• The Peter Wells Short Fiction Contest 2025

    The Peter Wells Short Fiction Contest is an opportunity for Aotearoa-based LGBTQIA+ authors. The contest runs near the end of each year, and the winners are announced during our festival in February. First prize is $1,000 for the winning story, $500 for the runner-up and $500 for the best writing by a promising young writer […]

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  • HAMLIT, FEBRUARY 22- 23, 2025

      www.hamiltonartsfestival.co.nz/tag/hamlit/ Part of Hamilton Arts Festival -Toi Ora ki Kirikiriroa, 21 February-2 March 2025 HamLit is an exciting new series of bookish events taking place in the glorious Hamilton Gardens this coming February.  A literary festival within a festival, HamLit will serve up a stimulating smorgasbord of events for readers and writers. A captivating […]

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  • Charlotte Grimshaw is the NZSA 2025 President of Honour

    The New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa is delighted to announce that Charlotte Grimshaw is the NZSA 2025 President of Honour. This prestigious honour is bestowed on a senior writer and long-serving NZSA member in recognition of their contribution to writing, writers and the literary arts sector in Aotearoa. NZSA’s 2025 President of Honour, […]

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  • Summer Reading Guide

    #ReadAotearoa #LoveYourLocal   Booksellers Aotearoa NZ and The Coalition for Books have created a suite of social media assets to help promote the books in this year’s New Zealand Summer Reading Guide. TNZ+Summer+Reading_KETE_8+pages The New Zealand Summer Reading Guide is packed with reading recommendations and book gift ideas for Christmas — it’s brought to you […]

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  • NZ BOOKLOVERS AWARDS 2025 open for entries

    NZ Booklovers Awards 2025 ​ NZ Booklovers Award for Best Adult Fiction Book 2025, sponsored by Lighthouse PR We are looking for the best in storytelling, a novel we couldn’t put down. NZ Booklovers Award for Best Lifestyle Book 2025, sponsored by Benefitz Cooking, wine, architecture, lifestyle, home and garden, design, fashion – all the non-fiction books […]

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  • 2024 Storylines Notable Book Awards announced

    The annual Storylines Notable Books list, representing the very best books for children and young adult published in the last twelve months, has been released by the Storylines Children’s Literature Trust Te Whare Waituhi Tamariki o Aotearoa.    “Congratulations to all the creators and publishers of this year’s award winners”, says Storylines Trust chair, Christine Young. […]

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  • AMPLIFY – Draft Plan for Arts Strategy out now

    The Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Paul Goldsmith has released a draft of a national creative and cultural strategy, Amplify: A Creative and Cultural Strategy for New Zealand (Draft) 2024 – 2030. Amplify is a national strategy that shows how government will work with the creative and cultural sectors to deliver support for the sectors’ development. The vision […]

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  • Nga Po e Rewa Pū – Motueka Hui Oct 25-27 Report from Donna MacLeod – Te Kaituhi Māori

    To Sir with love. How does one encapsulate Space. The  Space of Creativity The Creative Space within Te Aō Māori. The Space where a Master stands before you gifting 3 hours but continues for 6 hours. We witnessed one standing in Mana We were gifted a legacy. “A life-changing experience.” Harold Helmbright “I found inspiration […]

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  • Sargeson Prize for short stories won by writer of topical, political tale 

    The writer of a political, quintessentially New Zealand story has taken the top spot in one of New Zealand’s richest short story competitions, securing a $10,000 prize.   Benn Jeffries of Wellington was named winner of the 2024 Sargeson Prize with his short story ‘Greywacke’ on Saturday evening at the 21st annual Frank Sargeson Memorial […]

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  • Robust and Resilient Indies Celebrate their role as Community Hubs on Aotearoa New Zealand Bookshop Day

    Independent bookshops across the motu will celebrate their pivotal roles as community hubs with fanfare events on Aotearoa New Zealand Bookshop Day Saturday 12 October as they continue to trade strongly in a tough retail environment. Bookstore sales volumes increased by three percent in August on the month prior according to Nielsen BookData. This compares […]

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  • Robust and Resilient Indies Celebrate their role as Community Hubs on Aotearoa New Zealand Bookshop Day

      Independent book shops across the motu will celebrate their pivotal roles as community hubs with fanfare events on Aotearoa New Zealand Bookshop Day Saturday 12 October as they continue to trade strongly in a tough retail environment. Bookstore sales volumes increased by three percent in August on the month prior according to Nielsen BookData. […]

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  • Announcing the Landfall Tauraka short story series

      Landfall and Otago University Press are excited to announce a new series of short story collections with the publication of the inaugural title, Pretty Ugly, by award-winning writer Kirsty Gunn. In Pretty Ugly, Gunn reminds us that ambiguity and complication are elemental forces in a human life and grist to the storyteller’s mill. This collection of 13 […]

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