Welcome to the submissions page for
Tūhono – a journal of poetry by and for young Wellingtonians.
This year’s theme is “
Tūmanako | Hope.”
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 one way we expect you to respond to this theme:
- 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?
- 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?
The aim of this journal is to allow young people to have their work published and made available for the whole community to enjoy – this is not a competition and all entries that meet the guidelines will be included in the publication, along with your preferred name and age.
Here are some guidelines to help you:
- Submissions will close at 11.59pm on Sunday 12 May 2024
- Submissions are open to all Wellingtonians between the ages of 5 and 18
- Submissions may be in English and/or te reo Māori
- Your submission should not exceed one A4 page typed with 1.5 line spacing
- This year, we are accepting submissions from groups (classes, teams, whānau and friends) as well as individuals
- Please only submit one poem as an individual
- You can be a part of a group submission, even if you have submitted an individual poem
- Provide a contact email address if you would like to be notified when Tūhono is published on Wellington City Libraries' OverDrive platform
Your submission: