Two award-winning NZ authors tour Tairāwhiti to get kids reading

On 19 August 2025, the Gisborne Herald published an article titled Two award-winning NZ authors tour Tairāwhiti to get kids reading, available here. Excerpts from the article follow:

Tairāwhiti schools have been treated this week to authors Te Kahu Rolleston and Brianne Te Paa touring the region as part of the Writers in Schools programme run by Read NZ.

The programme’s mission is to get kids in schools hyped about reading and storytelling by connecting them with authors who reflect their own lived experiences.

The published authors are “experts at invigorating even reluctant readers,” Read NZ chief executive Juliet Blyth said. ...

Blyth said there was a perception that reading was dying due to the rise of tools like AI, and with recent research showing a drop in the number of 18 to 35-year-olds reading, it was urgent kids got hooked on books. ...

“Tamariki and rangatahi are more engaged when they can see themselves in stories,” Blyth said.

Additional Information:

• Writers in Communities