News

  • Calling all NZ literary innovators!

    25-09-2020

    The Mātātuhi Foundation has been established by the Auckland Writers Festival to support the development of New Zealand’s literary landscape. The Mātātuhi Foundation wants to seed fund innovative projects that help NZ writers increase their reach and engagement with NZ readers. Each year, the Foundation aims to distribute up to
    10, one-off grants of between $2000 – $5000. The next funding round closes 31 October 2020. Complete your expression of interest form online.

  • Coalition for Books: Kete is here!

    25-09-2020

    Love reading? You’ll find plenty to love here, all in one kete. Kete gathers reviews and news about books, authors, events and awards in Aotearoa. Kete forages weekly so you don’t have to. Stay up-to-date with all the latest releases. Read new book reviews every week. Find your next book event or festival. Lose yourself in the books of Aotearoa and find a new favourite. Check out the news from the world of books. Sign up for regular news and updates.

    Kete is an independent website devoted to helping readers discover the latest books in Aotearoa. It’s brought to you by the Coalition for Books, a collaborative organisation that develops initiatives and creates opportunities for the authors, publishers, booksellers and festivals that make up Aotearoa’s literary eco-system.

  • University of Waikato Writer in Residence: applications open

    22-09-2020

    The University of Waikato invites applications for the position of Writer in Residence, tenable for twelve months from January. The salary is $53,300 jointly funded by the University of Waikato and Creative NZ, the Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa. The position is open to poets, novelists, short story writers, dramatists, and writers of serious non-fiction. Appointment will be made on the basis of a proven track record of publications of high quality, and on the strength of the applicant’s Residency proposal.
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    The Writer is expected to live in Hamilton during the tenure of the award. There are no teaching or lecturing duties attached to the award, the sole purpose of which is to give the Writer the freedom to write. It is expected the Writer will participate in the cultural life of the University.Enquiries can be made to Assoc. Prof. Sarah Shieff, email: sarah.shieff@waikato.ac.nz
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    Closing date: 23 October 2020 (NZ time) Vacancy number: 400199
    For more information and to apply, visit www.jobs.waikato.ac.nz

  • Randell Cottage Writing Fellowship – applications open

    14-09-2020

    Applications for the 2021 CNZ Randell Cottage Writing Fellowship are now open. The six-month Fellowship provides rent-free accommodation in one of Wellington’s oldest colonial buildings. The Fellowship comes with a stipend of $27,000 and is advertised subject to confirmation of funding from CNZ. Trust chair Sarah Dennis says the change of dates – now 1 April to 30 September 2021 – is prompted by border closures and the disruption to air travel caused by Covid-19.

    The Randell Cottage Creative NZ Writer in Residence is selected by a Trust-appointed committee to work on an approved project. The deadline for applications is Friday, 6 November 2020. The successful applicant will be announced in December.

    Application forms and further information and http://www.randellcottage.co.nz/residency/

  • NZSA Peter & Dianne Beatson Fellowship 2020 recipient announced

    11-09-2020

    ANZL member Siobhan Harvey is the recipient of the NZSA Peter & Dianne Beatson Fellowship 2020. Auckland-based writer, academic and arts advocate, Siobhan will use the fellowship to support the writing of her latest poetry project.

    The New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa (PEN NZ Inc)  congratulates Siobhan Harvey along with the five outstanding applicants who were shortlisted:- Maxine Alterio, Trevor Bentley, Barbara Else, Lee Murray, Vivienne Plumb, Elizabeth Smither.

    This annual award is made possible with thanks to the generosity of the Beatson’s. In establishing this fellowship, they have given NZ authors a valuable opportunity to be economically secure while they bring a project to completion.  It’s a commitment and affirmation for New Zealand writers.

    In 2019 the fellowship was awarded to Frankie McMillan who used the time to work towards the completion of a novella set in 1950s New Zealand. Previous recipients have included Frankie McMillan, Sue Wooton, Jillian Sullivan, Tina Makereti, Michael Harlow, Emma Neale, Mandy Hager, Carl Nixon, Glenn Colquhoun, Sue McCauley and Marilyn Duckworth.

    The NZSA Peter & Dianne Beatson Fellowship is an annual award open to any NZSA members working on a new fiction, non-fiction, poetry or drama project. Find out more about the fellowship.

  • Michael King Writers Centre 2021 Writers in Residence Programme – open for applications

    31-08-2020

    The MKWC is offering 17 supported residencies in 2021, with financial support from Creative New Zealand. Recipients can look forward to peaceful accommodation, the use of a writing studio, a supporting stipend and the opportunity to focus on a specific writing project. Applicants must be a New Zealand citizen or have New Zealand permanent residency.

