• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie speaks out FOR Freedom of Speech and AGAINST Fake News for PEN AMERICA

    There is a Western idea that wickedness, when committed by a certain kind of person and in a certain kind of way, is worthy of being engaged with. And there are certain things that people said would never happen in this country. But they are in fact happening. It is at times like these that […]

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  • WeCreate welcomes government’s Copyright Issues Paper

    WeCreate, the alliance of New Zealand’s creative industries, has welcomed MBIE’s release of an Issues Paper on Copyright in New Zealand. The Intellectual Property Team at MBIE have conducted extensive engagement with stakeholders that have an interest in copyright and the paper is informed by this engagement. New Zealand’s creative people and creative businesses generate […]

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  • NZSA Oral History Podcast Episode 2: Gordon McLauchlan OUT NOW

    NZSA Oral History Podcast Episode 2: Gordon McLauchlan Through his writing, radio and television projects Gordon McLauchlan is known for his wit, cultural criticism and works of New Zealand history. He also played a critical role in securing authors rights, advocating as president of the NZSA for kiwi writers during the economic reforms of the […]

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  • PEN AMERICA V. TRUMP

    “PEN declares for a free press and opposes arbitrary censorship. It believes that the necessary advance of the world toward a more highly organized political and economic order renders free criticism of governments, administrations, and institutions imperative.” —PEN Charter, 1948 October 16, 2018 Today PEN America, represented by the nonpartisan nonprofit Protect Democracy and the Yale […]

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  • 2018 Prime Minister’s Awards for Literary Achievement: winners announced

      Feminist and working-class stories, poetry as song, and a deeper understanding of New Zealand art – these are just some of the frontiers explored by this year’s winners of the Prime Minister’s Awards for Literary Achievement. They are beloved M?ori dramatist and fiction writer Renée, revered critic, curator and poet Wystan Curnow and admired […]

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  • Beloved children’s author Joy Cowley shares The Power of Story

      The 2018 New Zealand Book Council Lecture was delivered by author Joy Cowley at Te Papa yesterday evening. In her engaging talk The Power of Story, Cowley reflected on a remarkable career and lifetime’s experience of inspiring children to read. Recalling her own childhood reading journey, and that of her four children, she expressed […]

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  • Podcast reveals drama of writing lives – NZSA Oral History Podcast launch

    ENTERTAINMENT  The New Zealand Herald 29 Sep, 2018 5:00am “Muldoon generally seemed like the enemy, which, of course, he was!” – Lauris Edmond. By: Dionne Christian They sound like stories from the pages of an espionage thriller: Governments threatening freedom of speech, meetings in exotic European cities with exiled authors, battles with institutions who determined livelihoods […]

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  • Homegrown books among Kiwi kids’ favourite reads – Whitcoulls Top 50 Kids Books 2018

    Kiwi children love to read books by local authors and their enthusiasm for reading is as keen as ever reveals the 2018 Whitcoulls Kids’ Top 50 Books list, announced today (24.9.18).   Whitcoulls Book Manager Joan Mackenzie said, “Kiwi kids cast their votes with great enthusiasm and as they did, couldn’t resist sharing glowing endorsements […]

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  • Auckland Writers Festival Launches Literary Foundation

    A new Foundation established by the Auckland Writers Festival aims to strengthen Aotearoa’s literary landscape. The M?t?tuhi Foundation, launched this evening, will provide opportunities for New Zealand writers to develop and promote their works and for readers to increase their engagement with the work of local writers and will fund activities that contribute to literacy […]

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  • Rural Noir: small-town tales scoop Ngaio Marsh Awards

    The winners of the Ngaio Marsh Awards announced at WORD in Christchurch   Both authors’ winning books involve deadly deeds set against small towns and rural landscapes. Carter scooped the Best Novel prize for Marlborough Man (Fremantle Press), a thrilling tale centred on an ex-undercover agent from England trying to resettle into a quieter life far distanced […]

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  • Ground-breaking Māoripublisher recognised for her life’s work at Book Industry awards

    Robyn Bargh CNZM (Te Arawa) has been honoured with the 2018 Book Industry Lifetime Achievement Award, in recognition of her foundation and directorship of Huia Publishers, and her continuing leadership in M?ori literature. The Book Trade Industry Awards were announced at a celebratory dinner at The Rydges in Auckland.   Booksellers NZ Chair Juliet Blyth […]

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  • New survey shows continued drop in Kiwis reading – Annual NZ Book Council report

      442,600 adult New Zealanders didn’t read a book in the past year, according to new research out today. Books are competing with television and computer screens for our leisure time, and 45-54 year olds had the lowest percentage reading of any age group. The study also found that fewer Kiwi men are reading books. […]

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