literature

General

• Te Ara entry on creative life in New Zealand
• Find out about arts, literature and music events on EventFinder.

Music and broadcasting

A selection of stories about the history of Kiwi writing, writers and books – one for each day of NZ Book Month.

The war years

In some ways war interrupted the work of New Zealand writers; in others it acted as a stimulant. For those who joined the armed forces, such as Eric McCormick, Bruce Mason and Dan Davin, experience of travel and danger gave creative impetus and a new perspective on their country of birth. New Zealand writing gained some international exposure through John Lehmann's Penguin New Writing from 1941. New Zealand New Writing, a local adaptation of this publication produced between 1942 and 1945, was another vehicle for fresh talent.

Standing portrait of artist, playwright, actor, director and crime writer Ngaio Marsh taken c1935.

The boys of Puhawai

In the baby-boom years following the Second World War, the state education system struggled to meet the needs of a rocketing young population. Trained teachers were in desperately short supply, and locally relevant reading material even more so. So the publication in 1960 of a collection of stories about the day-to-day adventures of three young Kiwi boys was a welcome addition to the limited range of quality children's literature.