Stories


What will you read today? If you don't have time to read now, bookmark your favourite ones and check your Reading List later. If you are taking the bus, find our posters, scan and access a curated collection, part of Stories on the Go

Stories are copyrighted material and shared here with explicit authorisation from authors and/or publishers. Copyright in each work remains with the author.

Stories for Suitable for Young Adult Readers
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Inspiration: Artwork by Owen Dippie Ballerina twirling past me dressed in a beautiful blue. Two girls invite me to play their game of hide and ...More

Inspired by Street Art
Cleo Hopkinson

1 min read

Published by Paint n' Pen Submission
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Inspiration: Kaitaki by Fin Dac Feathers rising high above the clouds Powerful wāhine warrior, our guardian Watching and waiting Protecting Christ ...More

Inspired by Street Art
Published by Paint n' Pen Submission
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Inspiration: “Elephants” by Owen Dippie     A family, part of a herd, strong, steady and constant. My first visit to Chri ...More

Inspired by Street Art
Jean-Paul Leung

1 min read

Published by Paint n' Pen Submission
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A wedding in the Depression could be – well, depressing when a girl’s happiest day was pinched by poverty. So when Pauline and Eddie married it was si ...More

NZ History
Garrick Batten

8 min read

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I was looking forward to 2011. I hadn’t been finding 2010 to be a very settled year. On one level I put the unsettled feeling down to it being the Year of ...More

Non Fiction
Kay McKenzie Cooke

12 min read

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    The house at 660 Castle Street was built as a Presbyterian Manse in 1923, designed by architect E.W. Walden and built by Loan and ...More

History, Non Fiction, NZ History
Sarah K Gallagher

7 min read

Published by Imagination Press
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Inspiration: Artwork by Cracked Ink   Silver fences keep me from the touch of tourists. I am kissed by cameras, spoken around, as though I have not le ...More

Inspired by Street Art
Meché Phillips

1 min read

Published by Paint n' Pen Submission
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There was the hand to hold and he held it. Beau’s hand, big, bold, Beau’s hand and he felt happy and proud and self-conscious and amazed all at once. They ...More

Drama, Fiction
Scott Menzies

8 min read

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It was a pretty chill place to live for the first two thirds of the year. It was a place of freedom and acceptance, a place of thinking, talking, cups ...More

History, Non Fiction, NZ History
Sarah K Gallagher

15 min read

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  Kingdom of Blong is the fifth in the Elastic Island Adventures children’s book series for children aged 7 – 12, although note all the ...More

* STORIES ON THE GO, Action & Adventure, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Humor & Comedy, Travel & Environment
Karen McMillan

17 min read

Published by Duckling Publishing
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Inspiration: The Hector Dive by Telmo and Miel     Take me with you, Dolphin, let me Clasp tightly Onto your jagged fin Breath through ...More

Inspired by Street Art
Published by Paint n' Pen Submission
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I had a sinking feeling in my stomach that January when I arrived in Dunedin. I stood in front of the dirty shallow porch of my flat and it wasn’t qu ...More

History, Non Fiction, NZ History
Sarah K Gallagher

11 min read

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Inspiration: Artwork by Jacob Yikes   The afternoon sun has made Alice sleepy. She follows White Rabbit down a different dark, mossy hole and e ...More

Inspired by Street Art
Alice Li

2 min read

Published by Paint n' Pen Submission
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Inspiration: High Pressure/Low Pressure by Josh O’Rourke   Dragons fly easy High streams of sibylline light Lazy loops of gold Cerulean mystery L ...More

Inspired by Street Art
Fern Mercier

1 min read

Published by Paint n' Pen Submission

Mo

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When Mo was born her mother fractured into tiny pieces, her father disintegrated and her family broke up completely. Mo was left in the care of a variety of ...More

Fiction
Bill Nagelkerke

18 min read

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Inspiration: High Pressure/Low Pressure by Josh O’Rourke     Rarer than gold Water shading, light dancing, greased lightning. Shi ...More

Inspired by Street Art
Fern Mercier

1 min read

Published by Paint n' Pen Submission
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Inspiration: Artwork by Tepid and Wisk     A continuous loop repeating itself. A couple seconds closer to your birthday. A few seconds closer to ...More

Inspired by Street Art
Amor Budiyanto

1 min read

Published by Paint n' Pen Submission
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Inspiration: Artwork by Richard “Pops” Baker   Don’t hang me on the wall of your lounge Freeze frame frozen in time I need undi ...More

Inspired by Street Art
Published by Paint n' Pen Submission
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Eddy Smallbone (orphan) is grappling with identity, love, loss, and religion. It’s two years since he blew up his school life and the earthq ...More

Literary Fiction
Kate De Goldi

22 min read

Published by Allen & Unwin
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Flip Flop Bay is the sixth in the Elastic Island Adventures children’s book series for children aged 7 – 12, but note the books can be read as stand ...More

* STORIES ON THE GO, Action & Adventure, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Humor & Comedy, Travel & Environment
Karen McMillan

18 min read

Published by Duckling Publishing
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Nā J.K. Rowling ~ Nā Leon Heketū Blake  i whakamāori  Ko tētahi o ngā tino kōrero mā ngā tamariki ā mohoa nei, ko tā J.K. Rowling Ha ...More

* STORIES ON THE GO, Action & Adventure, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Translation
J. K. Rowling

33 min read

Published by Auckland University Press
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Inspiration: Artwork by D Side     Cluck, cluck, cluck, A pirate digging. Dig, dig, dig, Deeper in the sand. Brr, brr, The tree leaves swishing, Sw ...More

Inspired by Street Art
Selena Budiyanto

1 min read

Published by Paint n' Pen Submission