Writer Julian Novitz about to take up Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship

Julian Novitz, the award-winning short fiction and novel writer, will take up his residency at the Sargeson Centre alongside Auckland University from 1 July 2009.
Novitz, one of the joint winners of this year’s Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship, will be using his five-month residency at the Sargeson Centre apartment to work on the second draft of a novel, as well as completing several further short stories.
His first book, My Real Life and other stories (Random House, 2004), won the New Zealand Society of Authors Hubert Church Best First Book Award for Fiction at the Montana New Zealand Book Awards in 2005. His story Three Couples won the 2008 Katherine Mansfield Short Story Award late last year.
Holocaust Tours (Random House, 2006) was Novitz’s first novel, and his work has also appeared in several editions of The Best New Zealand Fiction.
As part of the Fellowship, Novitz and this year’s other winner, Steve Braunias, each receive a $20,000 grant, allowing them to write full time while using the apartment.

Buddle Findlay National Chairman, Peter Chemis, says both writers are following a tradition that has seen many of New Zealand’s most distinguished authors use the distraction-free space and facilities that the apartment offers.
“Having sponsored the Fellowship since 1997, we are delighted at the contribution we have been able to make towards New Zealand’s constantly developing literary tradition, which is such an important element in our cultural identity.”
The Sargeson Fellowship was established in 1987 to commemorate Frank Sargeson and provide assistance for New Zealand writers. It aims to offer outstanding writers the opportunity to write full time, free from financial pressure. .
Past Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellows (from 1997 onwards) include: Shonagh Koea, Diane Brown, Catherine Chidgey, Sarah Quigley, Tina Shaw, Kapka Kassabova, Sue Reidy, James Brown, Charlotte Grimshaw, Vivienne Plumb, Chad Taylor, Denis Baker, Riemke Ensing, Toa Fraser, Debra Daley, Karyn Hay, Craig Marriner, Fiona Samuel, Peter Cox, Emily Perkins, James George, Brigid Lowry, Paula Morris and Steve Braunias.