International Writers’ Workshop NZ Inc

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Janet Newman to judge $1000 Poetry Prize

International Writers’ Workshop NZ Inc (IWW) is delighted to announce that Janet Newman is the judge of The Kathleen Grattan Prize for a Sequence of Poems in 2026. The $1000 Prize, which is for a sequence of completely unpublished poems with a common link or theme, has been made possible by a bequest from the late Jocelyn Grattan in memory of her mother Kathleen. 

Janet lives in Horowhenua. She won the 2014 and 2016 Journal of New Zealand Literature Prize for NZ Literary Studies, the 2015 New Zealand Poetry Society International Poetry Competition, The Kathleen Grattan Prize for a Sequence of Poems in 2017 and was a runner-up in the 2019 Kathleen Grattan Award. She has a Master of Creative Writing and a PhD in English from Massey  University. Her poetry collection, Unseasoned Campaigner (OUP, 2021), won the 2022 NZSA Heritage Book Award for Poetry. She is an editor of Koe: An Aotearoa ecopoetry anthology (OUP, 2024).

Image credit: Melissa Maguire Photography

The Kathleen Grattan Prize for a Sequence of Poems is free for IWW members to enter however it is very easy for aspiring poets and writers to join IWW by the third Tuesday in June (16 June 2026) to be eligible to enter the competition. Submissions open on 1 September 2026 and close on 6 October 2026. The winner will be announced on Tuesday 17 November 2026.

Janet will host a one-hour preparatory Workshop, via Zoom, at 11am on Tuesday 5 May 2026 where she will include readings from her winning sequence Tender. This Workshop is free for IWW members. Non-members are welcome to attend the Workshop for $10 and can register by emailing iww-writers@outlook.com. 

IWW, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary in July, has run The Kathleen Grattan Prize for a Sequence of Poems since its inception in 2009. The rules for the Prize, past judges and winners, details of how to join IWW, meeting times and other activities of the Workshop, are available from the IWW website: iww.co.nz.