Listen: 2026 New Voices of Aotearoa list

19 June 2026 First published RNZ

If you want to know where the future of New Zealand literature is headed next, the New Voices of Aotearoa list is probably the perfect place to start.

The 2026 list has just been announced, spotlighting eight writers working across fiction, poetry and non-fiction.

From bestselling novelists and award-winning poets to historians, journalists and nature writers, the list celebrates the authors shaping the next chapter of Aotearoa's literary landscape.

Louise Ward is a bestselling author and co-owner of Wardini Books, one of New Zealand's best-known independent bookstores. 

She's one of the judges behind this year's selections and she joined Susana Lei’ataua on Nights, on RNZ National.