    There are two schedules-one for emerging writers, and one for established writers.

    Applications close on Monday 21st September, 2020.

    MKWC actively seeks and encourages all writers-diverse in age, gender identity, race, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, ethnicity, and perspective-to apply.

    There are specific residencies for Māori and Pasifika writers, but please note that this does not exclude Māori and Pasifika writers from applying for the other residencies.

    Click here to download Application Criteria, Terms & Conditions

    Click here to download Residency Recipient Conditions.

  • Elizabeth Knox to receive an honorary doctorate

    12-08-2020

    Acclaimed New Zealand writer Elizabeth Knox is to receive an honorary Doctor of Literature from Te Herenga Waka–Victoria University of Wellington.

    “Elizabeth Knox is an inspiration to young people and emerging writers and is helping grow the next generation of literary talent in Aotearoa New Zealand,” says Chancellor Neil Paviour-Smith. “This honorary doctorate acknowledges her enormous contribution to literature.”

    The honorary degree will be awarded during graduation week in September.

    Knox, who was made a Companion of the Order of New Zealand Merit for her services to literature in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours, is one of New Zealand’s most successful writers. She has achieved national and international acclaim for her powerfully imagined novels for adults and younger readers. Her best-known work, The Vintner’s Luck, won the Deutz medal for Fiction and the Readers’ Choice and Booksellers’ Choice awards in the 1999 Montana New Zealand Book Awards. In 2001 it was awarded the inaugural Tasmania Pacific Region Prize. It has since been published in 10 languages. The author of 17 works to date, her most recent book is The Absolute Book, published by Victoria University Press. She was awarded the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement in Fiction in 2019.

  • Lilian Ida Smith Award 2020 – applications open

    07-08-2020

    The Lilian Ida Smith Award is offered by the New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa PEN NZ Inc (NZSA). The award is only open to financial members of the NZ Society of Authors who are aged 35 years or over. It provides the successful applicant with an award of $3000 to assist them towards completion of a specific project.

    The Lilian Ida Smith Award was initiated when Lilian Ida Smith, a music teacher of Whanganui who had a keen interest in the arts, left part of her legacy to the NZ Society of Authors to ‘assist people aged 35yrs and over to embark upon or further a literary career’.
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    The $3,000 award is to assist writers of non-fiction, fiction, poetry, comic / graphic novels and drama for adults and children. Applicants need to be working towards completion of a specific project, and members of the NZSA. Applicants are expected to be either in the early stages of their writing career, or to be someone for whom opportunities to fulfill their potential have been limited.

    Deadline for applications is 31 October 2020.     For more information or to apply follow this link.

  • Judges Announced as Submissions Open for 2021 Ockham NZ Book Awards

    04-08-2020

    Booksellers, academics, lauded writers, an acclaimed designer and an award-winning journalist are among the 12 people selected to judge the 2021 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, which open for entries today.

    The Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction, which offers $56,000 to the winner, will be judged by reviewer and bookseller Kiran Dass; books editor and award-winning feature writer Paul Little; and writer Claire Finlayson, former Programme Director of the Dunedin Writers & Readers Festival. They will be joined by an international judge, whose identity will be revealed in March 2021, to decide the ultimate winner from their shortlist of four.

    Finalists and the ultimate winner in the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry will be selected by teacher and 2018 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards finalist Briar Wood (Te Hikutu ki Hokianga, Ngāpuhi Nui); teacher and award-winning poet and novelist Anne Kennedy; and professor of English at the University of Otago Jacob Edmond.

    The General Non-Fiction Award will be judged by editor and associate professor of English at the University of Waikato Sarah Shieff; filmmaker and lecturer in Māori history at Victoria University Wellington Arini Loader (Ngāti Raukawa, Te Whānau-a-Apanui, Ngāti Whakaue); and Dunedin bookseller Michael Yeomans.

    The Illustrated Non-Fiction Award will be judged by Dale Cousens (Ngāruahine) of the National Library of New Zealand; bookseller and former publisher Brian Phillips; and writer, multi-award-winning graphic designer and magazine art director Jenny Nicholls.

    The New Zealand Book Awards Trust is now inviting entries for the 2021 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. Titles with release dates between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2020 will be considered for the 2021 awards.

    Submissions for titles published between 1 January 2020 and 31 August 2020 are now open and will close 5pm on Monday 14 September 2020. Online entries for titles published between 1 September 2020 and 31 December 2020 open on Tuesday 15 September and close 5pm on Tuesday 27 October 2020.

