About Us

'In my family words were revered as instruments of magic' - Janet Frame

The New Zealand Book Council is a not-for-profit organisation that presents a range of programmes promoting a love of books and reading. We run a comprehensive website and publish a quarterly magazine Booknotes.

Our membership base, funding from Creative New Zealand and other grants and donations make it possible for us to deliver our activities and programmes to schools and the reading public. The more our membership base grows, the better we can deliver our programmes to people throughout the country.

Book Council Programmes:

Meet the Author
Featuring both local and international writers, Meet the Author events expose audiences throughout New Zealand to writers they’ve long admired, and others they may not have read yet. Meet the Author events have included writers such as: Alexander McCall Smith, Kate Camp, Margaret Atwood, Lois Daish, Jung Chang, Jenny Pattrick, Robert Dessaix, Fiona Kidman, Alice Sebold, Norman Bilbrough, Amitav Ghosh, Michael Palin, Bill Bryson, Ian Rankin, Karin Slaughter, Lloyd Jones, Richard Hall and Colm Toibin.

Words on Wheels
Every year the Book Council sends a wagon-load of New Zealand writers into a different region of the country. In 2008, Words on Wheels will tour to the East Coast and visit communities from Hastings through to Whakatane. On board for the tour ar playwright and screenwriter Victor Rodger, children's writer Ken Catran, poet Michele Amas, novelist Louise Wareham Leonard and non-fiction writer Paul Diamond.

Writers in Schools
Writers in Schools gives students and teachers an opportunity to meet and talk with New Zealand writers and illustrators.

Since 1974 Writers in Schools has provided school visits for Book Council members. Each year, more than 55,000 students get to meet their writing heroes at schools around the country. As well as inspiring and motivating students, the programme supports excellence in writing for children by employing leading New Zealand writers. The programme is funded by Creative New Zealand and Learning Media.

the sky is the limit when you read
the sky is the limit when you read fosters a love of books, reading and writing in low-decile and geographically isolated schools. Each school term, three New Zealand children’s writers and illustrators visit different regions in the country. The programme is funded by the Ministry of Education and delivered with the support of the National Library of New Zealand.

WordSpace
Designed to inspire and educate secondary school students about New Zealand literature, WordSpace writer sessions are discussions on specific topics such as poetry or reviewing, delivered via video conferences. Participating member schools dial into a ‘bridge’ that connects them to a panel of writers, effectively creating a nationwide classroom. In 2007, the Book Council delivered WordSpace with the support of Southern Trust and in partnership with CWA New Media

International Writers’ Programme
The International Writers’ Programme, in conjunction with Creative New Zealand’s current audience development initiative, sends New Zealand writers to high-profile international literary events. This programme also sponsors visits by Australian writers to New Zealand literary festivals and events.

• Acknowledgements
• Background