• A wealth of literary talent at Writers on Mondays

    16 July 2019 Popular readings series Writers on Mondays returns to Wellington from 22 July, featuring a stunning array of local, national, and international writers. _________________________________________________ Presented by Victoria University of Wellington’s International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML) in conjunction with Te Papa Tongarewa, the series runs each Monday from 22 July to 7 October, […]

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  • Government Making Plans –

    Encouraging signs for transformation of the sector By Keri Malthus Making plans  The Government has put a firmer timeframe around its planning to transform the creative sector. In a statement to The Big Idea, a spokesperson for newly-appointed Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford says the Government will begin to develop a formal Industry Transformation Plan […]

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  • Creative Industries feature in government vision and policy planning announcement

    The Government has launched a new approach to industry policy, aimed at growing more innovative industries in New Zealand and lifting the productivity of our key sectors. New Zealand has a strong economic foundation but our productivity has continued to fall behind our main competitors. To take advantage of the opportunities of the technological revolution […]

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  • I want to write more than anything else in the world

    26 Jun 2019 Paula Morris takes us inside the shadow of Katherine Mansfield and her days at the Menton residency on the French Riviera Share From late February until the end of June this year I’ve been based in Menton, the final stop on the French Riviera before the Ligurian coast of northern Italy. More […]

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  • NZCYA AWARDS SHORTLIST SHOWS STRENGTH OF NEW ZEALAND CHILDREN’S PUBLISHING

    New Zealand’s children’s publishing is in fine health. That’s the verdict of the judges for the 2019 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults after they faced the daunting challenge of whittling down a shortlist for this year’s awards. “The quality of submissions was impressive this year,” says convenor of judges Crissi Blair. […]

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  • 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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