    For books in the second tranche, page proofs will be accepted if books publishing in November and December have not been printed at the time of the online submissions closing. In these cases, finished books must arrive with the Awards Administrator, Ockham New Zealand Book Awards c/- Auckland Writers Festival, Suite 9A Wellesley Centre, 44-52 Wellesley Street, Auckland 1010 no later than no later than 5pm on Thursday 26 November.

    Click here for eligibility criteria and a Call for Entries information pack, then enter online here.

    The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are supported by Ockham Residential, Creative New Zealand, Jann Medlicott and the Acorn Foundation, Mary and Peter Biggs, MitoQ and the Auckland Writers Festival, and are administered by the Festival on behalf of the New Zealand Book Awards Trust.

  • 2021 Gifkins Prize Open for Entries

    24-07-2020

    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 published and unpublished authors who hold New Zealand citizenship or who are permanent residents of New Zealand. The winner will receive a publication contract for world rights from Text, and an advance of NZ $10,000.

    Submissions to the 2021 prize will close at midnight NZST on Saturday 31 October 2020. The shortlist will be announced in April 2021 and the winner in May 2021. The prize will be administered by the New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc). Entry forms and terms and conditions can be found on the NZSA website.

  • Paula Morris announced as the 2020/21 President of Honour for the NZSA

    15-07-2020

    This prestigious honour is bestowed on a senior writer and long-serving NZSA member in recognition of his or her contribution to writing and writers and the literary arts sector in New Zealand. The President of Honour delivers the annual NZSA Janet Frame Memorial Lecture – a free community event that each year looks at the current state of the literary and writing sectors.

    At this event, CLNZ will announce the 2020 Copyright Licensing NZ writers grants and awards, presented by CLNZ CE Paula Browning. The speakers will be introduced by 2019-2021 NZSA President, Mandy Hager.

    Wed, 2 September 2020, 6:30 PM – 8:30 pm, The MacLaurin Chapel, 18 Princes Street, Auckland.

    For more information see here.

  • Book Launch: Shape of the Heart by Kevin Ireland

    02-06-2020

    Join in TONIGHT for the online launch of ANZL Fellow Kevin Ireland’s new collection Shape of the Heart (Quentin Wilson Publishing).

    One of New Zealand’s most prominent, well-loved and accessible poets Kevin Ireland’s words pop like seaweed pods, whether he is: honouring friendships — making sourdough bread — grinning at the weather gods — wondering why he slept in — marvelling at the miracle of a shower — giving advice to writers — analysing chance remarks and philosophical paradoxes — celebrating the benefits of a failing memory — circumnavigating childhood, ageing and death … or just having fun, which he does refreshingly often. Shape of the Heart sparkles with poems that take us from brain to heart, sometimes detouring to unexpected places (such as the belly button), but most often in a direct and delightful line.

    Launch details: 6pm, 2 June via zoom  and view on youtube.

  • 2020 Queen’s Birthday Honours Announced

    01-06-2020

    Congratulations to all recipients of the Queen’s Birthday Honours, in particular ANZL members: Elizabeth Knox CNZM for services to literature; Brian Turner ONZM for services to literature and poetry; Cilla McQueen MNZM for services as a poet; Tusiata Avia MNZM for services to poetry and the arts. You can read the full list of honours here.

  • The Prime Minister’s Awards for Literary Achievement – Nominations are open

    26-05-2020

    Creative New Zealand is calling for nominations for three prestigious annual awards, each recognising the valued contributions of some of our country’s most talented artists: The Prime Minister’s Awards for Literary Achievement, Ngā Taonga Toi a Te Waka Toi (Te Waka Toi Awards), and the Arts Pasifika Awards.

    Those nominated must be New Zealand citizens or permanent residents, and each of the awards have further specific eligibility criteria. See our website for further information on who’s eligible, how to nominate someone and how award recipients are chosen.

    Nominations need to be submitted via email by the following dates (listed in order of closing date):

  • Landfall Essay Competition 2020 – send in your entries

    25-05-2020

    The annual Landfall Essay competition is open for unpublished essays on any subject, up to 4000 words. The competition is judged by the editor of Landfall and the winner announced and published in the November issue. The winner also receives $3000 and a year’s subscription to Landfall. Deadline for the 2020 Landfall Essay Competition is 31 July 2020. For entry details see here.

'...poetry makes intimate everything that it touches.' - Michael Harlow

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