INTERNATIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT
OF THE COMMONWEALTH WRITERS’ PRIZE 2009

Overall Best Book and Best First Book Winners for 2009
as part of the Auckland Writers & Readers Festival at the ASB Theatre, Aotea Centre, Auckland on Saturday May 16 at 7.30pm

The prestigious Commonwealth Writers’ Prize is in its 23rd year. Each year a different Commonwealth country has the honour of hosting the awards. In 2009 the awards are in partnership with the Auckland Writers & Reader’s Festival (AWRF).

A star-studded awards ceremony hosted by broadcaster John Campbell is being held at the Aotea Centre announcing the overall winner for Best Book and Best First Book 2009.
Speakers include the Governor General, The Hon Sir Anand Satyanand, PCNZM, QSO, representing the New Zealand Government; Julie White, Head, Macquarie Group Foundation; Dr Mark Collins, Director, Commonwealth Foundation; Justice Nicholas Hasluck, Chair of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize (pic left); Jill Rawnsley, AWRF Director and New Zealand’s Lloyd Jones, the overall winner of the 2007 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize Best Book (pic right).

The Commonwealth Writers’ Prize (CWP) is run by the Commonwealth Foundation (CF) with the generous support and funding of the Macquarie Group Foundation. The CF is an intergovernmental development agency that runs programmes in 53 commonwealth countries, in areas of environmental sustainability and employment, poverty reduction, culture and the arts, governance and democracy. The CWP is run by the culture division – and aims to reward excellence for books written in English throughout the Commonwealth, to support and develop new writers and to develop cultural ties.


The winners for both Best Book and Best First Book will be chosen by a panel of judges from Australia, India, Jamaica, New Zealand and South Africa and meet in Wellington on 11 May & 12 May. They choose the best books from the eight regional winners of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize that were announced in March 2009, from the four global regions of Africa, Canada and the Caribbean, Europe and South Asia and South East Asia and the Pacific.

A unique feature of the Prize is the writers’ participation in a week-long series of events where the visiting writers give readings, take part in public Q&As and visit schools and prisons in Auckland, Napier and Wellington.

The winners will not be notified of their win prior to the ceremony.
Seven of the eight regional winners will be present at this prestigious world event.