Events:
NZSA Northland Branch Meeting
Zoom meeting
Thursday 9 February 2023, at 6.30 pm
Secretary, Trish Fenton, will send the Zoom link with the agenda.
POETS@ONEONESIX
Thursday 16 February 2023, 5.00 pm – 7.30 pm, 116 Bank Street, Whangārei
Congratulations!
NZSA Northland Open Short Story Competition 2022
First Place – Lost on the River by Eddie Williams
Second Place – The Shimmer Lines by Anissa Ljanta
Third Place – Loess/Loss by Karen Phillips
To read these prize-winning stories, go to: https://northlandauthors.co.nz
Congratulations to NZSA Northland member Jenny Purchase on the publication of Transit Lounge!
A MASTERCLASS IN SHORT FICTION, cryptic fable, social commentary, subverted myth, potted history, black comedy, magic realism, cautionary tale, psychological drama, flight of fancy, slice of life, redemption story — it’s all here. Transit Lounge draws the reader in from page one, introducing them to a variety of detailed, intimate settings in which a cast of eclectic characters face challenging circumstances against a background of historic instability, upheaval, and change.
Author Availability, Review Copies, Media Packs: Jenny is available for interviews and events and to supply review copies and media packs. Please contact her on
021 425 163 or jen-b@xtra.co.nz
For more information about the author please see her bio on the NZ Society of Authors website: https://authors.org.nz/author/j-c-l-purchase
Book Orders: Transit Lounge may be ordered from Lasavia Publishing. Contact rowan@lasaviapublishing.com or visit the website: https://lasaviapublishing.com/
Transit Lounge is also available from all good online book retailers: The Book Depository, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Wheelers, Booktopia, Bookstore etc.
OPPORTUNITIES:
Kia ora,
We are inviting applications for the Fulbright-Creative New Zealand Pacific Writer’s Residency. One award valued at NZ$33,300 is granted each year to an established New Zealand writer of Pacific heritage to carry out work on a creative writing project exploring Pacific identity, culture or history at the Center for Pacific Islands Studies at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa in Honolulu for either the Fall (August-November) or Spring (February-May) semester of the US academic year.
Previous grantees have included writers Coco Solid, Sarona Aiono-Iosefa and Marisa Maepu, poets Tusiata Avia, Karlo Mila and Daren Kamali, filmmakers Sima Urale and Toa Fraser, and playwright Victor Rodger.
The deadline for 2023 applications is 5pm Friday 17 March.
The eligibility criteria and the application form are available here.
Ngā mihi,
Dr Gaja Kolodziej
Communications, Events & Alumni Advisor
New short-fiction prize:
The Welkin Writing Prize is free to enter and is open to all forms of narrative prose, be that flash fiction, short-short, vignette, haibun, hermit crab, prose poem or work that sits outside such labels. As long as it’s less than 400 words and has some form of narrative thread, then anything goes (pretty much).
The Welkin Writing Prize
For narrative prose up to 400 words
Free to enter
Deadline = 28 February 2023
1st place = £150 + annual membership of Writers’ HQ worth £190
2nd place = £75 + AdHoc Fiction book voucher worth £25
3rd place = £50 + a copy of Deflection by Roberta Beary
Additional £25 prizes for best non-placed: (1) writer with a disability or chronic health condition, (2) LGBTQ+ writer, (3) working class writer, (4) writer whose first (or home) language isn’t English, (5) carer for an adult dependent, (6) new writer (for a writer with five or fewer publishing credits), (7) historical fiction, (8) humorous prose, (9) speculative fiction
Full details and entry form can be found at: https://www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-prize
Whangarei Library Flash Fiction Group (WL3.30Flash) are funding the workshop led by Kathy Derrick and Jac Jenkins from sales of their collection, You Might Want to Read This, published in November 2021.
Numbers are limited. Please contact: WhangareiLibrary3.30Flash@gmail.com to enrol.
BOTANICAL SHORT STORY:
For all those botanical people out there – are you up for the challenge??
Call for Submissions: Botanical Short Stories
Submissions are open for Botanical Short Stories, an anthology of contemporary writing about plants and flowers which will be published by The History Press in spring 2024. The book’s editor is Emma Timpany (NZSA) and illustrations are by RHS Gold medal winning botanical illustrator Sarah Jane Humphrey
From tokens of love to neolithic burial gifts, bridal bouquets to seasonal wreaths, healing potions to artistic masterpieces, flowers and plants have a multitude of meanings and a long and complex relationship with all our lives. They are the stuff of myth, of gods’ metamorphoses and the emblems of kings and saints. They brighten our homes and bring joy to our senses, delight us in gardens and countryside, convey our emotions, symbolise new birth and human mortality, and yet are often overlooked as an inspiration for writers of fiction.
Looking for stories of approximately 3,000 to 5,000 words by new, emerging and established writers. If you have a story that falls outside this range but which you feel is suitable for the anthology, please contact botanicalshortstories@gmail.com before submitting.
More details and full submission guidelines are available on the Botanical Short Stories website. Submissions close 12pm, 10 Feb 2023.
Early Notice:
Our NZSA Northland AGM will be held in Whangārei on Saturday 11 March 2023, following the Flash Fiction workshop. The meeting will be held at The Butter Factory and via Zoom, starting at 2:00pm. Nibbles will be served.
Nominations are called for the positions of:
- Chairperson
- Deputy Chairperson
- Secretary
- Treasurer
- Newsletter Coordinator
- Publicity Officer
- Events Coordinator
- Committee members
Justine is not standing for re-election to the position of Chairperson. Fortunately, we do have an excellent candidate who is prepared to take on the role if no one else comes forward.
We have candidates for other committee roles but invite anyone to put their name forward if they are interested in an office-holder role, or would like to be a committee member.
Sharing NZSA Northland Branch news and events:
– Share with us on our Facebook Pages for NZSA Northland
Facebook page (public) and Facebook group (private).
– Submit your news, including events, awards, recent publications and book launches to: northlandauthors[at]gmail.com for inclusion in our monthly newsletter.
Free for financial members. 50 cents per word for non-members.
Check for further updates on: https://northlandauthors.co.nz/
Northland Branch 