News

• 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 http://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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• Entries now open for 2022 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards

  04-08-2021

  The New Zealand Book Awards Trust is now inviting submissions for the 2022 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. These prestigious awards promote excellence in, and provide recognition of, the best books for adult readers published annually in New Zealand. Titles with release dates between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2021 will be considered for the 2022 awards.

  There are two submission dates. Publishers are asked to observe the guidelines for sending entries in two tranches, which are in place for ease of sending to judges. 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.

  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 5pm on Thursday 25 November.

  Judges for the 2022 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards will be revealed in the coming weeks and their 40-strong longlist will be announced on 27 January 2022. The shortlist will be announced on 2 March 2022 and the 2022 awards ceremony will be held in Auckland in mid-May, in collaboration with the Auckland Writers Festival.

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

  All entries must be submitted online at www.nzbookawards.nz and fees paid by credit card via the online submission form.

  For any further enquiries, please email Awards Administrator Chris Chan at awards@nzbookawards.org.nz.

  Important Links: How to Enter and Entry Form

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• $5K Surrey-Newsroom Writers Residency Open

  28-06-2021

  The 2021 Surrey Hotel-Newsroom writers residency provides a rare chance to sit down in privacy and comfort to work on your latest masterpiece – with an added bonus of some cash. The first-place winner will receive a week’s free accommodation at the singular Surrey Hotel in Grey Lynn, Auckland, with cooked breakfast thrown in plus the Surrey’s famous Sunday roast. They will also receive $4000. There are two runners-up. Second place will receive five nights accommodation a the Surrey, and $500; third place will receive four nights accommodation, and $500. Nominations for the 2021 Surrey Hotel Writer’s Residency Award in association with Newsroom close on Friday, July 10.

  Email stephen11@xtra.co.nz with the subject line in screaming caps THE SURREY HOTEL RESIDENCY IN ASSOCIATION WITH NEWSROOM. Send in a brief covering letter outlining the project you have in mind, and it wouldn’t hurt to maybe attach a few pages of the work in progress. Established authors and complete nobodies will be assessed on the merit of their application so long as they have had something published somewhere. This is for authors only; no screenplay writers, playwrights, or whatever online thing. It’s all about a book.

  A shortlist for the 2021 prize will be published on around about Wednesday July 15, and the winners will be announced a few days later, live on Radio New Zealand by good old Jesse Mulligan, a long-time supporter of the Surrey residency. More info here.

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• Verb Wellington Writers Residency – apply now

  19-06-2021

  Verb Wellington and Katherine Mansfield House & Garden, with support from the Mātātuhi Foundation, have come together to offer an opportunity to spend time in one of the world’s most vibrant literary cities to focus on your writing. Professor John Ormiston ONZM is a patron of this residency in memory of his wife, the late Professor Diana (Dinny) Lennon ONZM (1949-2018).
  When: The residency period is Sunday 17 October (arrive this day to settle in) until Monday 8 November (check out of accommodation).
  What: You will receive a $3,000NZD stipend to cover food and other incidental expenses over your three-week stay. From Monday to Friday during each of the three weeks, you will have use of a small, private office space with access to Wifi and basic kitchen facilities at Katherine Mansfield House & Garden. You will have warm, sunny, self-catering Airbnb accommodation located close to the Botanic Gardens and within walking distance to Katherine Mansfield House & Garden and the CBD.
  Required:  two public events while in Wellington for the residency (one event may be within the Verb Writers Festival which is 3 – 7 November) and to attend one welcome dinner and farewell event.
  Travel: Aotearoa authors will need to cover the cost of domestic travel to Wellington.
  Application requirements: a 10-page sample of work with 1.5 line spaces and in 12-point font. You will also need to attach a maximum 2-page CV.
  Application fee: $10NZD per application to cover the costs of administration for the residency.

  Deadlines: applications open on Friday 11 June and close Friday 9 July. The successful applicant will be notified by Monday 26 July. Full details here

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• IIML Writer in Residence: Money! Room! Write!

  18-06-2021

  Applications are now open for the IIML 2022  Writer in Residence. This is a position for a creative writer in any genre with a publishing track record, though it’s not necessary to have an extensive list of publications or productions.

  The successful applicant will need to be in Wellington for the residency.

  The value of the award is $56,000, with an office at the IIML. Apply before 30 September.

  The current Writer in Residence is novelist Pip Adam, and former residents include Briar Grace-Smith, Anne Kennedy, Dylan Horrocks, Jenny Bornholdt and Victor Rodger.

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• Voices From Burma: Poets of No Name

  15-06-2021

  From New York on June 14th Asia Society, in association with the Iowa International Writing Program, hosted an evening of invited readings in support of the Burmese writers killed or arrested following the military coup earlier this year.

  New Zealand’s David Howard read alongside US Poet Laureates Joy Harjo and Robert Hass, Nobel Prize winner Elfriede Jelinek, Mayyu Ali, Esther Dischereit, Rafael Jesús González, Brenda Hillman, Khet Mar, Christopher Merrill, Meridel Rubenstein, David St. John, Preti Taneja, Chaw Ei Thein, Ko Ko Thett, and Kinga Tóth.

  Moderated by Kenneth Wong, the participants were asked ‘to say a few words about the plight of the poets in this conflict and the power of poetry, and then to read a poem or two by these Poets of No Name — a moniker chosen to safeguard their identity.’

  The event is online here. David’s reading begins at 1:28:40

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• Applications open for NZSA Peter & Dianne Beatson Fellowship 2021

  14-06-2021

  Calling for applications from writers of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and drama with a literary track record, who are currently working on a new project.  This annual $10,000 Fellowship is awarded each year to a mid-career or senior writer to work on a project that shows a high level of literary merit and national significance and is donated by Peter Beatson.

  In 2020 the fellowship was awarded to Auckland writer Siobhan Harvey, who used the fellowship to allow time to work on her poetry collection Ghosts which has now been published by Otago University Press. In addition, her essay, ‘Living in the Haunted House of the Past’ engaged with the themes of the poetry collection and was awarded 3rd place in the Landfall Essay Competition. Previous recipients have also included: Emma Neale, Michael Harlow, Tina Makereti, Jillian  Sullivan, Sue Wootton, and Frankie McMillan.

  Deadline for applications: midnight Friday 20 August 2021 To apply for the fellowship you need to be a member of the NZ Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc). Membership is open to all developing and established writers. NZSA provides: literary sector news and opportunities, a mentorship programme, manuscript assessment, manuscript services, contract advice, advocacy and representation for writers, information on the publishing industry, grants and other opportunities, along with affiliation to international PEN.

  For further information contact Claire Hill 027 274 9373 claireh@nzauthors.org.nz
  To find out more and to access application forms

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• CLNZ/NZSA Writers’ Award open for entries

  03-06-2021

  The Writers’ Award is proudly brought to you by the New Zealand Society of Authors (NZSA) and Copyright Licensing New Zealand (CLNZ). The award was established to provide financial support for writers wishing to devote time to a specific project, and to cover reasonable research expenses relating to it. Writers with work in a broad range of non-fiction genres, including educational works, can apply. Applicants must be New Zealand citizens or permanent residents. It is the clear intention of the CLNZ / NZSA Writers’ Award that a book will be published as a result of winning the award.
  Dates for 2021: The CLNZ / NZSA Writers’ Award will open for applications on Thursday 3 June 2021, and will close at 4pm Friday 2 July.
  First: Read the CLNZ / NZSA Writers’ Award Guidelines
  Next: Consider reading this ‘Award Alchemy’ article from our NZ Author Magazine (pdf) or listening to Tracey Farr in the NZSA Live! podcast episode ‘Panel Discussion on the Business of Being a Writer’ (starting minute 1.50) on putting together the best application you can.
  Then: Fill in the CLNZ / NZSA Writers’ Award Application Form

  For more information see the NZSA website.

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• Call for judges of the 2022 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards

  02-06-2021

  The organisers of the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are calling for expressions of interest from readers with a deep knowledge of New Zealand literature who would like to be considered as judges of the 2022 awards.

  The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards offer four principal prizes each year: the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction; the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry; the Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction; and the General Non-Fiction Award. The judging of each of the four subject categories is undertaken by a panel of three judges with the relevant expertise and experience in that subject. One of the three will be appointed as convenor. The judges begin their reading in mid-September 2021.

  Expressions of interest forms and background information on the judging process and judges’ responsibilities can be downloaded from the New Zealand Book Awards Trust website or by emailing manager@nzbookawards.org.nz. Applications must be submitted by 5pm on Wednesday 30 June.

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• CLNZ/NZSA Research Grants 2021 – applications open

  19-05-2021

  Applications are now open for CLNZ/NZSA Research Grants 2021. There are four cash grants of $5,000 to help you research your latest fiction or non-fiction writing project. All NZ writers welcome to apply. Follow this link for more information and/or to apply.

