Upper Hutt Libraries Poetry Competition 2025

Upper Hutt Libraries Poetry Competition 2025 is open for entries. Entries close 3 August 2025. For more information see their website HERE.

Write Like an Author School Holiday Workshop

Where:  Raroa Intermediate, 37 Haumia Street, Johnsonville

When: 3 October - 5 October 2023

Register HERE limited spaces available

Fifi Colston Visit

Today author & illustrator Fifi Colston visited St Brendan's. She talked about some of the books she has worked on, a different book with each Syndicate. She also held a writing workshop with a small group of children who are very interested in writing.

First Fifi read the picture book Far, Far from Home written by Elizabeth Pulford to the Junior syndicate and spoke about how she illustrated the book.

Before morning tea she spoke to the Upper Middle and Senior syndicate about her research and the process she followed while working on illustrations for the book Torty and the Soldier written by Jennifer Beck.  Fifi explained how she had visited Torty, who is still alive and spends time with different families in the Little family now that the soldier, Stewart Little, is no longer alive. Fifi also explained how she took extra care to make sure the scenes and soldiers uniforms in the book were true to how they would have been during World War I.

After morning tea Fifi spoke to the Middle syndicate about her book Wearable Wonders. A few lucky students got to dress up and everyone learn't about how to use free stuff and recycled items to create Wearable Wonders!

Before lunch a group of 16 students from the Upper Middles and Seniors spent about an hour with Fifi for a writing workshop. Together they created a story starter, deciding on the traits of the main character, April Muffin, and her background story. It was interesting to see the very different directions the story took even though the students all started with the same initial idea.

Fifi's visit was organised through the New Zealand Book Council "Writer's in Schools" programme with the support of Creative New Zealand.

Write like a AUTHOR - Wellington School Holiday Camp

Strange But True ....

Image from HERE

Why are there goats up this tree?

I think this photo would make a great story starter, lets see......how good is your imagination?

• Maybe the sand is too hot to stand on
• Perhaps they're hiding from someone or something
• Maybe they're magic goats
• Maybe they're magic birds that just look like goats!

What do you think? 

You can find out why they're really up the tree HERE.

Storylines Free Family Days 2014

Do you need something fun and free to do this weekend?

When:       Sunday, 24 August, 10am-3pm 

Where:      Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington.

For more information about the Wellington Family Day see HERE

For information about Family Day's in other parts of the country see HERE

Baking & Writing Competition

If you like writing and you also like baking THIS could be just the competition for you.

There are two age groups: 5-8yrs and 9-12yrs

The Competition runs from 11 November 2013 until 11 Jan 2014

Winners outside Auckland will receive: 

• A Book Island Voucher - you can choose $50 from the Book Island website
• A Book Island Voucher for your School - you can choose $100 from the Book Island website

For more details about the competition see the competition page HERE

Find tips about what one judge is looking for in the cake entries HERE

You can also follow the Meet the Maia Blog Tour

FaBo Story

Last year a group of nine New Zealand writers created The FaBo Story with the help of school children from throughout the country (and some cool illustrators too).  Each week children were challenged to write the next chapter in the story with the winning chapter published on the FaBo Story blog.  After 20 weeks The FaBo Story was complete - you can read it here.  

FaBo Story is back and you can find out all about it here, but don't dawdle because the competition begins on June 13. In the mean time you can visit the new FaBo Story blog to find out more about Planet FaBo2 and this years competition as well as how to take part and pick up tips about writing.