July 2013
Christchurch poet Tusiata Avia has
been named as the 2013 recipient of a Janet
Frame Literary Trust Award worth $5,000. Avia has published two
books of poetry: Wild Dogs
Under My Skirt (2004) and Bloodclot
(2009). Known for her dynamic performance style she has toured her one-woman
show Wild Dogs Under My
Skirt to places as diverse as Moscow, Jerusalem and Vienna, as well
as destinations closer to home.
Avia has held a number of residencies including
the Fulbright Pacific Writer’s Fellowship at the University of Hawai’i (2005)
and the Ursula Bethell Writer in Residence at the University of Canterbury
(2010).
She is regularly published in international literary journals and
invited to appear at writers festivals around the globe. Last year's highlights
were performances in New York and in London where she represented Samoa at the
Poetry Parnassus held in the run-up to the 2012 Olympic Games.
Avia is currently working on a new book of poetry
as well as an adaptation of Bloodclot
for the stage to be called The
Adventures of Nafanua. She intends to use the award to support her
writing, and said: “While the money is a wonderful god-send, I am much more
thrilled about the award. It's no small honour to receive an award with Janet
Frame's name on it!”
Janet Frame founded the Janet Frame Literary
Trust in 1999 and instructed her trustees to give occasional grants from an
endowment fund to support and encourage New Zealand authors. Since Frame’s
death from leukemia in 2004, her estate has awarded a total of $100,000 in
grants to benefit New Zealand writers.
More information on
Tusiata Avia:
More information on the
Janet Frame Literary Trust:
Web Page: http://www.janetframe.org.nz
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