He pānui, he angitu | News and Opportunities
Stories that Sing—and Sting
Pretty Ugly by Kirsty Gunn (Otago University Press, 2024)
Posted: Wednesday Oct 21, 2026
Introducing the New Zealand designer lineup for iD Dunedin Fashion Week 2027
Taking to the runway 19–20 March. Tickets on sale now!
Posted: Wednesday Oct 21, 2026
Writer 2026 winners named
Congratulations to all the winners with a big congratulations to our very own Sarah Gallagher.
Posted: Wednesday Oct 21, 2026
Call for abstracts - International Association for the Study of Irish Literature (IASIL) Conference 2027
Children of the Nation, 28 June–2 July 2027, University of Otago - First round of submissions closes 31 October.
Posted: Tuesday Oct 20, 2026
Congratulations to Catherine Chidgey – internationally bestselling novelist and one of eight 2026 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureates
“Catherine Chidgey is without a doubt one of New Zealand’s most important living writers, with an extraordinary work eth...
Posted: Tuesday Oct 20, 2026
Mga Kuwento sa Pagitan (Stories In Between)
Filipino New Zealand designer and educator Denise Narciso kōrero about her journey from the Philippines to Aotearoa, cul...
Posted: Tuesday Oct 20, 2026
Inside the Scarfie Flats of Dunedin
Sarah Gallagher joins Emile Donovan
Posted: Tuesday Oct 20, 2026
Once Upon a Harbour: David Elliot and Fiona Farrell on an unusual literary collaboration
Once Upon a Harbour has just been released and is a one-of-a-kind collection of drawings and poems, made by two exemplar...
Posted: Thursday Oct 15, 2026
Characters navigating change, uncertainty, and "familiar shores"
Award-winning author and Otago Net Carbon Zero Programme Manager Craig Cliff has recently released a collection of short...
Posted: Thursday Oct 15, 2026
Poetry Night in Ōtepoti - 7 October 2026
Poet and Octagon Poetry Collective committee member, Nicola Thorstensen shares highlights from their latest poetry readi...
Posted: Wednesday Oct 14, 2026
'Welcome to a text where you are the main protagonist'
BWB Text No. 114 is here! 'Land, Race and the Settler Imagination' by Liana MacDonald is out now.
Posted: Wednesday Oct 14, 2026
Who gains from saving nature?
Submit your answer by midday (GMT) on Wednesday, 27 January 2027 for the chance to win $100,000, a book contract with Ca...
Posted: Wednesday Oct 14, 2026
Everything Totally Under Control
Bronwyn Wylie-Gibb reviews Maybe Baby by Emma Neale (Bateman Books, 2026)
Posted: Wednesday Oct 14, 2026
Call for judges of the 2027 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults
The organisers of the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults are calling for expressions of interest from...
Posted: Wednesday Oct 14, 2026
Poetry Box October challenge: Once Upon a Time . . . poems
Write a poem that begins: Once upon a time . . . Deadline 30 October 2026.
Posted: Tuesday Oct 13, 2026
Meet Aotearoa's new queen of crime fiction
Molly Crighton is author of bestselling crime novel set in Dunedin, The Body and the Blood. She talks to fellow crime wr...
Posted: Tuesday Oct 13, 2026
Call for expressions of interest - Art+Science 2027: Immunity
Ngā Aho Hauora | Centre for Medical Humanities is gathering interest for Art+Science 2027, themed around immunity.
Posted: Tuesday Oct 13, 2026
Spending Labour Day weekend in Central Otago?
Check out MindJam 2026, a series of free talks with Otago academics - held at Lakes District Museum in Arrowtown, with s...
Posted: Monday Oct 12, 2026
A lifetime of stories deserves to be celebrated
If you know someone whose lifetime contribution deserves recognition, nominate them for the 2027 Storylines Margaret Mah...
