Whitireia and WelTec | Te Pūkenga celebrate 30 years of Publishing with Everything I Know About Books: An insider look at publishing in Aotearoa

New Zealand poet Hera Lindsay Bird describes the book as “An eclectic, funny and informative glimpse inside local publishing. Full of strange anecdotes, surprising wisdom and lots of good advice.”

The book includes contributions from award-winning authors such as Ashleigh Young, Anahera Gildea, Michael Bennett, Paula Morris and Selina Tusitala Marsh, as well as a foreword by Witi Ihimaera.

In the introduction titled “Everything we know about teaching publishing”, Odessa and Theresa discuss the programmes significance:

“The course we run is an incubator for the industry. It is the only accredited publishing training in the country, and it’s run for—and with—industry. This year is the thirtieth anniversary, so the course’s many graduates now populate publishing across Aotearoa and overseas.”

Since the programme began in 1993, it has provided a yearly class of eager publishing students with the skills and knowledge needed to find their place in the industry:

“Each year, we meet a new crop of keen, smart, interesting students, who bring their own experiences and perspectives. We get to help them gain skills, find their community (as one graduate describes: ‘I felt like I truly belonged for the first time in my life’) and—so often—enter the industry.”

They also explain their reasons for publishing a book to mark the anniversary:

“We wanted to share what publishing is and can be, to draw back the curtain on the mystery that surrounds the industry.”

Everything I Know About Books is being released on Thursday 12 October. The eBook will be available for purchase online through the Whitireia and WelTec website, with physical copies available at all good bookstores around the country.

Author events will also be held at bookstores across the country. Find out how to get yourself a copy or to find an event near you below. 

Everything I Know About Books: An insider look at publishing in Aotearoa

A vibrant anthology that gives a behind-the-scenes peek into the book trade in Aotearoa. 

From creating a festival of dreams to nurturing a space for Māori storytelling, from establishing an anarchist press to crafting an Ockham-shortlisted novel on a wild Hokitika beach—with plenty of honest how-to and insider intel in between—this collection weaves together 70 candid, funny, thought-provoking, and powerful pieces from our leading writers, poets, publishers, booksellers, festival makers, artists, reviewers, editors and more, in a taonga for our times.  

Featuring a foreword by Witi Ihimaera, Everything I Know About Books celebrates 30 years of the Whitireia Publishing course in an insightful and illuminating read for book lovers everywhere.