Claire Murdoch, PANZ Photo: supplied
Demand for locally produced audio books has never been bigger, but up till now there's been no way to scale up production and create a self-sustaining industry.
To make this possible, the Publishers Association of New Zealand (PANZ) has received almost half a million dollars from Manatū Taonga the Ministry for Culture and Heritage's $28 million Cultural Regeneration Fund.
In the first round of bids for the Fund, only five groups, out of 66 applicants, have received grants - adding up to $3 million.
The remaining 25-million will be shared out over three more funding rounds. There are over 600 groups applying, all with ideas on how to support arts practitioners and communities now and into the future.
But it was the audio book initiative that caught our eye. Lynn Freeman talks with Claire Murdoch who's a PANZ Council member and Head of Publishing at Penguin Random House New Zealand.
