• New Public Service Act flashes a warning to New Zealand writers

    Posted on 30 July 2020

    Chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt has highlighted a major piece of legislation that fails to explicitly require public officials to consider their human rights responsibilities.   Commissioner Hunt says “The Public Service Act is a vital piece of law that will shape the public service for many years to come. … I’m astonished that […]

    Continue reading

  • 2020 creative writing competition opens today Otago University

    Posted on 30 July 2020

    Monday 20 July 2020 Have a go … the University’s annual creative writing competition for Otago students and staff opens today – with the theme “only connect…”. The University’s second annual creative writing competition for students and staff opens for entries today. Writer 2020 offers all staff and students at all of Otago’s campuses the opportunity […]

    Continue reading

  • 2020 Awards: Virtual events to bring Books Alive for Aotearoa’s young readers

    Posted on 29 July 2020

    Wednesday 29 July From the most remote backblocks to our biggest cities, Kiwi kids around the country will be able to get up close with Aotearoa’s best children’s authors and illustrators thanks to the wonders of the internet and the hard work of some very dedicated librarians. If there’s a silver lining to the COVID-19 […]

    Continue reading

  • Booker Prize 2020 longlist announced

    Posted on 29 July 2020

    28 July 2020 The longlist for the 2020 Booker Prize has been announced.   The 13 books longlisted for the £50,000 (A$90,000) prize are: The New Wilderness (Diane Cook, Oneworld) This Mournable Body (Tsitsi Dangarembga, Faber) Burnt Sugar (Avni Doshi, Hamish Hamilton) Who They Was (Gabriel Krauze, Fourth Estate) The Mirror and The Light (Hilary Mantel, Fourth Estate) Apeirogon (Colum McCann, […]

    Continue reading

  • 2021 Gifkins Prize Open for Entries

    Posted on 24 July 2020

    Text Publishing and the New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa (PEN NZ) Inc are thrilled to announce that submissions for the 2021 Michael Gifkins Prize for an Unpublished Novel are now open. The prize, which celebrates the life and work of the writer and agent Michael Gifkins, seeks fiction manuscripts by […]

    Continue reading

  • Behrouz Boochani granted refugee status in New Zealand

    Posted on 24 July 2020

    Behrouz Boochani granted refugee status The New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa (PEN NZ Inc) is absolutely thrilled to hear of the decision to resettle Behrouz Boochani in Aotearoa. He is a writer of great importance and his activism on behalf of detainees in Australian-run detention centres is to be applauded. […]

    Continue reading

  • Internet Archive Will End Its Program for Free E-Books

    Posted on 22 July 2020

    The nonprofit has said its National Emergency Library was a public service to people unable to access libraries during the pandemic, but publishers and authors accused it of theft. Brewster Kahle is the founder of Internet Archive, which announced plans to close its National Emergency Library next week.Credit…Lianne Milton for The New York Times By Elizabeth […]

    Continue reading

  • Woman’s Weekly and Listener to resume publication after Bauer magazines sale

    Posted on 20 July 2020

    Iconic New Zealand magazine titles NZ Woman’s Weekly and the NZ Listener will resume publication immediately, with Bauer Media’s titles officially sold to an Australian investment company.   The magazine titles have been officially taken over by Mercury Capital. The Sydney-based company has taken ownership of magazine titles Woman’s Day, New Zealand Woman’s Weekly, and The Australian Women’s […]

    Continue reading

  • ARRESTING DISSENT: LEGISLATIVE RESTRICTIONS ON THE RIGHT TO PROTEST

    Posted on 20 July 2020

    Basic democratic rights have increasingly come under siege since the 2016 election, and not just at the federal level. In this report, Arresting Dissent: Legislative Restrictions on the Right to Protest, PEN America shines a spotlight on the proliferation of state-level legislative proposals seeking to limit protest rights. READ THE FULL REPORT » PEN America has documented […]

    Continue reading

  • 2021 Peter Porter Poetry Prize open for entries

    Posted on 19 July 2020

    2021 Peter Porter Poetry Prize First prize: $AU$6,000 Four other shortlisted poets: $AU$1,000 Closes: 11:59 pm, 1 October 2020 Judges: Lachlan Brown, John Hawke, A. Frances Johnson, and John Kinsella Click here to enter the 2021 Peter Porter Poetry Prize Australian Book Review welcomes entries for the seventeenth Peter Porter Poetry Prize, which is open from 15 July […]

    Continue reading

  • Miles Franklin Literary Award won by Wiradjuri author Tara June Winch for her novel The Yield

    Posted on 17 July 2020

    ABC Arts By arts editor Dee Jefferson Wiradjuri author Tara June who has won the 2020 Miles Franklin Literary Award — Australia’s most prestigious writing prize, and one of its richest at $60,000 — for her novel The Yield. Key facts about the award The Miles Franklin Award was first awarded in 1957 It was established […]

    Continue reading

  • Applications open for Te Papa Tupu 2020

    Posted on 17 July 2020

    Once again, aspiring Māori writers have the opportunity to build their confidence in Te Papa Tupu, a writing programme developed by the Māori Literature Trust and administered by Huia Publishers.   Six chosen writers will spend six months working alongside a mentor to develop their manuscript and improve their writing skills, all to meet the […]

    Continue reading