Paula Green reflects on the Otahuhu Writers in Schools Project

NZ Book Council Blog.

The Otahuhu Writers in Schools Project: Paula Green and Fairburn School

Did you know New Zealand Book Council has been running our Writers in Schools programme for over 40 years? In that time, we’ve reached one million students at over 10,000 events.

This year, we’ve expanded the programme to include The Otahuhu Writers in Schools Project.

This project is an innovative collaboration between five Otahuhu primary/intermediate schools, Reading Together (a Ministry of Education supported reading initiative), the Otahuhu Community Library, the National Library and the Book Council’s Writers in Schools programme.

It is the first time that we have attempted something so ambitious and it’s very exciting for us!

Five low decile schools in Otahuhu (South Auckland) hosted a diverse range of NZ writers in residence for six days over term three and term four. They worked with students to help them develop their creative writing skills.

The participating writers were Lino Nelisi, Courtney Meredith, Paula Green, Paula Morris, Vasanti Unka, and Grace Taylor.

The final outcome of The Otahuhu Writers in Schools Project will be a publication created by each school featuring the work developed by students during the writing workshops.

We are very grateful to Rotary for their generous support. Their funding enabled us to expand and develop this programme into a much more substantial project than would have otherwise been possible.

The project will culminate in a celebratory event at the Otahuhu library in November.

Read about New Zealand children's poet Paula Green's expeierence at Fairburn School here.