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• Sargeson Short Story Prize open for entries

  06-04-2021

  First offered in 2019, the Sargeson Prize is New Zealand’s richest short story prize, sponsored by the University of Waikato. Named for celebrated New Zealand writer Frank Sargeson, the Prize was conceived by writer Catherine Chidgey, who also lectures in Writing Studies at the University. Entries open on 1 April for the 2021 Sargeson Prize and close at 11.59pm (NZST) on 30 June 2021. There is no entry fee, and entries are limited to one per writer, per division. The first prize in the Open Division is $6000, with $1000 for second place and $500 for third prize.

  The Sargeson Prize also encourages the next generation of writing talent with its Secondary Schools Division for students aged between 16 and 18. The first prize winner in this category will receive $500 and a one-week summer residency at the University of Waikato, including accommodation, meals and mentoring.

  Acclaimed New Zealand writer Patricia Grace is the chief judge in this year’s Sargeson Prize..

  This year, winning stories in both the Open and Secondary Schools category will be published online on reading room, the literary arm of Newsroom, managed by journalist and author Steve Braunias.

  For more information on the competition, see the University of Waikato website here.

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• 2021 Ockham New Zealand Book Award Finalists Announced!

  03-03-2021

  

  Congratulations to all the 2021 Ockham shortlisters, in particular ANZL members: Pip Adam, Catherine Chidgey, Brannavan Gnanalingam, Tusiata Avia and Vincent O’Sullivan.

  The 2021 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards shortlisted titles are:

  Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction

  Bug Week & Other Stories by Airini Beautrais (Victoria University Press)

  Nothing to See by Pip Adam (Victoria University Press)

  Remote Sympathy by Catherine Chidgey (Victoria University Press)

  Sprigs by Brannavan Gnanalingam (Lawrence & Gibson)

  Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry

  Funkhaus by Hinemoana Baker (Victoria University Press)

  Magnolia 木蘭 by Nina Mingya Powles (Seraph Press)

  National Anthem by Mohamed Hassan (Dead Bird Books)

  The Savage Coloniser Book by Tusiata Avia (Victoria University Press)

  Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction

  An Exquisite Legacy: The Life and Work of New Zealand Naturalist G.V. Hudson by George Gibbs (Potton & Burton)

  Hiakai: Modern Māori Cuisine by Monique Fiso (Godwit, Penguin Random House)

  Marti Friedlander: Portraits of the Artists by Leonard Bell (Auckland University Press)

  Nature — Stilled by Jane Ussher (Te Papa Press)

  General Non-Fiction Award

  Specimen: Personal Essays by Madison Hamill (Victoria University Press)

  Te Hāhi Mihinare |The Māori Anglican Church by Hirini Kaa (Bridget Williams Books)

  The Dark is Light Enough: Ralph Hotere a Biographical Portrait by Vincent O’Sullivan (Penguin, Penguin Random House)

  This Pākehā Life: An Unsettled Memoir by Alison Jones (Bridget Williams Books)

  The winners of the 2021 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, including the four MitoQ Best First Book award winners, will be announced at a ceremony on 12 May as a public event during the 2021 Auckland Writers Festival.

  The General Non-Fiction, Poetry and Illustrated Non-Fiction category winners will each receive a $10,000 prize. The winners of the four MitoQ Best First Book awards will each receive $2,500.

  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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• Dame Fiona Kidman recieves inaugural Irish Writing Fellowship

  22-02-2021

  One of New Zealand’s most accomplished authors and supporters of literature, Dame Fiona Kidman DNZM OBE, is the inaugural recipient of the University of Otago Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies (CISS) Irish Writers Fellowship.

  Initiated in 2020, the writing fellowships are aimed at facilitating and encouraging literary and cultural exchange between Ireland, Scotland and New Zealand.

  The Fellowship is supported by a partnership between CISS and the Caselberg Trust. During their tenure Fellows receive a stipend, office space on Otago’s Dunedin campus, use of a car and accommodation at Caselberg Cottage on the Otago Peninsula.

  Writers of Irish or Scottish birth, residence or affiliation can be selected as Fellows. Holders are invited to address and mentor students in Otago’s Irish and Scottish Studies and Creative Writing programmes and will participate in public events. The Fellowships alternate between Scottish- and Irish-affiliated writers.