Sector news
What's happening

OPPORTUNITIES

• Submissions are now open for the open for the 2027 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. Titles with release dates between 1 January 2026 and 31 December 2026 will be considered for the 2027 awards in four categories: fiction, poetry, general non-fiction, and illustrated non-fiction. Entries will close 15 October.
• Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal and Lecture Award is open for entries now, aiming to recognise  a person for their lifetime achievement and significant contribution to the broad field of children’s and young adult literature. Closes 30 November.
• The 2027 Turnbull Library Record submissions for articles are open. This is a journal in the humanities, published yearly. The deadline is COB 11 December 2026 with publication is scheduled for September 2027.

HAPPENING

• Bookshop day is Saturday 10 of October. Booksellers have everything a bookseller may need to celebrate including assets, ideas, and amazing totes with exclusive Coco Solid artwork (national)
• The Read NZ 2026 Pānui delivered by David Hill is happening on
  Tuesday 3 Nov at 6pm at the
  National Library of New Zealand in Wellington. RSVP here.
• In mighty Masterton, the first ever Little Yarns Festival of Reading, a mini children’s reading festival is on October 10–16 2026.
• The Frank Sargeson Memorial Lecture & Prize with award-winning poet Tusiata Avia is on at the Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts in Hamilton on 3 October.
• Storylines Children’s Writers and Illustrators’ National Hui is on 3-4 October
• Hawke’s Bay Readers and Writers Festival is happening on 9-11 October
• The Coalition for Books has put together a 2026 Election Manifesto titled, The Future is for Readers
• Note: KUPU Māori Writers Festival is postponed until October 2027, but the organisers are humming to deliver an awesome event next year.

AWARDS/APPOINTMENTS

• Congrats to all of the good-looking books that won awards at the 2026 PANZ Book Design Awards this month.
• Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki Board of Trustees has appointed Sam Elworthy
• The shortlist for the Surrey Hotel and Māpua writers residency award has been anounced

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