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Marlon Williams concert for Dunedin

Marlon Williams concert for Dunedin

Marlon Williams will tour next month in support of his new album Te Whare Tīwekaweka. PHOTO: SUPPLIED
Much-loved New Zealand musician Marlon Williams will tour the country next month in support of his first Maori language album Te Whare Tīwekaweka.
Williams will visit 11 centres around the country during his tour, with his Dunedin show at the Regent Theatre on Thursday, June 26, at 7.30pm.
Supported by longtime touring band The Yarra Benders, co-producer Mark Perkins (Te Whānau-ā-Apanui), the He Waka Kōtuia singers and featuring a collaboration with Lorde, the album traverses William's familiar folk-country-bluegrass territory, pop and the rhythms of Māori music.
The tour will feature Williams performing with The Yarra Benders, along with special appearances from some of the album's collaborators, and with opening act Kommi (Kāi Tahu, Te-Āti-Awa).
BRENDA.HARWOOD @thestar.co.nz

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Event noticeboard: Kite making, sequinned quilts and multi-sensory films
Event noticeboard: Kite making, sequinned quilts and multi-sensory films

The Spinoff

time7 hours ago

  • The Spinoff

Event noticeboard: Kite making, sequinned quilts and multi-sensory films

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Light show back for Matariki event
Light show back for Matariki event

Otago Daily Times

time14 hours ago

  • Otago Daily Times

Light show back for Matariki event

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Famous Faces Feature In 2025 Children's Book Awards Shortlist Announced Today
Famous Faces Feature In 2025 Children's Book Awards Shortlist Announced Today

Scoop

time14 hours ago

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Famous Faces Feature In 2025 Children's Book Awards Shortlist Announced Today

