YOUNG WRITER’S FESTIVAL IN JUNE CONFIRMED FOR DUNEDIN

New Zealand finally has an annual festival produced by, and for, our young and emerging writers.

Scribes of all stripes will gather in Dunedin this June, for the first ever New Zealand Young Writers Festival. Playwrights and poets; comedians and historians; critics and consciences. Held in the heart of Dunedin, produced by the Dunedin Fringe Arts Trust and presented by Phantom Billstickers, the festival will include workshops, performances, panel discussions and bookish social festivities.

“When we first talked about putting this on, I couldn't believe that such an event didn't already exist.” said Dunedin Fringe Co-Chair Aaron Hawkins. “There are so many great young writers in Aotearoa right now, we reckon if you get enough of them in the same place at the same time, amazing things could happen. We've tried to put together a mix of professional development, engaging discussion, live performance and more seriously social affairs. We ultimately want to build this into an essential event on the young writers calendar.” he added.

The programme will be officially released mid-May and will include 15 events featuring nationally renowned writers and editors, with backgrounds in television, journalism, magazines, theatre, radio and blogs. While the events aren't tied to Dunedin, a fierce crop of local voices will be on hand to provide plenty of robust local perspective.

Better still, all of the events are free. “It's important to us that the New Zealand Young Writers Festival is as accessible as possible, and that as many excited young writers as possible get to take part” said Mr Hawkins. “The best way for us to make that happen is to make the whole thing free. Thanks to the generous support of UNESCO and Phantom Billstickers, we can do just that.”

The New Zealand Young Writers Festival runs in Dunedin from 4 – 7 June. More information and the full programme will be available on the Festival website youngwritersfest.nz from mid-May.