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NZ Poetry Conference & Festival – Auckland 2017

7/14/2017

NZ Poetry Conference & Festival – Auckland 2017
10 – 12 November
connection celebration creativity collaboration community

After big successes in Hawke’s Bay in 2013 and Wellington in 2015, the third NZ Poetry Conference is happening in Auckland this November. The aims are to celebrate NZ’s poetry and its writers, initiate korerorero, offer workshops and reading opportunities and collaborate with the wider arts-loving community. You’ll hear and see a line-up of this country’s acclaimed poets and Poets Laureate. You’ll witness poetry that’s happening here and now. A variety of festival events, mainly in the evenings, is designed to complement the conference.

Core organising team:
Anita Arlov, Shane Hollands, Bronwen Hughes, Simone Kaho, Rachael Naomi Heimann.
Supporters include:
NZ Society of Authors (PEN Inc) (Auckland branch)
The NZ Poetry Society
AUT Auckland University of Technology
To register please email akpoetryconf2017@gmail.com or write to the address below, including your name, address and phone number.
You will be emailed an invoice with payment details, and receive regular email updates.
Enrolments
NZ Society of Authors (PEN Inc) and/or NZ Poetry Society members*:
Earlybird to 30 Sept: $160.00
Non-members Earlybird to 30 Sept: $175.00.
Address for postal enrolments:
Auckland Poetry Conference and Festival 2017
P O Box 33-353
Takapuna
Auckland 0740
Please direct all inquiries to: akpoetryconf2017@gmail.com
Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/events/299460997085195/

Books, magic & literary stars

7/6/2017

Storylines Children’s Literature Trust of New Zealand
BOOKS, MAGIC AND LITERARY STARS
Free Auckland Event
18 August 2017

New Zealand’s popular children’s literature festival hosts evening event for adults and young adults

The Storylines Children’s Literature Trust’s first evening event this year will include magical entertainment from author Gareth Ward as ‘The Great Wardini’, a panel discussion with leading New Zealand authors on what makes an award-winning book, and a special guest appearance by Storylines' patron, Joy Cowley.

Storylines, in partnership with publishers Scholastic New Zealand and Walker Books Australia, will also launch two award-winning children’s books at this free special event in Auckland as part of its Storylines National Festival Story Tour 2017.

To be launched are the 2016 Storylines Joy Cowley picture book text winner, The Curious Ar-Chew, written by Wellington author Sarah Grundy, illustrated by Ali Teo and John O’Reilly, published by Scholastic, along with the winner of the 2016 Storylines Tessa Duder award for a young adult novel manuscript, The Traitor and the Thief by Havelock North author, bookseller and magician Gareth Ward, published by Walker Books Australia.

This free event for adults and young adults will be held on Friday 18th August at Rydges Hotel, Auckland, 6.00-8.15pm. RSVPs are essential, with names and numbers attending please, by Thursday 11th August to: childlitnz@storylines.org.nz

50 years celebration

6/29/2017

More on Tauranga Writers 50th birthday - see below for details.
The party went very well.
You can see snips of it here -
http://www.sunlive.co.nz/news/157298-tauranga-writers-celebrate-50-years.html

Congratulations Tauranga Writers Group

6/15/2017

50 years old
on 21 June

New Zealand’s longest-running self-help group for writers was born on June 21st 1967 by co-founders Edna Pithie and Verna Dowrick.
Congratulations Tauranga Writers Group
- here's wishing you another 50 successful years.

50 years is a significant achievement,
and current members are celebrating it in style
with a series of events throughout 2017.
See below for what's coming up next week, the official birthday week.

Wednesday 21st June at 6pm. The story of an event that rocked our nation over thirty years ago, will be retold at Mauao Performing Arts Centre. Fallout: the Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior records an iconic and unforgettable moment in the history of New Zealand-Aotearoa.
Scripted by novelist and playwright Bronwyn Elsmore, Fallout made its stage debut in Auckland, thirty years after Rainbow Warrior succumbed to deliberate sabotage authorised by the French government. Bronwyn was living in Tauranga then, a member of a local anti-nuclear group. At that time she was also a member – and later President – of Tauranga Writers, an emerging author establishing her present reputation as a fine writer of both fact and fiction.
Bronwyn will be introducing this reading of her play. Reading by Papamoa College drama students under the direction of Head of Drama Dylan Frewin. Fallout was chosen by Tauranga Writers to celebrate its 50th birthday.

In addition - Wednesday 21 June Bronwyn Elsmore ‘On writing the play’
A 2-hour workshop at Alzheimer’s Society House, 116 13th Avenue Tauranga, 2-4 pm. Bookings as below.

