Top authors inspire young Kiwis to do write thing

MEDIA RELEASE
July 29, 2005

Top New Zealand authors inspire young Kiwis to do the write thing!

Award winning New Zealand authors are engaging the minds of the next generation of creative thinkers around the country in a series of creative writing workshops in public libraries, which begin next week.

The Nestlé Write Around New Zealand: Nestlé Tuhi Amio Whenua workshops will allow well-known favourites like Brian Falkner, Kate de Goldi and David Hill to provide eager young Kiwis with the inspiration from the very authors whose books they love to read.

National coordinator Kaye Lally from Auckland City Libraries says it is exciting to have so many fantastic authors willing to share their personal experiences with children all around New Zealand.

"The aim of the workshops is to capture the imagination of children from the far north to the deep south and to encourage them to express themselves through writing," she says.

NESTLÉ Write Around New Zealand: NESTLÉ Tuhi Amio Whenua is a national creative writing competition for students in years 7 and 8 which is now in its fifth year. The competition is run through public libraries around New Zealand and is open to children who write in either English or Te Reo Maori.

By entering a story of up to 500 words, children can win collections of popular Kiwi books for themselves and their school libraries and backpacks full of Nestlé products - a prize pool totalling $60,000.

This year is notable for the introduction of a specific Te Reo Maori component. Although Te Reo entries have always been a core part of the programme they have previously been judged alongside English entries. In order to recognise and embrace the differences between the languages, this year a Year 7 and a Year 8 story in Te Reo will be selected as Te Reo winners. They will then also compete to be overall winners.

The programme will select 150 finalists from 10 zones nationwide, with 32 winners chosen to travel to Auckland for the national presentation when two overall winners will be announced.

Nestlé Write Around New Zealand: Nestle Tuhi Amio Whenua is a Nestlé funded community programme coordinated by Auckland City Libraries and supported by public libraries around New Zealand. Entries will be accepted in both English and Maori until August 31, 2005. Competition entry forms and conditions are available from schools, public libraries and online at www.writearound.co.nz.

ENDS

© Scoop Media