Winter 2023
In this edition:
An exciting announcement, the 2023 cohort, a throwback to the ’90s and Jemma's judging experience at the Ockhams!
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Announcing – Everything I Know About Books
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 Have you ever considered publishing an anthology by more than 70 of the biggest publishing industry names in Aotearoa, but found you’re just a little bit short of time?
Well, in honour of the 30th anniversary of the Whitireia Publishing course, we’ve decided to do it for you! Everything I Know About Books will be available to fill that specially reserved spot on your bookshelf in October 2023. 📚
You might recognise contributors like Witi Ihimaera, Chloe Gong, Selina Tusitala Marsh and Michael Bennett, and there's even a little something written by our lovely tutors, Odessa and Theresa, who are the heart and soul of the course.
Keep an eye out for further details and some exciting events in the near future. 👀
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Publishing student teams win both 1st and 2nd place at Student Quiz Night!
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The last editing class with our incredible tutor Simon Minto.
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We may be halfway through the year, but it's time to find out a little about the Class of 2023 – what drove them to sign up for the Graduate Diploma in Publishing? What connections do they have to the world of books? And most importantly, what books do they recommend?!
There’s a huge range of backgrounds, experience and interests represented in the class this year, which makes for fascinating discussions. We have several experienced booksellers who have been led to our classroom by their curiosity about the other side of the book trade. We have career journalists, one of whom tells her friends she’s doing the Whitireia Graduate Diploma in Publishing as a ʻpre-semi-retirement side-hustle project’! And many of our classmates are passionate about breaking down barriers to enable and support people from all backgrounds to tell their own stories.
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A student project team in their first meeting with author Tim Jones and publishers Paul Stewart and Mary McCallum at The Cuba Press.
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Whitireia Publishing students enjoying an afternoon out in Wellington.
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While we’re all still figuring out our favourite parts of the industry, we have a great mix of goals for the future. Some of us want to increase accessibility in the publishing industry, while others want to work in publicity and marketing. Some want to focus on editing for debut authors, and some want to start their own presses. Some are simply looking forward to working on material that they find ‘more interesting’ than things they worked on in their previous careers!
One thing we all have in common is a passion for books and reading, so here are a few recommendations from the team who put this newsletter together:
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Leigh recommends...
H.M.S. Surprise by Patrick O'Brian
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Kezia recommends...
How Words Get Good by Rebecca Lee
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Evie recommends...
Before You Knew My Name by Jacqueline Bublitz
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Ruby recommends...
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
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Sarah recommends...
Greta and Valdin by Rebecca K. Reilly
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Jemma recommends...
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
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Editing Secrets in Featherston
We were thrilled to take the Secret Art of Editing to the Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival in May. Read more in the review ‘Connecting with an audience’ by Stephen Olsen, ākonga Whitireia Publishing.
Our chair and panellists: Chris Tse, Jasmine Sargent, Madison Hamill and Callum Knight
(Photo: Stephen Olsen)
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Throwback to the ’90s
To celebrate and recognise thirty years of the Whitireia Publishing course, we asked a couple of former students to recount their memories of the course and what they learnt from it, and to share a quick insight into what they are reading right now.
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 Rachel Lawson
Publisher, Gecko Press
I did the course in 1993, the year Daphne Brasell started it up, so everything was new. I knew immediately that I belonged in publishing. I'd found a job where I could make things – tangible, finishable things! – and combine visual/design with words. The feeling of being in a like-minded group of people, loving what I was doing every day, is still vivid. And then there were the publishers, editors, and designers, who visited us to talk about their jobs. I worked on a book designed by Margaret Cochran, and her insistence that book design is there to serve the words and the content is something I’ve tried to keep central. This is relevant to what I’m reading – Rebecca Solnit’s Wanderlust: A History of Walking. It’s a really great book, but I can only do short stints because the font is so tiny it’s barely readable. So I’m alternating it with a precious edition of Runyon on Broadway that my grandmother gave me when I was fifteen – so funny, with nicely balanced typography.
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 Mel Winder
Managing director, Hachette Aotearoa New Zealand
I did the course in its second year – 1994 – when it was based in a small, freezing, computer-free prefab in Porirua. The course introduced me to an entire industry that I barely knew existed. The only options presented at school/university were teaching English, working in a library, or journalism – all great options but none quite as wonderful as publishing! The course had an enormous impact on both my career and life as it opened doors to working in publishing in New Zealand, which in turn led to sixteen fabulous years working in London. I was fortunate to have roles that meant I travelled a lot and have been lucky enough to meet some of my all-time favourite authors in some amazing places. I have always read voraciously and love working in an industry where the first question anyone asks on a Monday is ‘read anything good in the weekend?’ The emphasis in 1994, as now, was on editorial, but students should know there are so many routes into great publishing roles. At the time of writing, I'm reading The Bone Tree by Airana Ngarewa and Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad in advance of their appearances at the Auckland Writers Festival. Work. Not work!
