Storylines National Hui 2026

On the weekend of 3 & 4 October, I attended my first Storylines hui, hosted at Dilworth School in Auckland. It was an absolutely packed agenda with an abundance of high-quality workshops, panels, keynotes, and opportunities for someone willing to grab them (like pitch slams and networking)!

Highlights included the brutally honest and incredibly entertaining keynote by artist and writer extraordinaire Donovan Bixley; the generously practical and very funny novel planning workshop by Graci Kim; and the 'Reading for our lives' keynote by Te Awhi Rito Reading Ambassador, Kate De Goldi.

It was also both encouraging and demoralising (yet somehow inspiring) to hear about the realities of the book industry not only from successful authors, but from publishers behind the books.

I also was honoured to meet one of the pillars of Aotearoa NZ youth literature, Tessa Duder herself!

The indomitable Leonie Agnew ensured I was introduced to the queens of the kid lit scene, so I'm humbled that I was able to talk about my research with Tessa Duder, Kate De Goldi, and Dr Libby Limbrick (2022 winner of the Storylines Betty Gilderdale Award for services to New Zealand children’s literature) on the second day of the hui. Once my thesis has passed examination, I look forward to sharing it with these extraordinary people and their organisations.

It was great reconnecting with the creative, talented, and passionate children's book community. If you're a Kiwi illustrator or writer, or teacher/librarian wanting to learn more about what happens before a book reaches your school, I strongly encourage you to sign up to Storylines and get involved in the next hui.