Pen pal book group celebrates a year of fostering friendship

A group of literary pen pals will celebrate its first anniversary tomorrow, ending a full first year of fostering reading and friendships across Aotearoa.

Pen Pal Book Gals (PPBG) is a book and letter exchange group based in Wellington that operates across the country.

“No matter who the stranger is that you get matched up with, you already know there’s a commonality in the sense that you both love reading,” says PPBG founder Alice Yu.

What started as an idea in the shower has now grown into a nationwide literary group.

Every two months, book enthusiasts can sign up for the exchange.

It requires a payment which covers the postage bag sent to participants, who in turn, send a book and letter to their designated pen pal.

At first, PPBG brought in roughly 50 people per sign-up.

Now, a year later, Yu says there are almost 200 eager pen pals. But the demand didn’t spawn overnight, and Yu’s current approach to success was made through trial and error.

“So the first few rounds of [PPBG], I was handwriting every address, the welcome packs and also the little cards the girls get for their pen pal addresses. And that would take almost four or five nights a week."

Yu has now switched to sticky labels.

Stacey Francis, a two-time participant, says she appreciates the simplicity of PPBG. She says the exchange is a safe way to connect with similar people and provides a chance to grow friendships, especially for those with disabilities.

“A lot of people with disabilities have high anxiety,” says Francis.

“There’s not an expectation that you carry on communicating or you’ll do anything extra. It’s just a simple exchange.

“I think keeping it simple as well makes it accessible too.”

However, she noted physical books aren’t accessible for people with disabilities such as dyslexia.

Yu says that she’s received a few requests for audiobooks but currently has no plan to expand the service.

She works a full-time job and runs PPBG as a side hobby, which is one of the reasons why she keeps the process so simple.

“It’s a one-woman band.”

While she doesn’t currently plan to add audiobooks to her service, Yu says the simplicity allows participants to get creative.

While a physical book and letter are required, pen pals have previously also included chocolate, socks, candles and tea. If it fits into the prepaid postage bag, it’s good to go.

*Our journalists sometimes use AI tools which are checked by humans for accuracy.

AI was used to transcribe audio from the interview.