Landfall Tauraka 250 Symposium - Friday 17 October 2025

By Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka | University of Otago | Posted: Monday Aug 11, 2025

Call for Submissions - 200-word abstract and short bio by 5pm, 22 August 2025

Aotearoa’s longest running arts and literary journal, Landfall Tauraka will celebrate its milestone 250th issue in October 2025. To mark the occasion, we’re inviting scholarly and creative contributions from around the motu to reflect on the journal’s heritage and present impact, and with an eye to its future. The symposium will be held in Ōtepoti Dunedin, Landfall Tauraka’s current home, and will coincide with the launch of the 250th issue (16 October), an exhibition at the University of Otago library, and the 2025 Dunedin Writers and Readers Festival (17–19 October).

We invite contributions to this one-day, in-person symposium from a broad range of disciplines and backgrounds. Papers or presentations can follow an academic format or be experimental or creative in expression; ideas for panel presentations are also welcome. Potential areas of consideration include, but are not limited to:

• Charles Brasch’s legacy

• Editorial tastes and trends

• Publishing, print, and literary journals in Aotearoa

• Ideas of nation building and representation of identities

• Representation of the arts in Aotearoa

• The Landfall Tauraka essay and the growth of creative non-fiction

• The place of Landfall Tauraka in the wider literary ecosystem

• Reflections and analyses of the past, present, and future of Landfall Tauraka

Symposium details:

Friday 17 October 2025, Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka | University of Otago

Please submit a 200-word abstract and short bio by 5pm, 22 August 2025, to lynley.edmeades@otago.ac.nz

There will be no fee to attend the symposium.

This symposium is supported by funding gratefully received by Te Kete Aronui, the Division of Humanities, Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka.