NZ Book Month was a non-profit initiative started in 2006, with the goal of increasing readership of
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...
books. It was a nationwide annual event held in September from 2006 to 2008, in October 2009, March from 2010 to 2013 and August 2014. Activities included speeches by local and international authors, literary and poetry readings, exhibitions, book launches, festivals, children's storytelling, blogging, quizzes, and the distribution of book vouchers. The event ended in 2015 because of a lack of funding.
The Six Pack
From 2006 to 2008, NZ Book Month ran a national competition calling for any New Zealand writer – published or unpublished – to submit their best piece of new writing (fiction, non-fiction, essay or poetry) for inclusion in ''The Six Pack''; a collectable book that saw the six best pieces of work put together in an annual anthology. Each winner also received $5,000. Five of the winning entries were chosen by a panel of judges and the sixth winner was chosen by New Zealand readers in an online poll. The Six Pack retailed for 6 and thousands of copies were distributed free to libraries and schools all over the country.
Winners
The 2006 winners were:
*
Brian Turner, poet.
*
Briar Grace-Smith
Briar Grace-Smith is a screenwriter, director, actor, and short story writer from New Zealand. She has worked as an actor and writer with the Maori theatre cooperative Te Ohu Whakaari and Maori theatre company He Ara Hou. Early plays ''Don't Ca ...
, playwright.
*
Kingi McKinnon.
* Philippa Swan, landscape artist and journalist.
* Henry Feltham.
* Phoebe Wright, high school student.
The 2007 winners were:
*Dave Armstrong, scriptwriter and 2008 writer in residence at
Victoria University of Wellington
Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Z ...
.
*
Charlotte Grimshaw, shortlisted for the 2008
Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award
__NOTOC__
The Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award—named in honour of Frank O'Connor, who devoted much of his work to the form—was an international literary award presented for the best short story collection. It was presented betwe ...
.
*
Jennifer Lane.
*
Faith Oxenbridge.
*
Tracey Slaughter, emerging novelist and poet.
*
Elizabeth Smither
Elizabeth Edwina Smither (born 15 September 1941) is a New Zealand poet and writer.
Life and career
Smither was born in New Plymouth, and worked there part-time as a librarian.
Her first collection of poetry, ''Here Come the Clouds'', was publi ...
, poet, novelist and former
Te Mata Estate Poet Laureate.
References
External links
Official New Zealand Book Month website as archived on 19 January 2019
{{DEFAULTSORT:Book Month
New Zealand literary awards
2006 establishments in New Zealand
2015 disestablishments in New Zealand
Literary festivals in New Zealand