New Zealand Young Writers Festival 2024

Proudly produced by Dunedin Fringe, NZYWF welcomes young writers aged 15-35 to celebrate a diverse range of wordsmithing, including: slam poetry, playwriting, songwriting, short fiction, novels, zines, screenwriting, poetry, journalism, blogging, critical content creation, podcasts, review writing, and more.

The 2024 festival, supported with a grant by the National Commission, hosted 21 free events across three days – including four workshops especially for teens.

It featured 36 writers from around the motu, of which 65 percent were attending for the first time. Fifteen were from local artists and 21 were from elsewhere in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The festival wanted to create intentional space for young writers of historically excluded cultural backgrounds who have something urgent or critical to say. Sixty-six percent of participating writers identified as Māori, Pasifika or BIPoC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour) and 83 percent identified as femme or gender-diverse/queer.

NZYWF brought together an audience of 685 (up 27 percent on 2023) for thought provoking panels, immersive workshops, mind blowing performances and community building.

“The NZYWF is a crucial festival that was full of love and support and connection for all the writers involved. The thing I loved the most was how the festival gave me something to strive for and work for as a writer, helping me to feel legitimate.” – NZYWF 2024 presenter

An audience member commented on how NZYWF brought everyone together: “Hearing other people and talking with other people about aspects of society that I need to talk about: connection, de-stigmatizing grief, and writing queer and BIPoC joy instead of tragedy! Knowing I wasn’t alone, laughing, crying, being fully alive with other humans (this was my highlight).”