News

  • ANZL Fellow Keri Hulme has died

    29-12-2021

    Haere rā ANZL Fellow Keri Hulme: literary icon, first NZ Booker prize winner, generous, humble, fiercely independent, extraordinary. Our deepest condolences to Keri’s whānau and friends.

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  • The Peter Wells Short Fiction Contest – entries open

    20-12-2021

    Calling all New Zealand LGBTQIA+ writers! The Peter Wells Short Fiction Contest celebrates the life and work of Samesame but Different founder Peter Wells, a writer, filmmaker and historian. It gives New Zealand LGBTQIA+ writers the opportunity to prove their creative skills and to promote their work to a wider audience in a safe and supportive environment.

    Deadline for entries is 5 January 2022.

    First prize is $1000 for the winning story, $500 for the runner-up and $500 for the best writing by a promising young writer aged under 25. This makes it one of the leading short fiction competitions in Aotearoa. To read more about the awards or to read the winning entries from previous awards, see here.

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  • 2021 Prime Minister’s Awards for Literary Achievement – Winners Announced

    04-11-2021

    Huge congratualtions to the recipients of the 2021 Prime Minister’s Awards for Literary Achievement, in particular ANZL member and award-winning poet, fiction writer, screenplay editor and teacher, Anne Kennedy, who is the recipient of the Poetry category. For full details of this year’s awards see here.
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  • 2021 Ngaio Marsh Awards – Winners revealed

    03-11-2021

    Congratulations to ANZL member Brannavan Gnanalingam whose book Sprigs (Lawrence & Gibson) has won the 2021 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel. Brannavan receives a trophy and $1,000 courtesy of WORD Christchurch, long-time partner of the Ngaio Marsh Awards. See here for a full list of winners and details.

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  • The NZSA New Zealand Heritage Literary Awards 2021 – Winners Announced

    23-10-2021

    Congratulations to ANZL members Stephanie Johnson, winner of the 2021 NZSA Heritage Literary Award for Fiction, for her book Everything Changes (Vintage), and to runner up Carl Nixon for The Tally Stick (Vintage). Also Michael Harlow whose poem ‘The Holiness of Attention’ is joint winner for Poetry. Well deserved! For the full list of winners see here.
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  • NZSA Laura Solomon Cuba Press Prize 2022 Opens

    08-10-2021

    Award for fresh writing with a ‘unique and original vision’

    The NZSA Laura Solomon Cuba Press Prize celebrates the life and work of the writer Laura Solomon. As set by Laura, the main criteria for the exciting prize is for new writing with a ‘unique and original vision’. Published and unpublished writers are invited to enter with completed manuscripts written across all genres i.e. fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, drama or children’s writing.

    The NZSA Laura Solomon Cuba Press Prize will:

    -pave the way for new and exciting writing to make its way into the market place

    -award the winner an ‘advance’ of $1000 and a publishing contract supplied by The Cuba Press

    -pay for the book production and printing. The Cuba Press will edit, design, print, market, distribute and promote the book and e-book and pay standard author royalties

    The prize is open to writers holding New Zealand citizenship or who are permanent residents of New Zealand.

    Applications are open from 8 October 2021 to 31 January 2022

    The application form and  terms & conditions for the NZSA Laura Solomon Cuba Press Prize are available on the NZSA website, authors.org.nz

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  • The NZSA Heritage Literary Awards 2021 shortlists revealed

    30-09-2021

    Congratulations to all the NZSA Heritage Literary Awards shortlisters, in particular ANZL members with the following works:
    Fiction:
    Everything Changes by Stephanie Johnson (Vintage)
    The Talley Stick by Carl Nixon (Vintage)
    The Piano Girls by Elizabeth Smither (Quentin Wilson Publishing)
    Poetry:
    The Holiness of Attention by Michael Harlow

    The winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony to be held at St Michael and All Angels, 95-99 Oxford Terrace, Christchurch, 22 October at 7pm.