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 Simie Simpson
Programmes manager, Read NZ Te Pou Muramura
I did the Whitireia course in 2001 – it feels like a lifetime ago! Sarah Maxey was my design tutor, and ‘for God's sake, save’ has never left me. Other than Sarah's sage and enduring advice? I was bookselling at around the same time after doing a fast turn out of cafe work, and I am not sure if it was my cake-baking skills or the fact I was interested in the publishing industry that got me my start in the book trade. I got a job at Walker Books as their one and only Aotearoa sales rep. However, potentially getting a foot in the door is hardly a recommendation, especially value-for-money wise. I think for me, having a really solid understanding of the publishing industry from design to sales and marketing has been the gift that keeps on giving from the Whitireia Course.
I must fess up to reading Australian history. I am reading Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe.
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Editing Micro-credentials
This year, Whitireia Publishing launched the first NZQA-approved micro-credentials to support training and development in our sector. These are:
- Grammar and punctuation
- Copy-editing
These courses are a flexible, easy-to-access study and professional development option, designed for self-directed, self-paced study. They are aimed at people already in the workplace who want to sharpen or develop their language skills, as well as people wanting to dip their toes into editing.
Each course will take up to 50 hours to complete and participants have up to 10 weeks to complete each course.
Further information and enrolment details for the micro-credentials can be found here: https://www.whitireiaweltec.ac.nz/study-programmes/creativity/creative-writing-and-publishing/ |
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Judge Jemma's Ockham Experience
Each year we celebrate the rich stories Aotearoa produces through the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. To many readers, awards can feel elusive, like a secret you’re not quite in on. How are the books selected? Or the judges? How can one narrow a list of entries down to a longlist, down to a shortlist, down to a winner? Luckily for us, one of this year’s fiction judges, Jemma Morrison, is in our class and was happy to divulge a few secrets…
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Below: Jemma with Catherine Chidgey and Alice at the Ockham Awards ceremony.
(Photo: Rafael Moreira)
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 Question: What was the process for being selected as a judge?
Jemma: The NZ Book Awards Trust does an open call for expressions of interest in judging the Ockhams, which I received when I was working at McLeods Booksellers. Rafa [ex-bookseller and Jemma’s partner] encouraged me to apply, so I sent a statement of interest detailing my relevant work experience and what I felt I could offer to the judging panel for fiction. It was an honour to be chosen and a wonderful experience to be on a judging panel alongside esteemed fellow judges Stephanie Johnson and John Huria. I thought it was great that we had an author, a publisher and a bookseller judging fiction together, as we represented three different facets of the book trade.
Q: What was the most surprising moment of the judging process?
A: The sheer volume of books we had to read to select the longlist. This year was one of the highest for submissions with around 50 titles.
Q: What is the judging process?
A: It is a collaborative process. We [fiction judges] were mostly on the same page selecting the longlist, but enjoyed in-depth discussions combined with a voting system. As we read through submissions, we had regular Zoom meetings to discuss our process, the books and our thoughts. We had a judge’s handbook outlining the criteria to be mindful of while judging the books, and we were joined by an international judge, John Mitchinson, to make a final decision on the winner.
Q: What was the most challenging moment of the judging process?
A: Whittling many wonderful books down into a longlist and then a shortlist was very challenging, as we each had to let go of a particular book that was dear to our hearts.
Q: How long does judging take?
A: We received our first lot of books in early September, and more arrived in October. We had to let the Trust know our longlist by mid-January, our shortlist by the end of January and the winner by the end of March.
Q: What was the most exciting moment in the judging process?
A: Reading the winner for the first time! I was enchanted from the first page. Also, being reminded of the absolute wealth of talented authors in New Zealand. We were delighted to present the longlist as it really showcased the varied and exciting range of writing across different genres.
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Catherine Chidgey’s The Axeman’s Carnival was the winner of the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at the 2023 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.
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Articles written by Wesley Hollis, Theresa Crewdson, Leigh Catley and Ruby-Rose Whitcher
Edited by Kezia Bennett and Jemma Morrison
Typeset by Sarah Hillocks and Evie Birch
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