters written by James Russell, illustrated by Link Choi Storylines Janice Marriott Mentoring […]

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  • A shot at literary fame: 2024 Sargeson Prize opens 

    Entries for New Zealand’s richest short-story competition, the Sargeson Prize, are open and last year’s winner is encouraging others to “go for it”.   Fiction and poetry writer Anna Woods won $10,000 in the 2023 Open Division and a two-week summer writing residency at the Sargeson Centre in Auckland with her story ‘Pig Hunting’. “The […]

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  • 2024 Writer in Residence Ben Brown reconnects with heritage at Waikato 

      Dedicating the year to writing his first novel isn’t the only positive thing about being named the Kaipukahu University of Waikato Writer in Residence for 2024. Award-winning children’s author, poet and writer, Ben Brown (Ngāti Mahuta, Ngāti Korokī Kahukura, Ngāti Paoa), says this year is not only about writing a novel that’s been on […]

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  • NZ Booklovers Awards 2024 Winners Announced

    Nick Davies, Eileen Merriman, David Hill, Sacha Cotter, Carlos Lehnebach, Claire Regnault, Rebecca Rice, Isaac Te Awa and Rachel Yates are winners in the 2024 NZ Booklovers Awards announced today. ‘We are delighted to announce five award-winning books that families in New Zealand will enjoy for many reasons,’ says NZ Booklovers Director Karen McMillan. ‘Our winning […]

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  • NZSA Mentorships 2024 announced

    We are pleased to announce that 13 emerging writers have been selected for The New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa 2024 Mentorship Programme. The selection panel of convenor Rosetta Allan along with panellists Kiri Piahana-Wong and Sharon Manssen commented: ‘To all the writers, we would like to say well done in […]

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  • New Zealand’s national writer-residency organisation announces its 2024 International Residency with Australia

    Media Release 20 March 2024   The Michael King Writers Centre in association with Varuna, The National Writers’ House in Katoomba, NSW, Australia is pleased to announce for the third time, a residency in Australia for New Zealand writers. The writer awarded the residency will receive return flights to Sydney, four weeks accommodation and meals […]

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  • Allen & Unwin Fiction Prize open for entries until March 31

    Along with being awarded a publishing contract, the Allen & Unwin NZ Fiction Prize winner receives an advance against royalties of $10,000. The prize is open to all unpublished full-length manuscripts in the fiction genre between 70,000 and 100,000 words in length, written by citizens and residents of New Zealand. Both debut and already-published authors […]

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  • Literary heavyweights vie for top fiction prize in Ockham NZ Book Awards

    WEDNESDAY 6 MARCH 2024  Booker Prize-winning author Eleanor Catton faces off against critically acclaimed former national award winners Emily Perkins, Pip Adam and Stephen Daisley for the $65,000 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction, as finalists in the 2024 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards announced today. The four novelists are joined by a further 12 […]

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  • Three NZ Writers make 2024 Barry Awards finalists

    The 2024 Barry Awards Congratulations to NZ writers Vanda Symon (NZSA President), Michael Bennett, and Anthony McCarten who are finalists in these awards. Best Paperback Original Mystery or Crime Novel Mia P. Manansala, MURDER AND MAMON (Berkley) Rick Mofina, EVERY THING SHE FEARED (MIRA) Jake Needham, WHO THE HELL IS HARRY BLACK? (Half Penny) Jesse […]

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