• Congratulations to our new Poet Laureate

    David Eggleton, New Zealand Poet Laureate 2019–2021 David Eggleton lives in Otepoti/Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand. He is a poet, writer and critic whose writing has appeared in a wide variety of New Zealand publications. As a poet he has presented his poems in many venues to all kinds of audiences. He began reciting his poetry […]

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  • New Association Manager for Booksellers NZ

    The Board of Booksellers NZ is delighted to announce the appointment of Dan Slevin to role of Association Manager, Booksellers NZ.  Dan has over 25 years experience working in all areas of the New Zealand media, having worked in live entertainment, arts, events and the motion picture industries. Dan is the former Marketing & Communications […]

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  • National Schools Poetry Award celebrates New Zealand’s poets of the future

    A year 13 student at Auckland’s Westlake Girls High School has won first place in the 2019 International Institute of Modern Letters’ (IIML) National Schools Poetry Award, with her poem ‘Mammalian’. Xiaole Zhan receives a prize of $500 and the opportunity to attend a poetry masterclass with poet Chris Tse and Starling editor Francis Cooke […]

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  • Celebrating the unifying power of poetry

    This year, Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day takes place on Friday 23 August; the same day that New Zealand’s new Poet Laureate is announced. Again, our annual celebration of poetry has broken all records, with more than 150 events and competitions scheduled to take place nationwide.  Expect #NZPoetryDay to trend on Twitter and people to […]

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  • New Zealand’s national writer-residency organisation announces its 2020 Writers in Residence Programme

    The Michael King Writers Centre is pleased to announce that next year’s programme of residencies at the historic Signalman’s House on Takarunga Mt Victoria in Devonport, Auckland, is now open for applications. Writers awarded a residency can look forward to peaceful accommodation, the use of a writing studio, a generous stipend and the opportunity to […]

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  • Ashton Wylie 2019 Book and Unpublished Manuscript Awards

    MEDIA RELEASE Provocative Book Encouraging Behaviour Change to Save Our Planet Wins Major Award Auckland professor of psychology Niki Harré has won this year’s $10,000 Ashton Wylie Mind Body Spirit Book Award for The Infinite Game, a work that teaches us how to live and work co-operatively together, for the good of ourselves and the planet. Niki Harré […]

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  • 2019 Graeme Lay Short Story Competition

    The Graeme Lay Short Story Competition opens exclusively to NZSA members today. This year there is over $800 in prize money. Open to all NZSA members $500 first prize, $250 second prize, $100 third prize Opens 16 August, closes 4pm, Friday 4 October Brought to you by NZSA Auckland Branch Conditions of entry The competition […]

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  • Shortlist announced for inaugural Margaret Mahy Illustration Prize

    14 August 2019 Hachette NZ and the Margarey Mahy estate have announced the shortlist for the inaugural Margaret Mahy Illustration Prize for unpublished illustrators. The shortlisted illustrators are: Emily Walker Hilary Jean Tapper Jane McIntosh Lara Cash Sarah Greig. Unpublished New Zealand artists were invited to illustrate Mahy’s story ‘A Boy with Two Shadows’, as […]

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  • ‘No Friend but the Mountains’ wins National Biography Award

    Behrouz Boochani also won the Victorian Premier’s Award. He sent his manuscript from where he is interred on Manus Island, by WattsApp. He accepted the National Biography Prize, also by Wattsapp… The State Library of New South Wales (SLNSW) has announced No Friend but the Mountains by Behrouz Boochani (Picador) as the winner of this year’s $25,000 […]

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  • Creative New Zealand Pacific Arts Strategy 2018–2023 update: Celebrating the first year of delivery

    Ia manuia le fai o le faiva! Creative New Zealand’s Pacific Arts Strategy 2018–2023 was launched in September 2018 with the main purpose of directing and prioritising increased investment to support the development of Pacific Arts over five years. Developed in consultation with the Pacific Arts community and wider arts sector, the strategy’s  vision is of a […]

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  • Daughters of Toni: A Remembrance

    By: Zadie Smith August 7, 2019 for PEN America Author Zadie Smith reflects on the life and influence of Toni Morrison as part of PEN America’s tribute to the late Nobel laureate. I read Toni Morrison’s early novels very young, probably a little too young, when I was around ten years old. I couldn’t always […]

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  • The Coalition for Books: a dynamic new organisation for New Zealand literature announced

    A dynamic collaborative organisation has formed to make a tangible difference to the literary landscape of Aotearoa, supported by seed funding from Creative New Zealand (CNZ). During its initial year, the Coalition will be a collaborative venture beneath the umbrella of the Auckland Writers Festival. Other significant founding organisations include the Booksellers Association, the Society […]

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