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Book lovers flock to the party-like atmosphere of Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki
A “rock concert for reading” was how one attendee described Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki (AWF), which ran 13 – 18 May at Auckland’s Aotea Centre. The annual event is the highlight of the literary calendar and 2025 was no exception with sold-out theatres, bustling crowds and signing queues that lasted for hours. The […]
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Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2025 – Winners’ Announcement
14 May 2025 ‘Visual tour de force of enduring significance’ wins at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2025 Art historians Deidre Brown (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu) and Ngarino Ellis (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou) have won the BookHub Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction at the 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards for Toi Te Mana: An Indigenous History of Māori […]
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History of the NZSA Jessie Mackay & Hubert Church Memorial Awards
History of the NZSA Jessie Mackay & Hubert Church Memorial Awards NZSA Best First Book Awards The history of these awards is the history of success in New Zealand literature. The awards were originally created by PEN NZ (The New Zealand Society of Authors) in the 1940s to memorialise beloved figures in New […]
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STREETSIDE: BRITOMART – AWF’s first event promises a riotous evening of words and creativity
Storytellers will take over the Britomart precinct in the heart of Tāmaki Makaurau for a riotous evening of words and creativity on Friday 9 May. STREETSIDE: BRITOMART is a one-night-only festival which is completely free and open to all. The fun runs from 6 – 8pm with events across seven Britomart venues and provides a […]
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Poetry set to take centre stage: August 22
Registrations now open for Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day 2025 Friday 22 August 2025 is set to be a day where words take flight and poetry pulses through the streets, libraries, parks, bookshops, and unexpected corners of Aotearoa. Now in its 28th year, Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day invites communities nationwide to create, share, […]
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Lil O’Brien wins the Rush Cottage Residency
Hawke’s Bay Readers & Writers Trust & Black Barn Vineyards Retreats announces that Lil O’Brien (AK), is this year’s recipient of The Rush Cottage Writers’ Residency. Lil is the author/editor of two books: Not That I’d Kiss A Girl and OTHERHOOD. This is the first writers’ residency she has won. “I’m delighted to get this […]
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Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi O Tāmaki launches ambitious, wide-ranging 2025 programme
For 26 years Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki has showcased some of the world’s most celebrated storytellers and thinkers. Between 13 – 18 May, tens of thousands of people from all over the country will once again take their pick from a jam-packed programme of over 170 events across a range of venues and […]
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Ockham 2025 Shortlists announced
Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2025 Finalists Announced Dazzling books that ‘address our moment’s most urgent concerns’ The $65,000 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction in the 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards will be contested by three former winners of the award – Laurence Fearnley, Kirsty Gunn and Damien Wilkins – and Commonwealth […]
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Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi O Tāmaki offers a sneak-peek of the 2025 programme
Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi O Tāmaki is thrilled to reveal the first five names for the 2025 Festival, ahead of the full programme announcement on Wednesday 12 March. Esteemed author and illustrator Gavin Bishop O.N.Z.M. (Tainui, Ngāti Awa) is the Festival’s 2025 Honoured Writer. In his rich career he has published 70 books; written for […]
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HAMLIT, FEBRUARY 22- 23, 2025
www.hamiltonartsfestival.co.nz/tag/hamlit/ Part of Hamilton Arts Festival -Toi Ora ki Kirikiriroa, 21 February-2 March 2025 HamLit is an exciting new series of bookish events taking place in the glorious Hamilton Gardens this coming February. A literary festival within a festival, HamLit will serve up a stimulating smorgasbord of events for readers and writers. A captivating […]
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WORD Christchurch Festival 2024 Programme Announcement Aug 27 – Sept 1
A dazzling array of words and performance takeover Ōtautahi Christchurch in August More than 100 writers, thinkers and performers from New Zealand and around the world will take to the streets, schools and theatres of Ōtautahi Christchurch offering a feast of fresh ideas, music, powerful stories and creative escapes during WORD Christchurch Festival which runs […]
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Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2024 Winners
‘Disturbing, smart, and funny as hell’ novel wins country’s richest writing prize. Internationally acclaimed New Zealand writer Emily Perkins MNZM has won the $65,000 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at the 2024 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards for Lioness – a smart, multi-layered, laugh-out-loud novel exploring wealth, class and female mid-life reckoning. Ms […]
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