Samoan student

Victoria University of Wellington's International Institute of Modern Letters announced Tamara Tulitua as this year's Emerging Pasifika Writer in Residence.

Tulitua traces her lineage through the villages of Lefaga and her writing considers identity and belonging.

The residency will provide her with 15,000 New Zealand dollars over three months and access to a mentor.

She intends to use the residency to work on a collection that mixes prose and poetry as it explores the experiences of tama'ita'i Samoa (Samoan women) in diasporic settings around the world.

Tristan Mona, 16, from Avondale College has returned home after winning first place in the final round of the championship's PowerPoint category in Orlando, Florida last week.

Students from around the world entered the competition to prove their superior skills in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

In its 17th year, the competition attracted one million entries and held regional competitions before 152 finalists were sent to the United States for the last showdown.