New Zealand literature news

Pacific wind blows through online poetry

04 April 2007.
The salt tang of the Pacific Ocean is a pervasive presence in Best New Zealand Poems 2006, an annual online collection launched by the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University.

The work in Best New Zealand Poems 2006 was selected by New Zealand poets Anne Kennedy and Robert Sullivan, who are teaching at the University of Hawai'i. Island nature is evident in the poetry they have chosen - from the Cook Strait gales and Manawatu floods of David Eggleton's The Weather Bomb and the "dark snout" of Kapiti Island in Hinemoana Baker's One to Karlo Mila's Pulotu Wing about Tonga in mourning.

Powerful poems on illness, mortality and ancestors come from C.K. Stead, Michele Leggott, Jenny Bornholdt, Alistair Te Ariki Campbell and Andrew Johnston. And for the first time the anthology features digital poetry from Richard von Sturmer and Brian Flaherty.

Best New Zealand Poems 2006 is published with the support of a $4000 grant from Creative New Zealand through the Arts Board and is hosted by the New Zealand Electronic Text Centre at Victoria University.

In their introduction, Kennedy and Sullivan say they did their best "to scout the diverse ethnic and intellectual communities that New Zealand poets belong to".

Their selection reflects the wide range of poetry communities at work here. Each poet has supplied a note on the poem that illuminates the circumstances of its composition, making Best New Zealand Poems an entry point for readers unfamiliar with the work of particular writers and a treasure chest of information for students of New Zealand literature.

Professor Bill Manhire, Director of the International Institute of Modern Letters, says: "We feel that this publication is a real case where the internet has made possible an initiative that - in New Zealand - would simply not be viable in terms of conventional book publishing. Most of all, it breaks through the distribution barrier that prevents New Zealand poetry from reaching an international audience."

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Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement - Your chance to nominate outstanding New Zealand writers

19 March 2007.
Readers, writers, groups and organisations are invited to participate in the Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement 2007 by nominating an outstanding New Zealand writer in the genres of poetry, fiction and non-fiction.

Worth $60,000 each, the annual Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement recognise writers who have made a significant contribution to New Zealand literature. The awards are administered by Creative New Zealand.

Alick Shaw, Acting Chair of Creative New Zealand, said the Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement are a highlight of the literary calendar.

"This is a great chance for the public to pay tribute to those New Zealand writers whose work they most admire," Alick Shaw said. "By nominating writers worthy of this honour, you're ensuring that your choice will be considered in the selection process."

All eligible nominations will be assessed by an expert literary panel and recommendations will go to the Council of Creative New Zealand for approval.

Fiction includes novels, short stories, plays, children's fiction and scriptwriting. For non-fiction, writers across all disciplines (e.g. biography, history, travel, culture, the environment) are eligible and the main determinant is the quality of the work.

Nominated writers must be New Zealand citizens or resident in New Zealand. They should have written a body of work that has received national acclaim and/or international recognition.

The Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement were established in 2003. Previous recipients are not eligible for consideration in other genres. The complete list of recipients is:

Fiction: Janet Frame (2003), Maurice Gee (2004), Margaret Mahy (2005), Patricia Grace (2006)
Poetry: Hone Tuwhare (2003), Kevin Ireland (2004), Alistair Te Ariki Campbell (2005), Vincent O'Sullivan (2006)
Non-fiction: Michael King (2003), Anne Salmond (2004), Philip Temple (2005), Judith Binney (2006)
Nomination close at 5pm on Friday 15 June 2007.
Nomination forms are available from any of Creative New Zealand's offices (Auckland Tel: 09-373 3066; Christchurch Tel: 03-366 2072; Wellington Tel: 04-473 0880). You can also download the nomination forms from Creative New Zealand's website. Alternatively, simply email your nominations to Creative New Zealand, including a brief statement about why you have nominated the writers.

Lloyd Jones regional winner of Commonwealth Writers’ Prize 2007

15 March 2007.
Creative New Zealand congratulates Lloyd Jones whose novel Mister Pip has won the South East Asia and South Pacific Region of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize Best Book Award 2007.

Creative New Zealand Chief Executive Stephen Wainwright said this was a wonderful and greatly deserved achievement for Lloyd Jones.

"Lloyd has been a fulltime writer for more than twenty years and is absolutely committed to his craft," Stephen Wainwright said.

"I'm delighted that Creative New Zealand has been able to support Lloyd - firstly to write Mister Pip and now to spend time in Berlin as this year's recipient of the Creative New Zealand Berlin Writers' Residency."

