News

• 2020 Prime Minister’s Awards for Literary Achievement: winners announced

  10-11-2020

  Congratulations ANZL member Jenny Bornholdt who has been honoured with the 2020 Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement ­in Poetry alongside Sir Tīmoti Kāretu (Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement ­in Non-fiction) and Tessa Duder (Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement ­in Fiction). The Prime Minister’s Awards for Literary Achievement were established in 2003. Every year New Zealanders are invited to nominate their choice of a New Zealand writer who has made a significant contribution to New Zealand literature in the genres of non-fiction, poetry and fiction. This year each recipient will be awarded $60,000 in recognition of their outstanding contribution to New Zealand literature. For the Creative New Zealand full announcement see here.
  

• 2020 Sunday Star Times Short Story Awards – open for entries

  29-10-2020

  Entries for the 2020 Sunday Star-Times short story competiton are open. Now in their 37th 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 including Eleanor Catton, Owen Marshall, Sarah Laing, Norman Bilbrough, Barbara Anderson, Linda Olsson, Sarah Quigley and André Ngāpō.

  In association with Penguin Random House New Zealand and the Michael King Writers’ Centre, it’s your chance to WIN up to $5000, critical feedback and have your winning story published in the Sunday Star-Times and on Stuff – it’s time to get writing.

  The divisions will be judged by novelist, playwright and short story writer Carl Nixon and Amy McDaid.

  • Open division – 3000-word limit

  • Under age 25 division – 2000-word limit.

  Entries close Sunday, December 6, 2020, at midnight. Winners will be announced in January, and the winning entries published in the Sunday Star-Times and on Stuff.co.nz over summer.

• NZSA / Auckland Museum Research Grant + Residency Now Open for Applications

  18-10-2020

  Applications are now open for a $5000 research grant and residency for writers wishing to work on a project that will utilise the resources of the Auckland Museum Library as part of the manuscript’s development. The grant also offers the recipient the opportunity to take up four weeks funded accommodation at the Michael King Writers’ Centre in Devonport. This grant + residency is offered by the Auckland War Memorial Museum and NZ Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc) and can be used for fiction and non-fiction projects.

  The NZSA / Auckland Museum Research Grant + Residency comprises:

  • A Grant of $5,000 supplemented by the option of 4 weeks funded accommodation at the Michael King Writers’ Centre in Devonport.
  • The Auckland Museum Library reading room and copying facilities for grant recipients as a working space as wellas guided access to the library’s collections of manuscripts, pictures and publications.
  • The recipient also receives a one year membership to the Auckland Museum Institute. Benefits of being a member include a free guided highlights tour of the Museum and special member pricing at the AM shop and for selected Museum events.

  The deadline for applications is 4pm, 31 January 2021. The successful recipient will be announced in early 2021. Application form and terms & conditions NZSA / Auckland Museum Research Grants

• NZSA Lilian Ida Smith Award – applications open

  14-10-2020

  The NZSA Lilian Ida Smith Award 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’. (Applicants are expected to be either in the early stages of their writing career, or someone whose opportunities to fulfill their potential have been limited.) The award runs every three years. Applications for this year close 31 October 2020. For more information and guidelines on how to apply see here.

• NEW! NZSA Laura Solomon Cuba Press Prize – open for applications

  09-10-2020

  The NZSA Laura Solomon Cuba Press Prize is an exciting new prize, which celebrates the life and work of the writer Laura Solomon. This prize will be judged within the criteria set by Laura Solomon, for new writing with a ‘unique and original vision’. Both published and unpublished writers are invited to enter completed manuscripts written across genres ie fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, drama or children’s writing. The prize is open to writers holding New Zealand citizenship or who are permanent residents of New Zealand.

  Applications are open from 9 October 2020 to 31 January 2021

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

• Applications open for 2021 Grimshaw Sargeson Fellowship

  25-09-2020

  Calling all writers – The Grimshaw Sargeson Fellowship is now open for applications. The fellowship offers published New Zealand writers the opportunity to write full-time, free from financial pressure with an annual stipend of $20,000 and using the Sargeson Centre adjacent to the University of Auckland. The fellowship usually runs from April to November. Any published New Zealand writer living either in New Zealand or overseas is eligible to apply for the fellowship.

  Applications close on Friday 16 October 2020, with the tenure due to begin in April 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.

• 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.