Posted: Monday Oct 12, 2026
Call for submissions: Bremer Netzresidenz 2026/27
Deadline: 30 November 2026
Posted: Monday Oct 12, 2026
Creativity and wellbeing focus of symposium
Artsenta will celebrate its 40th anniversary with a symposium on creativity and wellbeing during Mental Health Awareness...
Posted: Monday Oct 12, 2026
"A masterclass in storytelling." – Theatreview
Nominated for 10 awards at the Nelson and Dunedin Fringe Festivals, Bones is an acclaimed one-man play co-created by Jul...
Posted: Friday Oct 09, 2026
Did you catch this great conversation with Dr Moira Fortin on OAR FM's Super City?
Moira talks about how she landed in Ōtepoti, a little about her doctoral research and of course about the beautiful play...
Posted: Friday Oct 09, 2026
Actor Callout!
Proudly Asian Theatre is bringing Fresh Off The Page to Ōtepoti Dunedin for the first time EVER..!
Posted: Thursday Oct 08, 2026
Today on Write Spot - Donalds S Murray
Scottish Writer Donalds S Murray reflects on his time in Dunedin for the 2026 Scottish Fellowship with the Centre for Ir...
Posted: Wednesday Oct 07, 2026
Writing up a Storm – Build Your Writer’s Toolkit
Whether you’re already a writer or just starting your creative journey, the library has plenty of books to help you deve...
Posted: Wednesday Oct 07, 2026
At The Bay Book Events
Three great events coming up in Wellington (10 Oct and 14 Oct) and Auckland (4 Nov)
Posted: Monday Oct 05, 2026
Love Your Library Week
There’s a lot to celebrate about our libraries! During Love Your Library Week, more than 200 people shared what they lov...
Posted: Monday Oct 05, 2026
FactBeast has just released the first 2026 Country Challenge episode!
Hosted by Ajax Banstola, one of New Zealand’s youngest multicultural presenters, the Country Challenge gives young Kiwi ...
Posted: Monday Oct 05, 2026
Interview: David Elliot and Fiona Farrell talk about Once Upon a Harbour
An extraordinary landmark gift book of funny stories and amazing illustrations from internationally acclaimed illustrato...
Posted: Monday Oct 05, 2026
TAHI Ōtepoti - "Not Yet Named: Nicola #5 2/3/83"
In 2019, performer and academic Moira Fortin Cornejo was part of the inaugral TAHI line up with "The Motorway". She retu...
Posted: Monday Oct 05, 2026
The Ink Pod: Episode 1. Why Romance?
Join Colette (romance author and owner of The Ink Pot bookstore) and Cori (avid romance fan) for a weekly dive into the ...
Posted: Monday Oct 05, 2026
TAHI Ōtepoti - A Raptor in Dunedin
A collaboration between a poet, choreographer, dancer, and a composer, this show mines the depths of grief, faith, and g...
Posted: Friday Oct 02, 2026
NZ Young Writers Festival
Explore with Eliana Gray both the use of ritual in our creative practice and the concept of ritual.
Posted: Friday Oct 02, 2026
'Motion Sickness' - launch events around Aotearoa
Michelle Elvy's new poetry collection is on the road and touring in various cities Oct-Nov.
Posted: Friday Oct 02, 2026
The South Island is bucking the trend when it comes to speaking the Tuvaluan language
The proportion of Tuvalu people who speak te 'Gana Tuvalu has dropped in every region of New Zealand, except the souther...
Posted: Thursday Oct 01, 2026
Wendy’s wondering if you will be able to book your tickets before they all sell out!
On until 4 October 2026
Posted: Thursday Oct 01, 2026
Poetry Shelf Poet Laureate Postcards
The Remembered Forest by Robert Sullivan
Posted: Thursday Oct 01, 2026
Book Launch: 'Motion Sickness' by Michelle Elvy (At the Bay | I te Kokoru)
You're invited the Ōtautahi launch of Motion Sickness by Michelle Elvy. This event will feature poetry readings from Jam...
Posted: Thursday Oct 01, 2026
They’ve made it!
The cohort of Young Writers have arrived and head off this morning for their special wānaka over the next few days leadi...
Posted: Wednesday Sep 30, 2026
Meet the NZYW Tuakana
Introducing our two Young Writer Tuakana, Eric Soakai and Rauhina Kohuwai-Banks, who help to shape the kaupapa and offer...
Posted: Wednesday Sep 30, 2026
NZ Tuvalu Language Week
Over 3,000 kilometres away from the islands of Tuvalu, a community in Oamaru is keeping a piece of home alive in New Zea...
Posted: Wednesday Sep 30, 2026
Very limited spaces left in the zine and writing workshop with the team behind The Art Lens NZ!
Play with prompts, pieces, ideas and forms to create something of your own.
Posted: Tuesday Sep 29, 2026
Keen to learn more about Slam Poetry?
This fast-paced and playful poetry workshop will get you reflecting deeply and thinking on your feet in an inclusive spa...
Posted: Tuesday Sep 29, 2026
Liminal Spaces: Mikaela Nyman & Ellie Field at Percy Thomson Gallery, Stratford
2024 University of Otago Robert Burns Fellow, Mikaela Nyman has an exhibition!
Posted: Tuesday Sep 29, 2026
Neverland on stage at the Playhouse
Watch out! There are pirates, Neverland natives and a giant crocodile at The Playhouse in the first week of the school h...
Posted: Tuesday Sep 29, 2026
Bedtime stories follow the Southern Sunset from Ōtepoti to Jakarta
Ōtepoti City of Literature was proud to recently join our friends at Nipaluna (Hobart) City of Literature and fellow UNE...
Posted: Monday Sep 28, 2026
Happy 1st Birthday!
Today is the first anniversary of the opening of the South Dunedin Community Library on the 27 September 2025
Posted: Sunday Sep 27, 2026
2026 PANZ Book Design Awards winners
Congratulations to all the 2026 PANZ Book Design Awards winners.
Posted: Friday Sep 25, 2026
Applications for the 2027 Ireland Wilson Sargeson Fellowships are now open.
Applications close Monday 19 October.
Posted: Friday Sep 25, 2026
Caselberg Trust International Poetry Prize 2026 - winners announced
The competition is now in its sixteenth year, and this year attracted 192 poems from New Zealand, Australia, Germany, In...
Posted: Thursday Sep 24, 2026
Otago congratulates 2027 Arts Fellows
The University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka will host a full contingent of Arts Fellows in 2027.
Posted: Thursday Sep 24, 2026
Apply for a one-month residency in Ljubljana, Slovenia!
Ljubljana City of Literature is offering two one-month residencies in March and November 2027, to writers from UNESCO Ci...
Posted: Thursday Sep 24, 2026
Today on Write Spot - Eliana Gray
Dunedin Writer Eliana Grey gives us an overview of the writers' workshop series being held at the Dunedin Athenaeum & Me...
Posted: Thursday Sep 24, 2026
Introducing this year’s Robert Lord Writers Cottage Young Writer in Residence, Josiah Morgan!
Josiah (Kāi Tahu / Ngāti Maniapoto) is a poet, actor, drama teacher, performance artist, facilitator, reviewer, editor a...
Posted: Thursday Sep 24, 2026
TAHI Ōtepoti - Not Yet Named: Nicola#5 2/3/83
The latest instalment of Richard Huber’s new series of plays is making its debut at TAHI Ōtepoti. Directed-designed by J...
Posted: Thursday Sep 24, 2026
Playmarket - Plays for the Young 2026
Congratulations to the shortlisted entries for Plays for the Young 2026!
Posted: Thursday Sep 24, 2026
The 2026 Katherine Mansfield Sparkling Prose
Warmest congratulations to longlisted and shortlisted writers
Posted: Wednesday Sep 23, 2026