Background
The annual Storylines Festival began as a writers' initiative, a dream to bring New Zealand children together with their favourite New Zealand authors. In 1993 a group of 33 writers and illustrators gathered for a magical weekend together at Joy Cowley's seaside home in the beautiful Marlborough Sounds. For three days they talked, laughed and shared their stories. They also dreamed of a festival that celebrated New Zealand writers and illustrators where they could meet many of the young readers who enjoyed their books.
The concept was adopted in 1993 by the Children's Book Foundation, later to become the Children's Literature Foundation (CLFNZ), now the Storylines Children's Literature Charitable Trust, and has been developed through subsequent annual festivals.
The first Festival of New Zealand Children's Writers and Illustrators was held in Auckland. Nearly 11,000 visitors came to the first free Family Day at the Auckland War Memorial Museum to hear their favourite authors read stories and to enjoy the illustrators' painted mural and the Kids' Lit Quiz. The Storylines Bus took authors to meet many more thousands of children in schools around the Auckland region.
Initially, the festival was held in the greater Auckland area as the country's largest centre of population, with the vision of expanding to other major centres in the course of time. The major components were to be a Free Family Day, a four-day schools' tour by a busload of authors and illustrators; a children's literature quiz. It would be held annually in June over a period of four or five days. These three events have, until the recent shift of dates to August, remained the core features; adult seminars and workshops for adults and children have been added in recent years.
The first two festivals were held at the Auckland War Memorial Museum. Since 1995 Storylines Festival has been developed in partnership with THE EDGE, regularly attracting more than 20,000 to the Free Family Day held at the Aotea Centre.
For the first decade, Storylines was held only in the greater Auckland area. In 2004 it expanded to include seminars in Christchurch and Wellington, and Family Days in Wellington and New Plymouth, as signs of progress in its second decade towards being a truly national festival. In 2005 Northland was added to the agenda and Whangarei and Kerikeri are now included, the venue alternating between the two. A move to the South Island, with the first Family Day in Christchurch, took place in 2008. The Storylines Festival is now a recognised feature of the national literary calendar.
While the main focus remains firmly on New Zealand authors, from 2000 two top Australian authors or illustrators have usually been invited as guests for the Family Day, workshops and seminars.
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Governance, Funding and Structure
From the beginning, a generous annual grant from an anonymous donor enabled a coordinator to be employed. Today Storylines Festival is administered by a professional manager, along with an executive officer responsible for fundraising for the entire Storylines organisation, both contracted to the Storylines Trust. These contractors are supported by the volunteer Storylines management and festival committees, and a large, loyal and enthusiastic corps of volunteers, who become involved on the day. The Story Tour has its own co-ordinator, working alongside the Festival manager. Continuity of input at all levels has meant the steady growth of considerable 'professional' organising skills among the volunteers.
The festival coordinators since 1993 have been Penny Hansen, Margie Greer, Jill Brewis, Robin Houlker, Crissi Blair and currently Vicki Cunningham.
The basic philosophy of Storylines Festival is that events are open to all children (Family Days and schools visited by the Story Tour) are free, so there are no barriers to attendance from an economic perspective (only workshops and seminars are ticketed and self-funding – and that authors are paid appropriately for their professional participation.
Funding year-by-year has been achieved by developing partnerships for grants or 'in-kind' support from principally THE EDGE and Creative New Zealand, ASB Community Trust and the New Zealand Lotteries Grants Board along with major support from corporate businesses, publishers, community trusts and philanthropic foundations, booksellers, local bodies and the media.
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Events
The now well-established format of Storylines Festival includes:
- Free Family Days, principally targeted at families with children from age 3 to 14, in Auckland, Wellington, Northland and Christchurch.
- Seminars featuring leading writers and commentators, for adult and senior students in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
- Workshops for children, held in Auckland, by leading Storylines Festival participants (writers, illustrators and storytellers). Most sessions are sold out.
- Story Tours in the greater Auckland region and Northland, held over four days and featuring around 10 authors, illustrators and storytellers, visiting more than 70 early childhood centres and schools, reaching more than 12,000 students. (The tour is over-subscribed by schools, so a waiting list is carried over from year to year).
Total rough estimate of numbers reached would be upwards of 40,000 in four centres.
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The future
From late 2005 the storylines Festival came under the direct governance of the Storylines Children’s Literature Charitable Trust of New Zealand, a trust formed to sit alongside the Storylines Foundation with legal responsibility for its finances, its activities – including the Storylines Festival – and strategic planning.
The ongoing challenge for Storylines is to manage the growth of the festival with the resources available and the resources judged to be necessary to maintain high standards and profile. The search for a major long-term sponsor continues.
Storylines believes its festival sits comfortably alongside the New Zealand Post Book Festival and Awards, New Zealand Book Month, and other literary celebrations held at various times of the year around the country. These annual events ensure that New Zealand children have a regular annual continuity of emphasis on books, authors and reading.
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