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2019 Ngaio Marsh award winners announced
2019 Best Crime Novel to NZSA veteran: Dame Fiona Kidman https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/standing-room-only/audio/2018713340/winners-of-the-ngaio-marsh-crime-fiction-awards Dame Fiona Kidman gave a moving acceptance speech for Best Novel: The winner was This Mortal Boy, by Dame Fiona Kidman – which also took out the Acorn Foundation Fiction Prize at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards this year. This Mortal Boy was written […]
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Indie Booksellers Incensed as Amazon Breaks ‘Testaments’ Embargo
By Claire Kirch | Sep 04, 20 Margaret Atwood’s hotly anticipated new novel The Testaments may be under embargo, but that hasn’t stopped one online retailer from selling it. The mix-up has incensed independent booksellers, and drawn an acknowledgement, if not a flat-out apology, from publisher Penguin Random House. A number of angry independent booksellers have taken […]
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New Zealand Book Council becomes Read NZ Te Pou Muramura
New Zealand Book Council is changing its name and identity to become Read NZ Te Pou Muramura. The move will better reflect its work to promote reading through a range of programmes and campaigns, as well as a desire to remain truly relevant in a changing Aotearoa New Zealand. Staff and board worked with education consultant […]
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Former Winners Atwood and Rushdie on 2019 Booker Prize Shortlist
A set of six novels the Booker’s Gaby Wood calls ‘political, orchestral, fearless, felt’ is announced in London, the 2019 Booker winner to be named October 14. By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson ‘The Extraordinary Ambition for Each of These Books’ In a news conference at the British Library in London this morning (September 3), […]
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Lani Wendt Young delivers a challenge to publishers the world over for diverse representation
The New Zealand Book Council Lecture: 2019 This year’s New Zealand Book Council Lecture, Stories from the Wild: Reading and Writing in the Digital Age, was delivered by Lani Wendt Young in Wellington last night. A free e-book of the lecture is now available for download. Young discussed the importance of representation in literature, the […]
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NZ Book Industry Awards
Community bookshop wins owners lifetime achievement award Forty years ago, then 25-year-old Rob Clarke had a fateful phone call from his mother, asking him if he’d like to run a bookshop in Paraparaumu. Tonight, he and his wife Kaye have been jointly awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2019 Book Trade Industry Awards, announced […]
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Congratulations to our new Poet Laureate
David Eggleton, New Zealand Poet Laureate 2019–2021 David Eggleton lives in Otepoti/Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand. He is a poet, writer and critic whose writing has appeared in a wide variety of New Zealand publications. As a poet he has presented his poems in many venues to all kinds of audiences. He began reciting his poetry […]
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National Schools Poetry Award celebrates New Zealand’s poets of the future
A year 13 student at Auckland’s Westlake Girls High School has won first place in the 2019 International Institute of Modern Letters’ (IIML) National Schools Poetry Award, with her poem ‘Mammalian’. Xiaole Zhan receives a prize of $500 and the opportunity to attend a poetry masterclass with poet Chris Tse and Starling editor Francis Cooke […]
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Celebrating the unifying power of poetry
This year, Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day takes place on Friday 23 August; the same day that New Zealand’s new Poet Laureate is announced. Again, our annual celebration of poetry has broken all records, with more than 150 events and competitions scheduled to take place nationwide. Expect #NZPoetryDay to trend on Twitter and people to […]
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The Coalition for Books: a dynamic new organisation for New Zealand literature announced
A dynamic collaborative organisation has formed to make a tangible difference to the literary landscape of Aotearoa, supported by seed funding from Creative New Zealand (CNZ). During its initial year, the Coalition will be a collaborative venture beneath the umbrella of the Auckland Writers Festival. Other significant founding organisations include the Booksellers Association, the Society […]
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Alan Duff, Elizabeth Knox and Don McGlashan Headline 24th Going West Writers Festival
6-8 September Going West Writers Festival weekend. Titirangi War Memorial Hall. New Zealand’s leading authors, poets, playwrights and musicians take to West Auckland’s theatres, halls and beaches at the 24th Going West Writers Festival 6-15 September, offering audiences ten days of inspiring words and ideas that cut through the clutter. The Festival’s Artistic Director […]
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Entries now open for the 2020 Ockhams
The New Zealand Book Awards Trust is now inviting submissions for the 2020 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. These prestigious awards promote excellence in, and provide recognition for, the best books for adult readers published annually in New Zealand. Titles with release dates between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2019 will be considered for […]
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