• Wes Lee shortlisted for The Keats-Shelley Poetry Prize 2025 – 2026

    Posted on 11 March 2026

    NZSA member, Wes Lee, has been shortlisted for The Keats-Shelley Poetry Prize 2025 – 2026, in London. The Keats-Shelley Prizes (£4000 prize pool) were established in 1998 by The Keats-Shelley Memorial Association in London. This year’s judges for poetry are Professor Deryn Rees-Jones and Will Kemp. The theme of The Keats-Shelley Poetry Prize was chosen to mark the […]

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  • NZPS 2026 INTERNATIONAL POETRY COMPETITION – closes March 15

    Posted on 9 March 2026

    𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 (𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟏𝟓)!! 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: Open Open Junior (17 years & under) Haiku Haiku Junior (17 years & under) 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞: Anna Jackson – Open Isla Huia – Open Junior Graham Bates – Haiku Sandra Simpson – Haiku Junior All winners […]

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  • Iran: PEN International calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities that undermine international peace and security law

    Posted on 6 March 2026

    Iran 2026 Statement 6 March Written By PEN International    ‘We are witnessing grave challenges to world peace and security, with political leaders utterly failing to uphold international law and actively dismantling the rules-based order. The international community has a crucial responsibility to uphold international law and support UN institutions in resolving disputes between states through diplomacy, not […]

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  • PEN International: International Women’s Day 2026 – Take Action for Valeryja Kaściuhova (Belarus)

    Posted on 6 March 2026

    Writer, editor and political scientist Valeryja Kaściuhova is serving a 10-year prison sentence in Homel, Belarus. Arrested in June 2021, she was convicted in March 2023 on politically motivated charges commonly used to silence independent voices and is reportedly in need of medical care. PEN International is deeply concerned by Kaściuhova’s continued imprisonment and urges […]

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  • Aotearoa NZ Children’s Book Week

    Posted on 6 March 2026

    Read NZ Announces Dates! Saturday 15th August – Friday 21st August Children’s authors and illustrators: More info and please register your interest and regional availability to be involved in bookshops or libraries This year, Read NZ Te Pou Muramura are leading the first ever Aotearoa NZ Children’s Book Week Sat 15 of August – Friday the 21st of August […]

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  • The Allen & Unwin Crime Fiction Prize

    Posted on 5 March 2026

    Is there a manuscript in your bottom drawer just waiting to be finished? Have you got a burning idea for the perfect crime … on paper? The winner will be awarded a publishing contract with an advance against royalties of $AUD 25,000. The prize will be open to all unpublished full-length manuscripts in the crime or […]

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  • Storylines announces 2026 award finalists

    Posted on 5 March 2026

    Congratulations to the shortlisted entrants: Storylines Tom Fitzgibbon Award for a children’s novel manuscript. Timothy Bowden Heather McQuillan Philippa Werry Kelly Buchanan-Johns Tessa Duder Award shortlist: Megan Welch Sarah Pratt Amy Martin Joy Cowley Award finalists: Kati Vincent Sarah Harrison Barbara Uini Annabel Wilson & Regan Kupu Stokes Storylines Margaret Mahy National Awards Day Winners will be […]

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  • Finalists – Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2026

    Posted on 4 March 2026

    WEDNESDAY 4 MARCH 2026   Jacinda Ardern’s memoir a finalist in the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2026 Oxford fellow and former New Zealand Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern’s first book, A Different Kind of Power, has made the shortlist of the 2026 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. Ardern’s memoir is one of four finalists […]

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  • Panel talk — Disruption, trends and transformation: Libraries and archives leading change

    Posted on 3 March 2026

    Wednesday 25 March 2026, 5:30pm to 7:15pm Taiwhanga Kauhau — Auditorium, (lower ground) National Library Wellington. Entrance on Aitken Street. Free  Add to my calendar Hear from six international leaders about how best practice in the library and archive sectors is constantly shapeshifting, and how transformative programming and community engagement is changing the face of […]

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  • New Voices of Aotearoa 2026 — nominations open!

    Posted on 2 March 2026

      Nominations are open for for New Voices of Aotearoa 2026! Launched just last year, this important initiative aims to showcase up-and-coming, must-read, brilliantly talented authors of Aotearoa New Zealand adult fiction and non-fiction. The New Voices of Aotearoa campaign has become a feature and a highlight for the Coalition, working hard to deliver on […]

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  • WIR Waikato is David Coventry

    Posted on 27 February 2026

    Writing to his own beat: David Coventry to take up residence at University of Waikato For David Coventry, writing is an experience to be savoured. The award-winning author is the University of Waikato’s new Kaipukahu Writer in Residence and will spend 2026 on campus working on a new collection of short stories. Dr Coventry’s short-story project is set in and around 1981, during the Springbok […]

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  • Libby Kirkby-McLeod is new Coalition for Books manager

    Posted on 25 February 2026

    From Coalition for Books Chair, Melanie-Laville-Moore Owing to an unexpected bereavement, our wonderful CFB manager Stacey Clair has needed to return to Australia. Alongside the day-to-day business, including Kete Books, during her tenure Stacey oversaw many new initiatives, most notably the introduction of the brilliant New Voices campaign, and the successful launch of Mahi Tahi, the book sector […]

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