Library News

Isla Paul submitted her poem The Long Breath to the Tūhono Journal of Wellington Children's Poetry in 2022 and at the time, the theme of this edition was Breath.

Wellington City Libraries will be opening submissions for the next edition of the Tūhono Journal at the end of Term 1 and beginning of Term 2, from 1 April – 12 May 2024. The theme will be “tūmanako | hope.” In more detail:

• Theme: The kupu Māori ‘tūmanako‘ has a wide range of meanings, including the act of hoping or wishing for something to happen, as well as hope as an object — something that you greatly desire, yearn for, or wish to be so. When you are writing your poem, you might like to think about some of the following questions, but as always with Tūhono, there is no single way we expect you to respond to this theme:

o Act of hoping — how does hope make you feel? What does hope help you to achieve? What does hope mean to you? When you are hoping for something to happen, what thoughts and feelings come into your mind? How does the act of hoping make your body feel?

o Hope as an object — Do you hope for something tangible, like a new thing to own? What does that thing look like, smell like, taste like, sound like, or feel like? Do you hope for something intangible, like world peace? What does that look like, smell like, taste like, sound like, or feel like? When you have gained (or not) the thing that you have hoped for, what do you think that will feel like?

• Length: Poems submitted should not be longer than one A4 page typed, with size 12 font and 1.5 line spacing. Only one poem per person will be accepted.

• Language: Poems may be written in English or te reo Māori.

Students are invited to write about something related to this theme and send them to their teacher or to Mrs Bamber for submission.Please email poems or questions to wendy.bamber@seatoun.school.nz.