MASON PUBLISHING SCHOLARSHIP

The trustees of the estate of the late Andrew Mason (pic left) are very pleased to announce the founding of a scholarship in publishing endowed by Andrew, well-known and highly respected editor, who, sadly, died in January. The scholarship, to be given in memory of Andrew and his father, Malcolm J Mason, writer and publisher, will be known as the Mason Publishing Scholarship.

It will be offered annually to a student studying publishing at a tertiary level and chosen on the basis of financial need. It will be awarded for the first time in 2010.

The Mason Publishing Trust might also from time to time be able to provide financial assistance to other initiatives in publishing training or education.
The trustees will be working with Diploma in Publishing staff at the Whitireia Community Polytechnic and with BPANZ to finalise details and draw up terms and conditions.

Andrew Mason was Literary Editor of the Listener from 1981 to 1991, worked as an editor for Bridget Williams Books to 1996 and in recent years as a freelance editor.

He edited many important books including Michael King’s History of New Zealand and Judith Binney’s Redemption Songs and also worked for the Waitangi Tribunal.

He was several times a judge of the New Zealand Book Awards; he was also a member of the QEII Arts Council and chairman of the Arts Council Literature Committee.

As an editor, his standards were exacting and, as Fergus Barrowman said at his memorial service, publishers always gave him their most challenging and problematic manuscripts knowing he would unfailingly succeed in turning them into publishable and often ground-breaking publications.