The overall winner of the 21st Commonwealth Writers' Prize will be announced on 27 May 2007 at the Calabash International Literary Festival in Jamaica. Lloyd Jones will join other regional winners from Africa, Canada and the Caribbean, and Europe and South Asia.

"Lloyd's reputation as a writer, the runaway success of Mister Pip and his Berlin residency will all enhance the international profile of New Zealand literature," Stephen Wainwright said. "I'd like to wish him the very best when the overall prize is announced in May."

Two other novels by New Zealand writers were shortlisted in the South East Asia and South Pacific Region. They were Ocean Roads (Huia Publishers) by James George of Auckland and The Fainter (Victoria University Press) by Damien Wilkins of Wellington. Lloyd Jones and the shortlisted writers wrote their novels with the support of Creative New Zealand grants.

Davey Darling (Penguin Books) by Paul Shannon of Auckland and The Fish & Chip Song (Vintage) by Carl Nixon of Christchurch were shortlisted in the Best First Book category of the South East Asia and South Pacific Region. The regional winner was Tuvalu by Andrew O'Connor of Australia.

The Commonwealth Writers' Prize, awarded annually, aims to reward the best in Commonwealth fiction written in English, by both established and new writers, and to take their work to a wider audience.

In 1989 Janet Frame was the regional winner and went on to win the overall Commonwealth Writers' Prize Best Book Award 1989 for The Carpathians. The following year, Auckland writer John Cranna won the overall Commonwealth Writers' Prize Best First Book Award 1990 for Visitors.

The judging panel for the South East Asia and South Pacific Region was chaired by Dr Christine Prentice (New Zealand). She was joined by judges Dr Anne Brewster (Australia) and Sudesh Mishra (Australia).

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Lloyd Jones awarded Creative New Zealand Berlin Writers’ Residency

08 March 2007.
Lloyd Jones, author of the acclaimed novel Mister Pip, will spend a year in Berlin from August 2007 as this year's recipient of the Creative New Zealand Berlin Writers' Residency.

For more than 20 years, the versatile Wellington writer has had novels, short stories, essays and articles published in New Zealand and overseas. During the residency, he will work on a new novel as well as two non-fiction projects.

Mister Pip, published in New Zealand and Australia last year, will be published in a dozen countries this year, including Germany. The novel has also been shortlisted in the South East Asia and South Pacific region of the 2007 Commonwealth Writers' Prize.

Lloyd Jones said the timing of the residency is perfect.

"A writing life requires different things at different times. Sometimes it's simply for nothing to change. At other times, it's for your world to change. The stimulation of living in a major European city and the chance to set aside a concentrated period of time to work on new projects will be of enormous benefit to my writing," Lloyd Jones said.

The biennial Creative New Zealand Berlin Writers' Residency is the organisation's largest residency for writers. Established in 2000, it enables a New Zealand writer to focus on a writing project over a sustained period and respond to the life, people and culture of Berlin. It also provides professional development opportunities for the writer to build networks, appear at literary festivals, and give lectures and interviews.

Creative New Zealand Arts Board Chair Alastair Carruthers said the residency is highly regarded by the literary sector and contributes to the development and profile of New Zealand writing.

"Lloyd is a stunning writer, who works hard at his craft and always challenges himself to take risks and produce fresh, compelling work. I have no doubt that his time in Berlin will be of enormous benefit and that he will take every opportunity available to him," Alastair Carruthers said.

"His reputation and the success of Mister Pip means that this residency will also enhance New Zealand's literary reputation in Europe and therefore benefit all New Zealand writers."

This year's residency attracted a particularly strong line-up of applicants. The selection panel, made up of literary practitioners, commended Lloyd Jones' openness to explore new worlds in both his fiction and non-fiction, and immerse himself in the cultural life of Berlin.

The Creative New Zealand Berlin Writers' Residency alternates with the biennial Creative New Zealand Berlin Visual Artists' Residency at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien. Funded through the Arts Board, it is worth approximately $65,000. This covers the rental cost of an apartment situated in the heart of Berlin, and provides a $3000 a month stipend and travel allowance to the recipient.

Lloyd Jones has won numerous awards for his work and was the recipient of the 1989 Katherine Mansfield Fellowship. His novel, The Book of Fame, won the Deutz Medal for Fiction at the 2001 Montana New Zealand Book Awards and the 2003 Tasmania Pacific Prize.

Previous recipients are Sarah Quigley, Tina Shaw, Kapka Kassabova, Philip Temple and Tim Corballis.

