The New Zealand Book Council has been running the Writers in Schools programme for over 40 years.
This year the Book Council expanded the programme to create The Otahuhu Writers in Schools Project, 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 Services to Schools programme, and the New Zealand Book Council's Writers in Schools programme.
Five low decile schools in Otahuhu (South Auckland) hosted five diverse New Zealand writers in residence over terms three and four. They encouraged and inspired students to develop their creative writing talents and helped them to publish their work in a series of anthologies.
Beattie's Book Blog has published an item on The Otahuhu Writers in Schools Project, which includes a section by Paula Morris, the writer in residence at Otahuhu Intermediate. The blog post is available here.