    For more information and full shortlist see here.

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  • Sunday Star Times Short Story Competition – entries open

    27-09-2021

    Entries for the 2021 Sunday Star-Times short story competition are open. Now in their 38th year, the awards are among New Zealand’s most prestigious and established writing prizes. The competition has helped launch the careers of many well-known writers.

    In association with the Milford Foundation and Penguin Random House the prize pool this year is $9000, with $6000 awarded to the overall open category winner. It’s also the chance for writers to receive critical feedback and have the winning story published in the Sunday Star-Times and on Stuff. Judges this year are acclaimed writers Patricia Grace, Rosetta Allan, Megan Dunn and Amy McDaid.

    There are four categories: Open division – 3000-word limit | Emerging Māori writer – 3000-word limit (open to any author who identifies as Māori and who does not already have a published book) | Emerging Pasifika writer – 3000-word limit (open to any author who identifies as Pasifika and who does not already have a published book) | Under age 25 division – 2000-word limit.

    Entries close October 22, 2021, at midnight. Winners will be announced in December, and a selection of the winning entries will be published in the Sunday Star-Times and on Stuff.

    To enter, upload your story here.

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  • CNZ Randell Cottage Writing Fellowship – applications open

    21-09-2021

    Applications are now open for the 2022 Creative New Zealand Randell Cottage Writing Fellowship. The fellowship comprises a stipend, currently set at $27,450, and six months’ rent-free accommodation in one of Wellington’s oldest colonial buildings: Randell Cottage at 14 St Mary Street in Thorndon.

    The Trust is particularly interested in hearing from mid-career and Māori and Pasifika writers.

    In 2022, in response to Covid 19 and the continued disruption of international travel, the Creative New Zealand RCWT residency will again run from 1 April to 30 September.

    The deadline for applications is Friday, 5 November 2021. The successful applicant will be announced in December.

    Application forms and further information can be found here.

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  • Ursula Bethell Residency – applications open

    21-09-2021

    The Ursula Bethell Residency is now open, providing a full-time opportunity for a published writer (or writers) to work on works of fiction, poetry, scriptwriting and creative non-fiction.

    • Full-time at 37.5 hours per week (1.0 FTE)
    • 6 or 12 month fixed-term opportunity
    • Salary of $66,000 (for 12 months, pro-rated for 6 months)

    This fixed term Residency has been created to foster New Zealand writing by providing a full-time opportunity for a writer, or writers, to work on an approved writing project in an academic environment. The position is jointly funded by the University of Canterbury and Creative New Zealand. This position may be given to a single writer for a period of up to twelve months or split between two writers for a period of up to six months each.

    The current Writers in Residence are Vana Manasiadis and Behrouz Boochani.

    The closing date is Sunday 10th October 2021 (midnight, NZ time)

    For more information about the Residency, please visit here.

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  • Calling all writers – applications open for the 2022 Grimshaw Sargeson Fellowship

    20-09-2021

    Throughout its 35-year history, this prestigious national literary award has offered writers the chance to focus on
    their craft full-time, while working in the historic Sargeson Centre and receiving a $20,000 stipend provided to
    the Fellow/Fellows. Any published New Zealand writer living either in New Zealand or overseas is eligible to apply for the fellowship.

    Applications close on 15 October 2021, with the tenure due to start on 1 February 2022 and last until 30
    September 2021. Further information on the Fellowship is available here.

    Any queries can be directed to Elizabeth Bennie at elizabeth.bennie@grimshaw.co.nz or on +64 9 375 2393. Learn more about Murray and Lane’s work during the fellowship here.

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  • Commonwealth Short Story Prize – entries open

    01-09-2021

    Writers, we want you!
    Submissions for the 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞 open on 𝟏 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏.
    We are looking for the best piece of unpublished short fiction. The winning writer will receive £5000.
    The Prize is free to enter and is open to all citizens living in Commonwealth countries.
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  • Michael King Writers’ Centre 2022 Writers in Residence – applications open!

