Writing competitions

Judged by Kate De Goldi, Gavin Bishop and Sally Blundell, the winning stories in this August competition can be found on library150.com.

One way of getting published is to enter your work into writing competitions.

Winning an award is the way many top New Zealand poets and writers have started their careers, and good prizes often await the winners.

Competition Websites

BNZ Katherine Mansfield Awards: Includes a young writer category which encourages New Zealand secondary school student writers, and offers a prize for the winner's school in addition to their individual award prize.
CLL Writers' Awards: Established in 2002, the annual CLL Writers' Awards provide financial support for New Zealand writers of non-fiction books.
New Zealand Post National Schools Poetry Awards: Poetry Awards for Years 11-13 New Zealand students. There are two prize categories - Best Poem and Best Lyric.
Pikihuia Awards: Includes a category of Best Short Story in English or Māori by a Māori secondary school student.
Re-Draft: Re-Draft is a competition for 13 - 19 year olds run by the Christchurch School for Young Writers. Your work could be chosen as the title of their annual publication. See also our page on Re-Draft.
Sunday Star-Times Short Story Awards: Includes Secondary School Division is open only to secondary school students. Site features previous winning stories.
Takahe competitions: Takahe alternates between poetry and short story competitions each year. The Takahe Collective Trust is a non-profit organisation that aims to support emerging and published writers, poets, artists and cultural commentators.