• Fake News v Press Freedom – Lies, Defamation and Digital Truth

    WHALE OIL: One man’s fight to save his reputation, then his life Truth is stranger than fiction. For Auckland businessman Matt Blomfield, the truth is stranger than strange. In May 2012, Blomfield found himself the target of a vicious online attack; the work of Whale Oil blogger Cameron Slater. The attack came out of the […]

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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 Stories must be original, unpublished works of fiction and may be on any theme.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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  • Canadian Lawmakers Recommend Sweeping Progressive Improvements to Copyright Law – Music to our ears…

    The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage yesterday released its long-awaited report on artist remuneration, as part of Parliament’s Statutory Review of the Copyright Act. Titled Shifting Paradigms, the report makes twenty-two key recommendations focused on strengthening the rights of artists to control and earn from their work in the digital age.  The Writers’ Union of […]

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  • 100 NZ Stories, 100 Days: author starts short story campaign

    Northland author and NZSA member Michael Botur has launched a programme of publishing short stories every day for the next 100 days on social media and is encouraging other Kiwi writers to do the same. Botur said the #100NZStories100days campaign doesn’t hinge on any significant date. Rather, it’s about keeping short fiction writing in 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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  • New Zealand Book Council’s new toolkit aims to support arts events

    A new set of free resources aims to provide event organisers with extra support. The New Zealand Book Council’s Event Support Kit offers downloadable resources including checklists, templates and strategies for event organisers. It also includes links to existing Book Council resources, such as the extensive Writers Files and an online event calendar for free listing […]

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  • A wave of women’s voices carry Best New Zealand Poems

      The latest edition of the online anthology Best New Zealand Poems is now live, featuring 25 poems chosen by Dunedin-based novelist, poet, playwright, and non-fiction author Fiona Farrell. The International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML) at Victoria University of Wellington has published the anthology annually since 2001, with support from Creative New Zealand. While […]

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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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  • ALL MEMBERS Your chance to have a say to the Issues Paper that will inform the Copyright Act review.

    21 March 2019 New Zealand content and the ability to protect your rights as a writer are key issues in the current copyright act review. Take this opportunity to shape the future of our country’s copyright law. The New Zealand Copyright Act is in the early stages of review and is currently open for public consultation. […]

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