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Announcing our 2026 judges!
2026 New Zealand Poetry Society International Competition - announcing our judgesOur very popular international poetry competition will open for entries via Submittable on MARCH 15, 2026. The competition will close on May 31st. We're thrilled to announce our four...
Blackout Poetry Results – Youth Competition 2025
BLACKOUT POETRY COMPETITION RESULTS 2025 NZPS and Blackout Poetry Aotearoa held a fun Blackout Poetry Contest during October/November for young poets, 12-18 years. We had some great submissions and the judging was tough, but here are the results! We will also...
In the Hollow of the Wave by Nina Mingya Powles
NINA MINGYA POWLES In the Hollow of the Wave (Auckland University Press, 2025). ISBN 9781776711512. RRP $24.99. 96pp. ‘People asked me where I learned / and I said I taught myself the slow work of making’ (“Slipstitch”). Nina Mingya Powles’s writing has always...
over under fed by Amy Margeurite
AMY MARGEURITE over under fed (Auckland University Press, 2025). ISBN 9781776711642. RRP $24.99. 80pp. I first read over under fed in unusualcircumstances. On Takapuna Beach, I reclinedshivering on a towel marked ‘HOSPITALPROPERTY’, deep in Marguerite’s...
OPEN JUNIOR results – NZPS International Poetry Competition 2025
OPEN JUNIOR results - NZPS International Poetry Competition 2025 OPEN JUNIOR JUDGE'S REPORT - JOSIAH MORGAN Of all the numerous ways to win a competition, the element of surprise unified and bound the pieces that spoke to me most this year. It was a real joy to...
HAIKU JUNIOR results – NZPS International Poetry Competition 2025
HAIKU JUNIOR results - NZPS International Poetry Competition 2025 HAIKU JUNIOR JUDGE'S REPORT - JENNY FRASER It has been a privilege and honour to be asked to judge The New Zealand Poetry Society’s Haiku Juniors Competition, 2025. Thank you. I am grateful to...
HAIKU results – NZPS International Poetry Competition 2025
HAIKU results - NZPS International Poetry Competition 2025 HAIKU JUDGE’S REPORT – SCOTT MASON Haiku poet and commentator William J. Higginson observed in his classic The Haiku Handbook (Kodansha International, 1985) that “[t]he central act of haiku is letting an...
OPEN results – NZPS International Poetry Competition 2025
OPEN results - NZPS International Poetry Competition 2025 OPEN JUDGE'S REPORT - Lee Murray What a delight it has been to read all the wonderful entries in the adult Open section of this year’s competition. With our submission period occurring in the midst of...
Black Sugarcane by Nafanua Purcell Kersel
NAFANUA PURCELL KERSEL Black Sugarcane (Wellington: Te Herenga Waka University Press, 2025). ISBN 9781776922222. RRP $30.00. 128pp. Nafanua Purcell Kersel’s debut poetry collection Black Sugarcane is a generous invitation intocommunity and family, storytelling...