Maurice Gee's novel "Going West" literally comes to life in this gorgeous advertisement for the NZ Book Council.

Auckland agency Colenso BBDO worked with Andersen M Studio in London on the two-minute film, which took eight months to produce.

It was commissioned to inspire New Zealanders to read more books.

New Yorker Festival

I attended the New Yorker Festival in October, thanks in part to the generosity of the New Yorker and especially AWRF09 guest Rhonda Sherman, Director of the Festival.

As a first-time visitor to New York (strange but true), I revelled in the challenge of locating the events in a variety of wonderful venues, including the City Winery, the Directors Guild Theatre and the dining room at Conde Nast’s office.

Wishing I had three or four sentient clones, but only able to be in one place at one time, I left with wonderful memories of stand-out performances...

Read about award-winning books from around the globe.

Take a look at our brief recap of recent literary prizes in Canada, France, Australia, Ireland, the UK, and the Netherlands...

We would like to congratulate Peter Wells, Trustee of AWRF, on his recent Copyright Licensing Ltd (CLL) Writers’ Award for non-fiction.

Peter co-founded the Festival with fellow writer Stephanie Johnson in 1999...

‘The Miniatures - An adventure in the Bren Collection’ by Stephanie Johnson is now on display at the Hawkes Bay Museum and Art Gallery. Stephanie is a Trustee and co-founder of the Festival.

The Miniatures weaves a magical moment around the tiny objects of the Bren collection – a set of miniatures collected in London during the 1930s and 1940s by Reverend Robert Bren. Donated to the Hawke's Bay Cultural Trust in 1958 by Rev Bren’s widow, a single black and white photograph and five small dolls remain the only clues of the stories around which the Reverend created this extraordinary collection.