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Finalists for New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children & Young Adults 2007

07 February 2007.
History, heroes and "how-to" feature among a diverse list of finalists in the New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children & Young Adults 2007, announced this week.

Ella West, a finalist for the Young Adult Award for her book, Thieves, received Creative New Zealand's Louis Johnson Writers' Bursary in 2006.

The award finalists were selected from more than 120 children's books published in New Zealand in 2006 and submitted for the awards.

Judging is across four categories: picture book; junior fiction; non-fiction; and young adult. The judging panel was made up of Keith Olsen, Ainslie Heather and Dylan Owen.

Voting for the Children's Choice Award began this week. Long considered one of the highest accolades a children's author can receive, this award is voted on by children of school age from all over New Zealand. Children are encouraged to read then place their vote, selecting from the twenty finalist titles in this year's awards. Voting can be carried out online at www.nzpostbookawards.co.nz or by using the special voting card available from bookshops, libraries or schools.

Finalists will be participating in children's book events as part of a nationwide celebration of the New Zealand Post Book Awards. The festivities begin on Monday 7 May and continue through to the awards announcement on Wednesday 16 May. A full list of touring writers will be announced at the end of February.

The New Zealand Post Book Awards are supported by Creative New Zealand through its annual funding to Booksellers New Zealand, which administers the awards. Book Tokens (NZ) Ltd also supports the awards.

The finalists in the New Zealand Post Book Awards 2007 are:

Picture Book
Kiss! Kiss! Yuck! Yuck! by Kyle Mewburn, illustrated by Ali Teo & John O'Reilly (Scholastic NZ Ltd); Matatuhi written and illustrated by Robyn Kahukiwa (Puffin); Matatuhi (Te Reo edition) written and illustrated by Robyn Kahukiwa; The Three Fishing Bothers Gruff written and illustrated by Ben Galbraith (Hodder Children's Books); Riding the Waves written and illustrated by Gavin Bishop (Random House New Zealand); Whakaeke i nga Ngaru (Te Reo edition of Riding the Waves) written and illustrated by Gavin Bishop, translated by Katerina Te Heikaka Mataira (Random House New Zealand); A Present from the Past by Jennifer Beck, illustrated by Lindy Fisher (Scholastic NZ Ltd).

Non Fiction
Winging It: The Adventures of Tim Wallis by Neville Peat (Longacre Press); Red Haze: Australians and New Zealanders in Vietnam by Leon Davidson (Black Dog Books); Soldier in the Yellow Socks by Janice Marriott (HarperCollins New Zealand); Illustrated History of the South Pacific by Marcia Stenson (Random House New Zealand); It's True! You Can Make Your Own Jokes by Sharon Holt, illustrated by Ross Kinnaird (Allen & Unwin).

Junior Fiction
Thor's Tale by Janice Marriott (HarperCollins New Zealand); My Story: Castaway - The Diary of Samuel Abraham Clark, Disappointment Island, 1907 by Bill O'Brien (Scholastic NZ Ltd); Frog Whistle Mine by Des Hunt (HarperCollins New Zealand); And Did Those Feet by Ted Dawe (Longacre Press); Boyznbikes by Vince Ford (Scholastic NZ Ltd).

Young Adult
A Respectable Girl by Fleur Beale (Random House New Zealand); Genesis by Bernard Beckett (Longacre Press); Shooting the Moon by V M. Jones (HarperCollins New Zealand); Single Fin by Aaron Topp (Random House New Zealand); Thieves by Ella West (Longacre Press).

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C.K. Stead is awarded the Order of New Zealand

07 February 2007.
Author C.K. Stead has been appointed to the Order of New Zealand, the country's highest honour, marking a career in New Zealand literature spanning more than 55 years.

"It's obviously a very great honour - I'm delighted for myself and also for Kay, my wife, and family, because it's quite an up-and-down business being a writer.

"You have good times and bad times, and I've had tremendous family support," said Professor Christian Karlson Stead. Receiving New Zealand's highest honour was not something he envisioned when he embarked on writing in the 1950s.

"Now - there's a commercial aspect to it as well, of course - but there's much more of a public for New Zealand writing, much more interest in New Zealand in our own writers."

A Professor of English at the University of Auckland for 20 years until he retired to write full-time, Professor Stead is as well known for his novels and poems as he is for his literary critiques - and the often public feuds that have stemmed from them.

He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to literature in 1985, and his appointment as an additional member of New Zealand's highest honour puts him in an elite club limited to only 20 living people at any one time.

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