CLNZ | NZSA Writers Award

The CLNZ|NZSA Writers Award is an annual $25,000 grant for New Zealand writers working on a new non-fiction book project. Jointly presented by the New Zealand Society of Authors (NZSA) and Copyright Licensing New Zealand (CLNZ), the award is designed to give writers the financial breathing room to focus on a specific project and cover reasonable research costs along the way.

Applications are welcome across a broad range of non-fiction genres, and education works are explicitly included — provided the resulting book will be available for curriculum or educational use. Works with a visual component may also be considered, as long as the story is primarily text-driven. The key intention of the award is that a published book will result from the work.

Applications can be submitted in English or te Reo Māori.

Applicants will need to provide a project summary, outline of their research and consultation process, a project plan broken into four quarterly stages across a 12-month period, and a proposed budget breakdown. Supporting documents include a writing sample (5–10 pages), a CV (up to 3 pages), and expressions of interest from publishers (up to 3 pages).

If successful, the full $25,000 is paid upfront by direct credit. Recipients are asked to provide short progress reports after each project stage, and a publisher's contract letter by the end of stage three. Acknowledgement of the award must appear in the resulting publication, along with the CLNZ logo.

To be eligible, applicants must be a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident and a writer of proven merit. The work must be an original, unpublished non-fiction project not yet completed.

The application fee is $30 for NZSA or PANZ members, and $50 for non-members.

Applications open 12 June 2026 at 9am and close 17 July 2026 at 4pm.