FESTIVAL 2025
NAU MAI, HAERE MAI, WELCOME TO THE NZ YOUNG WRITERS FEST 2025!
SAT 13 & SUN 14 SEPTEMBER 2025
Free literary festival of workshops, panel discussions and performances for young writers aged 15-35 and everyone who loves literature.
Mā te huruhuru ka rere te manu - With feathers, the bird can fly
As feathers give the bird flight, NZ Young Writers Fest (NZYWF) nurtures young writers to rise, speak, and soar. Born from the kaupapa “by young writers, for young writers”, the festival encourages storytellers to stretch their wings by creating a welcoming, inclusive, and accessible space for skill-building, creativity, performance, and community connection. We welcome you to join us — from young creatives, to art and literature loving adults, all are welcome to celebrate Aotearoa’s next generation of literary talent. Nau mai, haere mai ki tēnei hui whakahirahira.
FESTIVAL INFORMATION
All festival events are FREE, or you can ‘Pay What You Want’ when booking a ticket to support the festival.
We highly recommend booking: events and workshops have limited space.
VENUE & ACCESSIBILITY
All events will be held at Te Whare o Rukutia, 20 Princes Street. The venue is wheelchair accessible at the main entrance, and has a wheelchair-accessible bathroom. If you have accessibility needs, get in touch: look@youngwritersfest.nz. If you’re feeling unwell, please stay home.
Events will be photographed for festival marketing purposes.
WHAT'S NEW THIS YEAR
For the first time in the festival’s history, NZYWF 2025 will include a three-day wānaka held at Puketeraki Marae in Karitāne, in the lead-up to the public programme.
Initiated through a partnership with mana whenua and Kaupapa Māori Liaison’s Antony Deaker and Jessica Sutherland-Latton, this wānaka brings together selected young writers in a tuakana/teina model — combining peer mentorship, creative inspiration, and skill-building, all grounded in tikanga Māori.
“This year’s festival honours the vision of Rua McCallum — a bold, uncompromising force in Māori performing arts. Rua championed kaupapa Māori spaces where Māori artists could create and lead on their own terms. With the wānaka at Puketeraki Marae and the tuakana/teina model guiding our approach, we’re walking in the path she laid.” – Antony Deaker.
Tuakana writers include Josiah Morgan (Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Maniapoto), Ruby Macomber (Ngāpuhi, Rotuma), and Rauhina Scott-Fyfe (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Ngāi Pākehā), supported by Kaupapa Māori Liaison’s, Antony Deaker and Jessica Sutherland-Latton (Kāi Tahu).
“Over the past few years, the NZYWF has already felt like a giant wānanga for writers from across the country to converge in Ōtepoti – it feels special this year to be entering a formalised wānanga space at Puketeraki Marae.” – Josiah Morgan
“Being able to tautoko as a tuakana at this year’s wānaka on my own marae is really meaningful. Everybody has a story — I’m excited to connect with some of the incredible young storytellers out there.” — Rauhina Scott-Fyfe
FESTIVAL TUAKANA (MENTORS)
Antony Deaker (Kāi Tahu) – Kaupapa Māori Liaison / Tuakana
Jessica Sutherland-Latton (Kāi Tahu) – Kaupapa Māori Liaison / Tuakana
Josiah Morgan (Kāi Tahu, Ngāti Maniapoto) – Young Writer Tuakana
Rauhina Scott-Fyfe (Kāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Ngāi Pākehā) – Young Writer Tuakana
Ruby Macomber (Rotuma, Ngāpuhi) – Young Writer Tuakana
FESTIVAL STAFF
Kate Schrader, Katrina Thomson, Ruth Harvey, Rewa Pene, Olivia Temm, Craig Birch-Morunga.
