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Join us for this fabulous event featuring three of our brightest new authors, all of them major New Zealand prize winners -- Una Cruickshank, Olive Nuttall and Michelle Rahurahu. We are very lucky to have acclaimed author Pip Adam as our host.The rich diversity in current Aotearoa literature is very strongly in evidence in our younger writers. To celebrate and explore this in all its facets Wellington City Libraries in conjunction with The Coalition for Books and Te Herenga Waka University Press have brought together three of the brightest lights from the current scene to discuss their work and the state of Aotearoa writing now. This fabulous event promises to be unmissable for anyone interested in current writing in our own fair country.
Please note we expect this event to be extremely popular, and seating will be on a first come first served basis.
Meet the Panel:
Una Cruickshank was born in Tamaki Mākaurau Auckland and now lives in Pōneke Wellington. She has an MA in Creative Writing from the International Institute of Modern Letters at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington, as well as another, earlier MA. When not writing outstanding non-fiction essays, she frequents the libraries and cinemas of Wellington, works at an audiovisual archive, and has a love of karaoke. The Chthonic Cycle is her first book and won the E.H. McCormick Prize for Best First Book at the 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.
Olive Nuttall completed an MA in Creative Writing in 2022 at Te Pūtahu Tuhi Auaha o te Ao, the International Institute of Modern Letters at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington. Kitten (2024) is her first novel and win the 2022 Adam Foundation Prize.
Michelle Rahurahu (Ngaati Rahurahu, Ngaati Tahu-Ngaati Whaoa) is a writer who was raised by taangata turi. They were a co-editor of Te Rito o te Harakeke, an anthology of Maaori voices for Ihumaatao. They have a master’s in creative writing from the IIML, where they won the Modern Letters Fiction Prize. Michelle was shortlisted for the Michael Gifkins Prize for Poorhara, their first novel, published by Te Herenga Waka University Press. In 2025 Poorhara won the Hubert Church Prize for Best First Book at the Ockham NZ Book Awards.
Meet our Host:
Pip Adam is the author of four novels: Audition, Nothing to See, which was shortlisted for the Acorn Prize for Fiction, The New Animals, which won the Acorn Foundation Prize for Fiction, and I'm Working on a Building. Her short story collection Everything We Hoped For won the NZSA Hubert Church Best First Book Award for Fiction.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Newtown Community Centre - Te Whare Hapori o Ngā Puna Waiora, 7 Colombo St, Newtown, Wellington 6021, New Zealand, Wellington
