Caoimhe

THWUP's 2025 books are piled on a windowsill, with blue sky out the window behind. They are: Isaac Featherston - 'Petatone'; The Futures of Democracy, Law and Government; Without Fear or Favour; South by South; Out of the Blue; How to Save Democracy; This Compulsion in Us; Star Gazers; The Book of Guilt; All Her Lives; Surplus Women; Chemistry; Selected Poems - Brian Turner; Sick Power Trip; The Anatomy of Sand; The Companion to Volcanology; Black Sugarcane; Makeshift Seasons; Giving Birth to My Father; It's What He Would've Wanted; Bonfires on the Ice.

And that’s 2025 done! A solid stack.

We will be back in the office from 5 January 2026. For now, ngā mihi o te Kirihimete me te Tau Hou!
❤️ The THWUP team

One more piece of wonderful news that we're bursting to share before we close up shop: we're publishing Night, Ma by Elizabeth Knox in April 2026!

@elizabethknoxnz.bsky.social
Cover: Todd Atticus, @toddatticus.bsky.social

“Do it often, do it badly if you must, just keep doing it.” Yael van der Wouden on the writer’s life. This June, Yael van der Wouden was awarded the 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction for her debut The Safekeep, a gripping historical novel from a writer who really knows how to craft a sex scene. Recent…

lithub.com/do-it-often-...

🤯

💚💚💚

A woman's hands with chipped nail polish hold the book Baby by Annaleese Jochems next to some pink camellia flowers. The cover of Baby has the title and author's name in block capitals against a pink background, and a photo of a white bread jam sandwich with a bite taken out of it. There is a gold sticker on the book's cover saying it is an Ockham Book Award winner.

If you didn't buy Baby in 2017/2018, now is your chance to get it half price! A sunburnt psychological thriller of obsession and escape that Eleanor Catton called ‘Heavenly Creatures for a new generation.'
💖
The huge THWUP book sale continues at teherengawakapress.co.nz

(also, you are making really good book choices!)

A red and white banner features a graphic of the Te Herenga Waka Press logo (THW) and text saying 'New website sale, 50% off all books published 1949-2022, throughout August, while stocks last.'

Huge news! Today we're launching our biggest sale ever, to celebrate the move to a shiny new website.

✨ Smooth website experience
📚 50% off ALL books from 2022 & earlier
🗓️ For all of August, while stocks last

The sale is live now at www.teherengawakapress.co.nz.

Jasmine wears a black dress and a big smile, holding her glass trophy and a certificate. There is a red banner behind her saying 'Booksellers: Proudly supporting Aotearoa New Zealand booksellers since 1921.'

The announcement of Jasmine's win. White text on a black background says: 'Book industry Awards 2025 Award for Publisher Trailblazer. WINNER, Jasmine Sargent, Te Herenga Waka University Press.' There is a gold ring around Jasmine's name.

We're SO proud that our Editor (Māori) Jasmine Sargent was recognised as a publisher trailblazer at the Book Industry Awards last night! 🎉 The judges said Jas stood out in a very strong category: ‘She has carved out an important cultural role, providing a safe harbour, and caring for her authors.'

🚨 We're looking for a superstar administrator to join our little team! Applications close on Friday 25 July. 📚
ejye.fa.ap1.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

🎉💐

Happy publication day, Catherine! What a thrill to be sending The Book of Guilt out to meet readers ✨ Congratulations on yet another brilliant novel 💛

@catherinechidgey.bsky.social

teherengawakapress.co.nz/the-book-of-...

Congratulations to Tina Makereti on the publication of her stunning first book of nonfiction. A huge achievement and a very important pukapuka. We're proud to be sharing This Compulsion In Us with readers 💙

@tinamakereti.bsky.social

teherengawakapress.co.nz/this-compuls...

Happy publication day to Mikaela Nyman! We are so proud to be sharing The Anatomy of Sand with the world, it is an excellent volume of poetry. Congratulations, Mikaela 💚

@miknyman.bsky.social

teherengawakapress.co.nz/the-anatomy-...

From tomorrow, 8 May, you should be able to walk into any bookshop in Aotearoa and pick up a copy of The Book of Guilt! The wonderful booksellers can't wait to share this one with you ✨

@catherinechidgey.bsky.social

💔😡 just awful

Table displaying analysis of social media abuse targeting Tory Whanau. The table contains three columns: "Category," "Description," and "Examples from tweets or Facebook comments." It documents 20 categories of harassment including gendered misogyny, sexualised attacks, racialised elements targeting her Māori heritage, political conspiracy allegations, financial motivation accusations, mental health mockery, substance abuse references, appearance-based criticism, and competence questioning. Each category includes direct quotes showing the explicit, intersectional nature of the abuse that combines sexism, racism, and ableism to delegitimise her political standing. A small section notes supportive comments defending her against misogyny and racism.

Whanau's critics expose themselves: misogynistic slurs, mockery of Māori heritage, mental health ridicule, sexualisation, & conspiracy theories. This isn't "political criticism". It's a toxic intersection of racism and sexism that esp. targets wāhine Māori, & there too, those in Green Party more.

Aotearoa used to have one lobby group representing babies that I know of - '26 for babies' who were lobbying for 26 weeks of paid parental leave. But they achieved their goal and I don't know if they're still around now. We need more!

If you're not on our mailing list, you should be!! 😃 Here's the newsletter you may have missed yesterday, packed with events and good news...

mailchi.mp/wgtn.ac.nz/t...

Top stories in New Zealand Mar 7 2020. Covid, Covid, Covid, Covid, & Peanut Slab icecream bars

I am reminded it has recently been the five year anniversary of Peanut Slab icecream bars.

I can't believe nothing has changed in over 30 years

This February, we saw a 275% increase in new Libro.fm memberships compared to February 2024.

More and more individuals are choosing to support their independent bookshop—and their local communities—over Amazon/Audible. Thank you for supporting your indie with us ❤️

Hi, just a reminder that when you use Libro.fm for your audiobooks, you support independent bookshops vs. large corporations that drive them out of business.

We also pay taxes. And so do indie bookshops.

.

Gaza

The dead boy tries to open his eyes.
He wants to see the world he is leaving.
But there is nothing to see here,
nothing and nothing, and anyway he is gone.
His parents held him while he died
but they are both dead, too.
Or he held them, no one remembers.

.

Then at 4pm, hear six exceptional writers, including THWUP's essa may ranapiri and Tracey Slaughter, talk inspiration and read from their work in 'Slings and Arrows' - a great tasting-plate of writing from Hamilton and further afield... Tickets here: haftokk-premier.eventfinda.co.nz/2025/slings-...

On Saturday 22 Feb at 2:30, Michelle Rahurahu and Airana Ngarewa will talk to Miriama Kamo about their bright-burning novels in 'At the Heart of It'. This will be an incredible, rich conversation for readers and writers to listen to. Get tickets here: haftokk-premier.eventfinda.co.nz/2025/at-the-...

Only a week until HamLit begins, as part of Hamilton Arts Festival! We're really looking forward to these literary events, with some wonderful THWUP authors involved!

Check out the full programme here: hamiltonartsfestival.co.nz/hamlit/

Wonderful news! If you missed a Writers on Mondays session (or want to hear it again) the podcast version is launched! Airini Beautrais and Flora Feltham in conversation with Michelle Duff is available now ✨️

So much news! 📖