Competition: Make poetry from history — 40 years of homosexual law reform

By National Library of New Zealand | Posted: Monday Jul 27, 2026

To mark 40 years since the Homosexual Law Reform Bill passed through Parliament, National Library of New Zealand are partnering with Blackout Poetry Aotearoa to launch a special blackout poetry competition!

Using original newspaper articles from the Homosexual Law Reform era, you are invited to create a poem that responds to this pivotal moment in Aotearoa New Zealand's history.

Whether you'd like to explore this chapter of our history, reflect on the stories and perspectives of the time, or simply try a new creative practice, this competition is for you.

Blackout poetry transforms existing text into something entirely new by selecting words and obscuring the rest. The source material comes from Papers Past and includes newspaper articles and advertisements published during the heated public debates leading up to the law's reform in 1986.

• Open to everyone

• Entries close 21 August 2026

• Winners announced for National Poetry Day on 28 August 2026

Grab a marker, uncover hidden stories, and help bring history into the present.

Find out more and enter: Competition: Make poetry from history — 40 years of homosexual law reform | National Library of New Zealand