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The judges praised their richly textured, wrap-around storytelling, captivating world-building, evocative illustration and powerful messages of authenticity, inclusion, aroha and fun. • Brave Kāhu and the Pōrangi Magpie, Shelley Burne-Field (Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Rārua, Te Ātiawa, Sāmoa) (Allen & Unwin) • Play Wild, Rachel Clare (Bateman Books) • The Raven's Eye Runaways, Claire Mabey (Allen & Unwin) • The Witch of Maketu and the Bleating Lambs, Anika Moa (Ngāpuhi, Te Aupōuri), illustrated by Rebecca ter Borg (Penguin Random House New Zealand) • The Writing Desk, Di Morris (Bateman Books) As well as acknowledging the best and brightest in books for children and teens, a core mission of the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults is fostering literacy and a love of reading among New Zealand's tamariki and rangatahi. 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The formidable task of narrowing the field to a shortlist of finalists was met by this year's experienced English and bilingual judging panel: Convenor of judges Feana Tu'akoi, a Kirikiriroa-based writer; Don Long, a children's and educational publishing expert; Linda Jane Keegan, a Singaporean-Pākehā writer and reviewer; Stacy Gregg (Ngāti Mahuta, Ngāti Pukeko, Ngāti Maru Hauraki), recipient of the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year at the 2024 NZCYA awards; and Mero Rokx (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tai), an education specialist who is on the English-language and bilingual panel, as well as Te Kura Pounamu panel. They were joined by a separate panel especially appointed to judge te reo Māori entries: Convenor Mat Tait (Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō, Rangitāne o Wairau, Ngāti Kuia), a freelance artist, illustrator, writer and te reo Māori tutor based in the Motueka area; Justice-Manawanui Arahanga-Pryor (Ngāti Awa ki Rangitaiki, Ngāti Uenuku, Ngāti Rangi, Ngāi Te Ruahikihiki), a kaitakawaenga / library programming specialist; and Maxine Hemi (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu, Rangitāne), a kaiako with over 30 years' experience teaching. The New Zealand Book Awards for Children & Young Adults and their associated programmes are made possible through the generosity, commitment and vision of funders and partners: Creative New Zealand, HELL Pizza, the Wright Family Foundation, LIANZA Te Rau Herenga o Aotearoa, Wellington City Council, BookHub presented by Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand, New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa, the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, the Mātātuhi Foundation, and NielsenIQ BookData. The Awards are administered by the New Zealand Book Awards Trust Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa. Notes: Key Date: The winners will be announced in Wellington on Wednesday 13 August. The New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults are a unique celebration of the contribution New Zealand's children's authors and illustrators make to building national identity and cultural heritage. Awards are made in seven categories: Picture Book (the BookHub Award), Junior Fiction (the Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Award), Young Adult Fiction, Non-Fiction (the Elsie Locke Award), Illustration (the Russell Clark Award), Te Reo Māori (the Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Awards) and Best First Book (the NZSA Award). The main category awards carry prize money of $8,500 and the Best First Book winner receives $2,500. The overall prize, the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year Award, carries a further prize of $8,500. The awards are governed by the New Zealand Book Awards Trust Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa (a registered charity). Current members of the Trust are Nicola Legat (chair), Richard Pamatatau, Garth Biggs, Elena de Roo, Renée Rowland, Laura Caygill, and Suzy Maddox. The Trust also governs the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards and Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day. Creative New Zealand has been a sustaining partner of New Zealand's book awards for decades. The national arts development agency of the New Zealand government encourages, promotes and supports the arts in New Zealand for the benefit of all New Zealanders through funding, capability building, an international programme, and advocacy. Creative New Zealand provides a wide range of support to New Zealand literature, including funding for writers and publishers, residencies, literary festivals and awards, and supports organisations which work to increase the readership and sales of New Zealand literature at home and internationally. HELL Pizza was established in 1996 and now has 78 outlets throughout New Zealand. HELL has been proud to sponsor the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults for over a decade. Known for doing things a little differently, in 2014 the company initiated the awards-associated HELL Reading Challenge, which encourages kiwi kids to swap screen time for stories by rewarding a love of reading with pizza. The programme rewards students with a free 333 kids' pizza once they have read seven books, because, HELL says, getting kids into reading 'is worth going to Hell for'. In 2024, 814 schools and public libraries around New Zealand took part and over 340,000 pizza wheels were distributed, which means that more than 2.3 million books were potentially read by Kiwi kids as a result. The Wright Family Foundation 's goal of 'growing the good' in New Zealand Aotearoa means literacy features prominently in its aspirations for the country's youth. Founder, the late Chloe Wright, was delighted to have the Foundation support the mahi of the New Zealand Books Awards for Children and Young Adults, believing that reading creates imagination, ultimately leading to the emergence of writers. 'Books, whether read or written, bring centuries of people together. Through the written word we gain tolerance and understanding, enabling us to share in the cultures, histories, myths, and magical spaces in time,' she said. The Foundation also supports Kids' Lit Quiz and the New Zealand Spelling Bee. LIANZA Te Rau Herenga o Aotearoa, the association for library and information professionals in New Zealand, introduced the country's first award for children's fiction, establishing the Esther Glen Junior Fiction Award in 1945. LIANZA added other awards over the years including the Russell Clark Award for Illustration in 1975 and the Elsie Locke Non-fiction Award in 1986. Te Kura Pounamu Award for books written in te reo Māori was established in 1996, in partnership with Te Rōpū Whakahau. In 2016 the LIANZA Children and Young Adult Book Awards were merged with the Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, strengthening the long legacy of the LIANZA Awards. Wellington City Council 's Arts Strategy Te Aho Tini is about artists and writers being central to Wellington City, working on some of the city's biggest challenges and generating connected, inclusive communities. Te Aho Tini seeks to support and celebrate writing and illustration within future careers. Founded in 1921, Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand is the national association for bookshops. It helps booksellers grow and succeed through education, information, advocacy, marketing campaigns – such as Bookshop Day – and services – such as BookHub. Launched in 2023, BookHub is an e-commerce platform that enables people to browse books, buy books and find local bookshops, directly connecting readers with independent bookstores across the motu. Local bookshops are essential community hubs, and champions of Aotearoa New Zealand books and of the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards and the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. The New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa (NZSA) was established in 1934 as the New Zealand PEN Centre and remains the principal organisation for writers in Aotearoa today. Now representing over 1,800 writers, NZSA advocates for authors' rights and incomes, acts as a communications hub, administers prizes and awards, and runs a raft of digital and in-person professional development programmes and assessment and mentoring opportunities that support writers at all stages of their writing journeys. The Society works closely with industry partners and collaborates widely across the sector to advance the visibility and readership of NZ writers and NZ writing. NZSA is a non-profit Incorporated Society and registered charity, governed by a Board, with 8 regional branches, Ngā Kaituhi Māori, a growing Youth Writers Network, and a national office. The National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa helps all New Zealanders access and use the collective knowledge of the nation. It's their job to collect, connect, and co-create knowledge to power Aotearoa. The National Library has long supported literacy and learning, and recent reading initiatives related to its 'Growing a Nation of Readers' strategy include Communities of Readers and Te Awhi Rito Reading Ambassador. Award-winning author Kate De Goldi has been appointed as the third Te Awhi Rito Reading Ambassador from June 2025. Kate will advocate for and champion the importance of reading in the lives of young New Zealanders, their whānau and communities. In 2025 The National Library is supporting the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults by hosting its Books Alive events in the multipurpose spaces of the Tiakiwai Conference Centre facility on the Wellington premises. The Mātātuhi Foundation was established by the Auckland Writers Festival in 2018 to support the growth and development of New Zealand's literary landscape. To achieve this outcome, the Foundation funds literary projects that have the potential to develop sustainable literary platforms that help grow awareness and readership of New Zealand books and writers, increase engagement with New Zealand children's literature, or build access to, and awareness of, New Zealand's literary legacy. In 2025, the Mātātuhi Foundation has provided a second year of funding to enable the expansion of the Books Alive programme – which engages finalist authors in the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults with tamariki and rangatahi in a series of large-scale immersive events – to four centres around the country. NielsenIQ BookData provides a range of services to the book industry internationally, aiding the discovery and purchase, distribution and sales measurement of books. The company employs more than 100 staff and has offices in 17 countries, including New Zealand and Australia. NielsenIQ BookData is wholly owned by NIQ.

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