    30-08-2021

    Are you an emerging, mid-career or established writer? Applications are now open for the Michael King Writers’ Centre 2022 Writers in Residence Programme. Applications close Monday 27 September. For more info and application forms, visit ow.ly/XHmc50G0qXj

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  • HNSA 2021 Virtual Conference

    30-08-2021

    Early Bird Registration is open for the @historicalnovelsocietyaustralasia HNSA 2021 Virtual Conference in October. With everything from panels, bootcamps, workshops and interactive chat salons, HNSA 2021 will celebrate historical fiction over not one but two weekends in October. Recorded sessions will remain accessible to registrants for three months after the event.

    As the Conference is being hosted virtually for the very first time, HNSA has created its most extensive conference program to date featuring Guest of Honour, Geraldine Brooks. Special international guests include Kate Quinn, Ben Kane, Elizabeth Chadwick, (Richard Zimler,) and agent, Kevan Lyon (and Laurie Blum Guest) together with over 80 ANZ authors including Kate Forsyth, Kayte Nunn, Rosalie Hamm, Deborah Challinor, Steven Carroll and Pip Williams. Our keynote speaker Julie Janson will address our theme of Recovery-Restoring, Reconciling and Re-imaging Lost Histories.

    Check out the program and book now: https://hnsa.org.au/2021-hnsa-conference/

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  • Announcing the 2022 Ockham NZ Book Awards Judges

    25-08-2021

    Internationally acclaimed authors, long-time reviewers, award-winning photographers and a respected former publisher are among the 12 experts selected to judge the 2022 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.

    The $60,000 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction will be judged by Otago Daily Times journalist and books editor Rob Kidd; Booksellers Aotearoa’s programme coordinator and avid reader Gemma Browne; and award-winning writer and freelance oral historian/researcher Kelly Ana Morey (Ngāti Kurī, Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri). They will be joined by an international writer in deciding the ultimate winner from their shortlist of four.

    Judging the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry will be author, poet, reviewer and teacher Saradha Koirala; internationally published and award-winning poet, playwright, short story writer and novelist Apirana Taylor (Te Whānau ā Apanui, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Ruanui and Te Āti Awa; and writer, editor and bookseller Jane Arthur.

    The General Non-Fiction Award will be judged by poet and non-fiction author, book reviewer and blogger Nicholas Reid, award-winning journalist and photographer Aaron Smale (Ngāti Porou); and poet, historian, former diplomat and Fulbright alumna Leilani Tamu.

    The Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction will be judged by museum curator Chanel Clarke (Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Porou, Waikato Tainui); photographer, author and urbanist Patrick Reynolds; and former publisher and co-founder of Godwit Press Jane Connor.

    New Zealand Book Awards Trust trustee Paula Morris notes that this year’s panels were drawn, in part, from the first-ever open call for judges.

    “Our books deserve consideration by informed and avid readers,” she says. “This stellar group of judges include a diversity of experience, expertise, location and point of view.”

    The New Zealand Book Awards Trust is now inviting entries for the 2022 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards for titles with release dates between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2021.

    Submissions for titles published between 1 January 2021 and 31 August 2021 are now open and will close 5pm on Tuesday 14 September 2021. Online entries for titles published between 1 September 2021 and 31 December 2021 open on Wednesday 15 September and close 5pm on Wednesday 27 October 2021.

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

    The judges will advise their longlist of up to 10 books per category on 27 January 2022 and the 2022 shortlist of 16 books will be announced on 2 March. The winners will be celebrated at an awards event at the Auckland Writers Festival on 11 May 2022.

    The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are supported by Ockham Residential, Creative New Zealand, Jann Medlicott and the Acorn Foundation, Mary and Peter Biggs CNZM, MitoQ, Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand and the Auckland Writers Festival.

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'One of writing’s greatest magics is to allow us – to use Kiri Piahana-Wong’s phrase – to slide outside the trap of time.' - David Taylor

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