Tauranga Writers has also put together, with generous funding from TECT, a celebratory programme of Masterclasses in Creative Writing. Briefly, the programme for 19th to 23rd June is as follows:
Monday. ‘On writing for the screen’ with Anton Steel.
Tuesday. ‘On writing history’ with Trevor Bentley.
Thursday. ‘On writing for young readers’ with Sally Sutton.
Friday. ‘On collaborative writing – partnerships and productivity’ with Lee Murray
These 4 sessions will be in Room L21, Toi-Ohomai, Windermere Campus 10am-4pm. Details and bookings by email to taurangawritersnz@gmail.com or text 028 406 32 40.

Tauranga Writers President Jenny Argante says,
“Our mission statement is to get you started and to get you published. Our mantra is, ‘Writers write!” How better to do that than by learning from those who’ve already mastered their craft?’

www.taurangawriters.org.nz Tel 07 777 0212
https://www.Facebook.com/TaurangaWriters Txt 028 406 32 40
Email taurangawritersnz@gmail.com

World Book Day

4/18/2017

WORLD BOOK DAY
April 23

World Book Day is a celebration of authors, illustrators, and books. Most importantly, it’s a celebration of reading, designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and is marked in more than 100 countries around the world.

Help celebrate the day –

★ Share why you love to read by posting your thoughts on social media -
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Use the hashtag #WorldBookDay or #LovetoRead
★ Read a good book!

Flash Fiction Day NZ

4/13/2017

Flash Fiction Competition closing soon
April 30th, 2017

What is Flash Fiction?
In this case it refers to fiction stories stories no more than 300 words in length.
Two categories – Adult, Youth (18 and under)
There are cash prizes, worth up to $1000.
Further details at – https://nationalflash.org/competition/

Storylines children's literature festival 2017

1/13/2017

Storylines announces changes to 2017 Festival programme

In 2017, Storylines takes an exciting new approach to its long-established Storylines Festival by introducing the Storylines National Festival Story Tour. . . .
The Storylines National Festival Story Tour will continue to celebrate and promote writers and illustrators of New Zealand children’s literature, and will extend Storylines’ reach to more metropolitan and regional centres. . . .
The Storylines National Festival Story Tour will be linked to Storylines’ established events and programmes, creating a comprehensive annual calendar of children and young people’s literary events. . . .
The programme of events on tour in each region will include interactive presentations, storytelling and performances by local and touring writers and illustrators, together with evening workshops and panel discussions for adults. Programme content will be developed directly with the communities visited by Storylines to reflect cultural diversity and te reo Maori. It will also include a digital component to enable young people to engage with and participate in the tour online.
In addition, in October this year, Storylines hosts the Storylines Authors’ and Illustrators’ National Hui in Auckland for mid-career and established writers.
For further details and Storylines 2017 Calendar, see storylines.org.nz

Summer 2016

11/28/2016

I just picked these from my garden!

100 book reviews

10/11/2016

Woohoo! The 100th FlaxFlower book review
has been posted on the flaxflower page.

I started FlaxFlower in 2014 as a free service to fellow Kiwi authors, who often find it difficult to have their books reviewed. At the time I committed to do it for the year. Then thought, maybe another year… and that became a third.

The process – When I get a request to have a book reviewed, I find a reviewer appropriate to each book. I have a stable of lovely people who have volunteered their time and expertise, and their work is much appreciated by me. My rule is that reviewer and author do not know each other – essential for an unbiased opinion.

When the review comes in I let the author see it first and decide whether or not they want it published – a yes or no decision, with no negotiation or rewriting. FlaxFlower might be unique in this. My reason for giving them the choice is I want to help promote good books, and not to pull down any writer.

Please see the 100th, and past reviews of New Zealand books on the flaxflower page.

I done dood it

9/16/2016

It seemed I’d hardly pushed the publish button on my previous blog, below, when news popped up online that one of the members of the group mentioned in it had died – suddenly, unexpectedly.
I never met Rich in person, never expected to – he lives in USA. I knew him only through his contributions to member discussions – astute, informed, helpful, and often very funny. Bringing the comic relief to the list of comments is a role he took seriously – mrrwaah, as he might say. Or something similar, given we have different accents.
     Despite the fact we never met, I’ve felt his loss.
     It’s also made me think further about the global nature of society now.
I learned about this within an hour or two of it happening. When my great-grandparents came to this country, such news would have taken six months to work its way across the world.
     Now, within a few hours not only had the information spread but another friend had set up an online site for donations towards funeral expenses. What a great world, I thought, as I sat down at my keyboard.
As Rich would have said – “I done dood it.”