The judging panel has unanimously chosen two applicants for 2017 D’Arcy Writers’ Grants of $5000 each to write essays of 10,000 to 12,000 words on New Zealand life and culture.
The successful applicants are John Summers, of Christchurch, who will write about his grandmother, Constance Summers, a pacifist and the only woman in New Zealand jailed for protesting during World War Two; and Mandy Hager, of Wellington, who will research and write an essay on ‘how the arts, as represented in education, media and entertainment are currently under attack in New Zealand’.
The judges are writer Gordon McLauchlan (chair); writer Bruce Ansley; Virginia Larson, editor of North & South; writer and critic Hamish Keith; and Jackie Dennis of the NZ Society of Authors (PEN Inc).
The judges agreed it was a very strong field of applicants which made choosing two winners a difficult task, but they believe the chosen writers will make a strong contribution to public discourse during 2017.
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