Copyright Licensing New Zealand (CLNZ) Contributes over $1 Million to NZ Non-Fiction

Since the CLNZ Writers’ Awards first began in 2001, Copyright Licensing New Zealand has contributed over $1 million dollars to assist budding kiwi non- fiction writers.  It is one of the largest monetary prize offerings of its kind in New Zealand. Every year, the two winners each receive $35,000 to devote their time to a specific non-fiction project.

Paula Browning, CEO of Copyright Licensing New Zealand said “the selection panel had their work cut out for them this year. We had a record 72 applications that were of an extremely high standard.”

Last year’s winners were Dr Malcolm McKinnon and Melissa Williams.  In a recent progress update Malcolm commented that he is “very grateful to CLNZ for giving me the opportunity to work on this project more or less full time since uplifting the grant”.  His book, titled ‘The 1930s depression in New Zealand’ is progressing as planned and should be published sometime in 2013.

Williams’ project titled ‘Te Rarawa in the City: Maori urban migrations from North Hokianga to Auckland, 1930-1970’ is also on track and “is going very well” says Williams, “community consultation has been a little more time consuming than I expected; nevertheless, I am very close to completing my first draft.”

The 2012 CLNZ Writers’ Awards are to be held at the Auckland Town Hall Concert Chamber on Thursday 6 September 2012.  Finlay MacDonald is the MC for the evening. Before the winners are announced, the 5 finalists will first be invited on the stage to participate in an open discussion about their project. “It is always an interesting insight into the research and writing process”, says Browning.

The five finalists for 2012 are:

• Hazel Petrie: Into the Darkness
• David Veart: Hello Boys and Girls
• Michael Corballis: The Wandering Mind
• Vincent O’Malley: The Waikato War 1863-64
• Geoff Chapple: Terrain: North Island

 This year, the selection panel felt the finalists “presented exciting proposals which demonstrated their own enthusiasm for their project.” Interestingly, even though there were a record number of applications, there was a notable lack of biographical content.”

Since the first award winners were announced in 2001, a total of 9 projects have been successfully published and an additional 3 are well on their way to being completed, including Steve Braunias book New Zealand: The Biography which is due for release in a matter of weeks.

The awards are funded through the CLNZ ‘Culture Fund’. Two research grants, provided in conjunction with the NZ Society of Authors, will also be awarded at the event on 6 September 2012.