The Great Kiwi Classic Returns – with a Twist

18 March 2016

For immediate release

The Great Kiwi Classic Returns – with a Twist

Launched in 2014 by the New Zealand Book Council and Auckland Writers Festival, the Great Kiwi Classic initiative is an annual opportunity for readers of all ages and interests to celebrate our most treasured books and writers.

In 2014, Keri Hulme’s Booker Prize-winning novel The Bone People was selected as the inaugural Great Kiwi Classic after a wealth of public nominations, and Owls Do Cry by Janet Frame received the 2015 crown.

The Great Kiwi Classic has had a makeover for 2016! This year’s Auckland Writers Festival event, The Great Kiwi Classic: Face-Off, will feature four super fans staking a claim on behalf of a writer for the title 2016 Great Kiwi Classic author.

Literary biographer Rachel Barrowman (shortlisted for the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards) will punt for Maurice Gee; Mary Paul forRobin Hyde; theatre critic John Smythe for Bruce Mason; and John Weir for James K. Baxter.

A follow-up discussion will attempt to distil the essence of home-grown literary classics, chaired by Rosabel Tan, editor of The Pantograph Punch.

We want you to be involved in the discussion! Which of the four would you nominate as the 2016 Great Kiwi Classic author, and why? Tell us in 400 words or less via email greatkiwiclassic@bookcouncil.org.nz or a post on our Facebook page by 15 April 2016.

We’ll publish your nominations on the New Zealand Book Council’s blog Booknotes Unbound, and you’ll automatically be entered into the draw to win a prize pack of classic NZ books!

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