We've been interviewing for our summer internships these past couple of weeks, and we've been blown away by the exceptional calibre of the applicants. A tremendous thank you to all who applied - you made the selection process gut-wrenchingly tough. It's with great pleasure that we announce our two interns for 2015:

Sam Brooks

Sam Brooks is an Auckland-based writer. He has had seven plays performed at The Basement and won several awards for his writing, including being named as Auckland's Most Exciting Playwright in 2014 and being nominated for a Chapman Tripp Award for Outstanding New Playwright. He has written theatre reviews for The Lumiere Reader since 2011, and his other writing has appeared on The Wireless and in Express Magazine.

Kirsti Whalen

Kirsti Whalen is a writer, disability advocate and support worker currently studying creative writing at Manukau Institute of Technology. Her work has been published widely in journals and shortlisted for a number of awards. Though she once greatly enjoyed a brief stint as a camel trainer in the Austrian mountains, her first and true love is language, in all its wily forms.