• Prominent writers pull out of PEN AMERICA literary festival, citing Gaza

      March 15, WASHINGTON POST: A group of writers including Lorrie Moore and Michelle Alexander announced Thursday that they are pulling out of this year’s PEN AMERICA World Voices Festival, citing the organizer’s inaction over the war in Gaza. In a letter published on Lit Hub, the writers criticized literary nonprofit PEN America for failing […]

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  • PEN International Case List 2023/2024: Unveiling the Persecution and Censorship of Writers Amid War

    2023/24 website statement   “The role that writers can play in times of uncertainty, diligently curating narratives to nourish empathy, encompassing glimpses of joy and ultimately offering the gift of hope, lacks formal recognition, and this lack of acknowledgement or coherent protections can ultimately decimate expression and propel rampant self-censorship.” Ma Thida, Chair of PEN […]

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  • Auckland Writers Festival announces unbeatable lineup for this year’s Festival – world’s top writers light up New Zealand this May

    The Auckland Writers Festival today unveils the full Festival programme with more than 40 international authors and 200 events live in Auckland this autumn   Full Festival programme is available here. The 2024 Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi O Tāmaki reveals one of the starriest lineups in years, inviting New Zealanders to spend a week with […]

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  • AUCKLAND WRITERS FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES FIRST NINE NAMES IN STAR-STUDDED 2024 LINEUP

      Friday 8th March 2024 The Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi O Tāmaki, is thrilled to announce the first nine headliners coming to the 2024 Festival, ahead of the full programme announcement next week. The full festival programme, to be revealed publicly at midday on Wednesday 13th March, includes over 200 writers, including some of the most well-known literary […]

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  • Literary heavyweights vie for top fiction prize in Ockham NZ Book Awards

    WEDNESDAY 6 MARCH 2024  Booker Prize-winning author Eleanor Catton faces off against critically acclaimed former national award winners Emily Perkins, Pip Adam and Stephen Daisley for the $65,000 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction, as finalists in the 2024 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards announced today. The four novelists are joined by a further 12 […]

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  • NZSA CompleteMS Programme 2024 opens

    Do you have a completed draft of your manuscript that’s ready to take to the next level? Poetry, fiction, short fiction, non-fiction… Apply now for the NZSA Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa CompleteMS Manuscript Assessment Programme. The NZSA CompleteMS assessment programme is open for applications until 28 May 2024. CompleteMS is for writers who have completed a manuscript through […]

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  • How to be well-read in the Year of the Dragon

    KETE BOOKS Poet Laureate Chris Tse curates a selection of recent books by Aotearoa’s East and South East Asian writers to mark Lunar New Year. Find more information about the books in this selection here.

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  • Double Dublin nomination for Catherine Chidgey

    Two books by New Zealand author Catherine Chidgey have been nominated for the 2024 Dublin Literary Award – the world’s most valuable annual prize for a work of fiction published in English. She is nominated for The Axeman’s Carnival, which won the 2023 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at the Ockham New Zealand Book […]

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  • Catriona Ferguson appointed as Managing Director of AWF

    The Auckland Writers Festival has announced the appointment of our new Managing Director, Catriona Ferguson. Catriona is an integral part of Aotearoa’s literary community, bringing over 20 years of experience and knowledge to the Festival. Formerly the Director of the Publishers Association of New Zealand Te Rau o Tākupu and Chief Executive Officer of Read NZ Te […]

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  • NZSA members receive New Year’s Kings Honours

    We congratulate the four NZSA members who have received Kings Honours: David Hill, Susan Battye, Harriet Allan and Jodi Wright.   We also acknowledge and congratulate Pacific journalist Barbara Dreaver and Hana O’Regan. Barbara Dreaver has been a publisher of Pacific Books (Cook Islands Press) and Hana O’Regan has supported NZSA in the Canterbury region, […]

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  • Manchester Writing Competition 2023 winners revealed as Tracey Slaughter and April Yee

    8th December 2023 Manchester Poetry Prize and Fiction Prize awarded to best unpublished writing Tracey Slaughter and April Yee have won the 2023 Manchester Writing Competition, the UK’s biggest awards for unpublished writing. Poet Slaughter took home the Manchester Poetry Prize, and Yee was awarded the Manchester Fiction Prize at a gala awards ceremony on Friday […]

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  • UK Trade bodies launch joint updated industry statement on professional values

    The UK Publishers Association,UK Society of Authors, UK Booksellers Association and UK Association of Authors’ Agents have relaunched a document,  updated by representatives of the industry associations in consultation with their memberships. A number of new organisations have also endorsed the statement, including the Association of Illustrators, the Translators Association, Publishing Scotland, the Independent Publishers […]

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