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2025 Te Tauihu Short Story Awards Shortlist
We are delighted to announce shortlisted stories for English entries in the 2025 awards. The decision of our te reo Māori judge Nuki Takao will be given at our prize-giving event (details below). Please note it is a condition of entry that authors’ names must remain confidential. Your story will be disqualified if you publicise your success before […]
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Te Pae Tawhiti Distant Horizon Awards
Calling All New Zealand Speculative Authors. Have you published a speculative work in 2025? Then this is your time to shine! For the first time ever, Aotearoa has a nationally judged book award dedicated solely to speculative fiction — and we want to see your work in the spotlight. All genres welcome — from science […]
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Show-Stopping Celebration of Women Artists in Aotearoa Judged Best-Designed Book
PANZ DESIGN AWARDS 2025 A show-stopping celebration of women and their art has been deemed the supreme winner at the 2025 PANZ Book Design Awards. Sight Lines: Women and Art in Aotearoa by Kirsty Baker (Auckland University Press), designed by Katie Kerr (Studio Katie Kerr) was awarded the Gerard Reid Award for Best Book […]
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Kiwi kids love to read and books featuring animals are hugely popular
What do dragons, phoenixes, Tūī, sheep, kunekune pigs, Kiwi and cats have in common? They all feature in new books by local authors to appear on the 2025 Whitcoulls Kids’ Top 50 Books List, announced today, Friday 19 September 2025, at 5:00am. Compiled from thousands of votes by the nation’s younger readers, the Kids’ Top […]
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The 2025 Graeme Lay Short Story Competition
The Auckland Branch of the New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa is delighted to bring you our annual short story competition, judged by esteemed writer Graeme Lay. Conditions of Entry This competition is open to any writer in or from Aotearoa. All entries must be original and not previously published or […]
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Ockham NZ Book Awards 2026 Judges’ Announcement
Journalists, award-winning writers, reviewers, academics, curators and booksellers are among the 12 experts announced today by the New Zealand Book Awards Trust Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa as the judges of the 2026 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. The $65,000 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction will be judged by novelist, short story writer and […]
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Robert Burns International Poetry Competition Applications Open
The Robert Burns Poetry Competition is a collaboration between the Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature, the Otago Scottish Heritage Council, the Dunedin Public Libraries Association, the Dunedin-Edinburgh Sister City Society and the Combined Clans & Societies Group Otago. Dunedin, in the South Island of New Zealand, has a familial link to Robert Burns in the […]
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CLNZ Contestable Fund Grants
In 2025, up to $75,000 is available to support strategic projects that demonstrate Aotearoa New Zealand publishing sector growth. The amount applicants apply for is up to them, with the number of successful recipients varying each year depending on the individual merits of the applications received. Successful projects had clearly defined and measurable project outcomes […]
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Applications for the CLNZ 2025 Contestable Fund Grants are now open
Copyright Licensing New Zealand (CLNZ) is excited to announce that applications are now open for the 2025 round of Contestable Fund Grants. We have $75,000 available to support strategic projects that demonstrate New Zealand publishing sector growth. The Contestable Fund Grants are made possible through the CLNZ Cultural Fund. Applications are invited for projects that have […]
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Applications Invited For 2026 Randell Cottage Writers Residency
Applications are now open for one of New Zealand’s top writing residencies: the 2026 Randell Cottage Writers Fellowship. The fellowship comprises a generous stipend, currently set in the order of $32,000, and six months’ rent-free accommodation in one of Wellington’s oldest heritage homes. The residency will run from July to December 2026. “We’re incredibly proud […]
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Programme for the 2025 Dunedin Readers & Writers Festival
Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa, We are thrilled to announce the much awaited Programme for the 2025 Dunedin Readers & Writers Festival is here! Our 2025 theme is Ahi Kā – keeping the home fires burning. This theme acknowledges the rich creative warmth of our city — Ōtepoti Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature […]
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Maurice Gee Celebration
CELEBRATING THE CHAMPION: Maurice Gee’s contribution to children’s literature Join us for a panel presentation focusing on the children’s writing of Maurice Gee, the celebrated New Zealand writer who died in June of this year, aged 93. Speakers: New Zealand’s Reading Ambassador Kate de Goldi, commentator and award-winning writer for children Claire Mabey, poet Anna […]
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