The announcement last week that the Year 7–13 English school curriculum is being rewritten by a select group of just five educators has drawn a strong response from the education and creative sectors. Following high school teacher Susan Briggs’s response,…
The New Zealand English school curriculum is undergoing a rewrite and some of the changes suggest a move backwards rather than forwards. High school English teacher Susan Briggs questions who this rewrite prioritises, and describes how English teachers are perfectly…
It was an exciting day at the Storylines Margaret Mahy Awards last weekend. Sapling editor Hannah Marshall was not only the winner for the Unpublished Writer Award in the young adult manuscript category, but captured her reflections of the day—both…
The Sapling loves Aotearoa’s thriving children’s book industry. We also believe that a robust reviewing culture can allow it to grow and blossom even further, by providing opportunity for reflection and improvement. Editor Linda Jane Keegan writes about The Sapling’s approach to…
Continuing with our coverage for Mental Health Awareness Week, Sapling editor Hannah has some hard truths to share about the representation of mental illness in YA literature—and the harm that is caused when these representations are done poorly. Content warning:…
Writing is hard. Writing and editing, designing, publishing, marketing and distributing your manuscript is even more difficult. Annelies Judson looks at self-published books in Aotearoa and offers some pearls of wisdom to authors looking to take on all those roles…
Achieving international rights is the ultimate dream for any writer. However, in New Zealand, achieving that dream is almost impossible. Author Melinda Szymanik looks at why international rights are so elusive in Aotearoa, and what opportunities our authors miss out…
Following Part 1 of the discussion about the lack of children’s picture books focused on Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Barry McLernon (Te Āti Awa & Pākehā Scottish, Dutch ancestry) and Kay Benseman (Pākehā German, Irish, Scottish, Spanish, English ancestry) kōrero…
In the first of a two-part series with Kay Benseman (Pākehā German, Irish, Scottish, Spanish, English ancestry) and Barry McLernon (Te Āti Awa & Pākehā Scottish, Dutch ancestry) about Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Kay shares her thoughts about the lack…
Chinese-Kiwi author and illustrator Nessie Sharpe struggled to find bilingual picture books that represented mixed-culture families like hers—so she wrote her own. I was watching the kids playing tea parties one rainy afternoon. They were serving each other wooden cupcakes…