Nominate your Great Kiwi Classic

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Nominate your Great Kiwi Classic

The hunt for the Great Kiwi Classic returns in 2015 and New Zealand readers nationwide are invited to join our celebration of iconic Kiwi books by nominating their favourites.

Launched in 2014 by the New Zealand Book Council and Auckland Writers Festival, the Great Kiwi Classic initiative is an annual opportunity for readers of all ages and interests to celebrate our most treasured books and writers.

Last year Keri Hulme’s Booker Prize-winning novel The Bone People was selected as the inaugural Great Kiwi Classic after a wealth of public nominations. One year on, we are once again asking enthusiastic readers to help decide which book deserves to be crowned this year’s supreme title.

We want to hear what your most loved classic is and why. Your choice might be decades old or hot off the press, celebrated or obscure, a charming romantic romp or a piece of social commentary so searing it has ended friendships. Any book written by a Kiwi writer is in the running.

To nominate your Great Kiwi Classic and tell us why it’s the one, visit the Great Kiwi Classic Facebook page: www.facebook.com/GreatKiwiClassic, or email your suggestions to greatkiwiclassic@bookcouncil.org.nz.

Nominations open Thursday 15 January and close 5pm Friday 13 February.

Throughout the campaign join us on Facebook for fresh debate, book giveaways, competitions and more. Nominate the same book you put forward last year, update your choice or join in the discussion. Follow the vote and read expert literary opinions on the New Zealand Book Council's online magazine Booknotes Unbound (http://booknotes-unbound.org.nz/).

After nominations close our panel will convene to consider nominations, with the big reveal of this year’s classic announced at the launch of the Auckland Writers Festival programme on Tuesday 17 March.

The Great Kiwi Classic 2015 will then be the subject of a lively event at the Festival in May, featuring top writers and experts in a book club style discussion where all views on the book and its claim to classic status will be entertained.

Spread the word and make your vote count in 2015. The hunt for the next Great Kiwi Classic is on!

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Key points:

• The New Zealand Book Council and Auckland Writers Festival are running a search for the 2015 Great Kiwi Classic book.

• Nominations and comments are invited on the Great Kiwi Classic Facebook pagewww.facebook.com/GreatKiwiClassic or via email to greatkiwiclassic@bookcouncil.org.nz by 5pm, Friday 13 February.

• A celebration of iconic Kiwi books will take place during the hunt on Facebook and Booknotes Unbound (http://booknotes-unbound.org.nz/)

• A free panel event will be held as part of the Auckland Writers Festival in May to discuss and celebrate the selected 2015 Great Kiwi Classic.

Key links:

• Great Kiwi Classic Facebook page: www.facebook.com/GreatKiwiClassic

• Great Kiwi Classic email: greatkiwiclassic@bookcouncil.org.nz

• Auckland Writers Festival website: http://writersfestival.co.nz/

• New Zealand Book Council website: www.bookcouncil.org.nz

• Booknotes Unbound NZ literary magazine: http://booknotes-unbound.org.nz/

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