• Announcing the shortlist for the 2020 Michael Gifkins Prize for an Unpublished Novel

    Posted on 8 May 2020

    Text Publishing and the New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa PEN NZ Inc are thrilled to announce the shortlist for the 2020 Michael Gifkins Prize for an Unpublished Novel. Three outstanding manuscripts have been chosen for this year’s shortlist: Flight by Whitney Cox A Good Winter by Giovanna (Gigi) Fenster Pōhara […]

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  • CLNZ/NZSA Research Grants 2020

    Posted on 8 May 2020

    Four Cash Grants to Support NZ Writers Receive a $5,000 grant to help you research your latest fiction or non-fiction writing project.  All New Zealand writers welcome to apply from today! In support of New Zealand writers who wish to undertake research for a fiction or non-fiction writing project, the 2020 Copyright Licensing New Zealand (CLNZ) […]

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  • SURVEY RESULTS – COVID IMPACT ON AUCKLAND CREATIVE ARTS SECTOR

    Posted on 7 May 2020

    Here are the results of the COVID-19 Impact on Tāmaki Makaurau creative sector survey.      The received  332 responses, with the responses revealing both the immediate impacts of the crisis, and the underlying fragility of the arts sector. They have now released the survey report and the executive summary: https://www.tetaumatatoiaiwi.org.nz/covid-19/ The survey will be […]

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  • Coronavirus Rocks China’s Book Business in the First Quarter of 2020

    Posted on 6 May 2020

    In Feature Articles by Porter Anderson A first assessment of the Chinese book market, January to March, shows physical bookstore sales plunging 60-plus percent, online sales stumbling at the outset, printing stalled, the supply chain disrupted.   Shuttered storefronts in a shopping mall in Wuhan on the first day of its lockdown, January 23. Image […]

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  • Australia Reads receives $100K in federal funding, announces Reading Hour date change

    Posted on 5 May 2020

    The Australia Reads campaign has received $100,000 in funding from the federal government, it announced today.   Chair of the Australia Reads committee, Hachette ANZ CEO Louise Sherwin-Stark, said the government support would ‘significantly amplify our campaign on the benefits of reading and motivate all Australians to get back into a regular reading habit’. The […]

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  • Peter Wells Short Fiction contest 2020 – First prize for aspiring young writer Heidi Rogers

    Posted on 5 May 2020

    4 May 2020 Waikato writing student, Heidi Rogers, received first prize at this year’s Peter Wells Short Fiction Contest. Master of Professional Writing student, Heidi Rogers, has claimed first prize in this year’s Peter Wells Short Fiction Contest. Rogers won the competition for her piece Finding Our Way Around Violets– a story about a couple who is aware […]

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  • Announcement of the 2020 Pulitzer Prize Winners

    Posted on 5 May 2020

    News  May 4, 2020   The 2020 Pulitzer Prize winners in 15 Journalism and seven Book, Drama and Music categories were announced on Monday, May 4 at 3 p.m. Eastern. A Special Citation was also awarded. The Board also announces the election of its two co-chairs: Stephen Engelberg, Editor-in-Chief, ProPublica, and Aminda Marqués Gonzalez, President, Publisher and Executive […]

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  • Canadian Publishers on Court Setback: ‘Copyright Framework Is Broken’

    Posted on 5 May 2020

    May 4, 2020 A new court decision condemns certain ‘fair use’ guidelines by the educational sector, but doesn’t support the mandate to pay the fees set by Canada’s copyright board. At York University in Toronto. Image – iStockphoto: Peter Spiro By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson ‘Illegal and Unfair Copying on a Systematic Basis’ After […]

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  • Kiwi book publishers struggling to regroup after seeing sales obliterated in April

    Posted on 4 May 2020

    4 May 2020                  The Publishers Association of New Zealand/Te Rau o Tākupu (PANZ) says members are reporting zero or minimal sales for the month of the Level 4 lockdown.   The risk to the book industry is at its greatest since the Global Financial Crisis. “Publishers, along […]

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  • A NEW $30,000 LITERARY PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION – NOW OPEN

    Posted on 1 May 2020

    With prize money of $30,000, the new ARA Historical Novel Prize gives Australian and New Zealand historical novelists the chance to be recognised in a class of their own, with the most significant prize purse for any genre-based prize in Australasia.   The ARA Historical Novel Prize has been made possible by the generosity of […]

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  • OCKHAM NEW ZEALAND BOOK AWARDS WINNERS CEREMONY – LIVE ONLINE MAY 12, 6pm!

    Posted on 1 May 2020

    The 2020 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards winners’ ceremony will take place LIVE, on line from 6pm, Tuesday 12 May.   The New Zealand Society of Authors and other NZ literary organisations, publishers, and finalists will all co-host the Ockhams Event on Facebook.  SEE YOU THERE!   The ceremony will also be streamed via the […]

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  • JOIN THE VERB COMMUNITY – new platform launches

    Posted on 1 May 2020

    A MESSAGE FROM VERB WELLINGTON It’s a strange writing to you all in this new world we are all in. We hope this finds you well, safe and in good spirits. Even while the creative landscape as we know it has radically shifted, none of our ambition has. In fact, I’d say that the current […]

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