‘Scalp-prickling
dazzler of a novel’ wins Adam Foundation Prize
Laura Southgate
wrote the winning book, The Boyfriend, as part of her 2018 Master
of Arts (MA) at the IIML.
The Boyfriend tells the story of Erica, a student whose life
is turned inside out by a relationship with a much older man. Comic and
devastating by turn, it applies a scalpel to ideas of romantic love, social
mores, and the question of coming of age.
Laura says, “It’s
been a wonderful privilege to spend this year at the IIML in such inspiring
company and under the expert mentorship of senior lecturer Emily Perkins. My
folio was definitely a group effort and I owe a huge debt to Emily and my
classmates for their critique, encouragement, and support. I’m very grateful to
the examiners for this honour and of course to the Adam Foundation for their
remarkable generosity.”
Wellington-born
Laura works as a technical writer and is a co-editor of the newly launched 2018
edition of online literary journal Turbine | Kapohau.
Supported by
Wellingtonians Verna Adam and the late Denis Adam through the Victoria
University of Wellington Foundation, the $3,000 Adam Prize is awarded annually
to an outstanding student in the MA in Creative Writing programme.
Emily Perkins says
it has been a privilege to read the novel as it has developed over the course
of the year.
“This is a
scalp-prickling dazzler of a novel, fizzing with quotable lines and remarkable
characters—an astute comedy of manners combined with wrenching events that
charts a new path through one of humanity’s oldest stories. Laura is an
enormously exciting new writer.”
Acclaimed author Tracey Slaughter and Adam Foundation
Prize examiner says, ‘Edgy, original, cutting, brave… The Boyfriend
announces the arrival of a hard-eyed author with something crucial to say and
all the high-impact talent to say it.’
Previous Adam
Foundation Prize recipients include authors Eleanor Catton, Catherine Chidgey,
Ashleigh Young, Hera Lindsay Bird and Annaleese Jochems.
No comments:
Post a Comment