New Zealand Young Writers Festival 

By Aaron Hawkins | Posted:

The first ever New Zealand Young Writers Festival was held in Dunedin in June, and the critically acclaimed weekend has laid great foundations for this exciting new annual event. 

Hundreds of people attended 19 free events, at the NZYWF produced by the Dunedin Fringe Arts Trust, including workshops, discussions, new plays and a spelling bee. A delegation from the Australian National Young Writers Festival came over especially, and we're currently working with them on building a network for young Dunedin writers across the Tasman. One of their Co-Directors said that it felt great to feel part of an international writing community while she was here. This is what the UNESCO City of Literature really offers us, access to a network of likeminded locales.

Highlights included an hour with Guy Williams on writing comedy, Hera Lindsay Bird's divine Erasures Poetry workshops, and Richard Meros' On The Conditions & Possibilities of Hillary Clinton Take Me As Her Young Lover. There were great tales from the trenches, from journalists, archivists and historians, particularly working on the recent Maori history tome Tangata Whenua. And we'll never forget the first Great Young Writers Spelling Bee Championship. For those who missed it, there's plenty of filmed evidence on the festival's YouTube channel, and discussions are already underway for future festivals.