Creative New
Zealand says this year’s $100,000 Michael King Writer’s Fellowship will go to
author Elizabeth Knox to write a memoir based on her experiences of illness and
violent death in her family.
One of New
Zealand’s best-loved writers, Knox says she wants to write about “the four
years during which, among other things, my mother was diagnosed as suffering
from Progressive Bulsar Palsy (a form of Motor Neurone Disease) and I was her
principle caregiver and my brother-in-law died as a result of an act of
intentional violence.”
“I want to
write a very personal story that intersects with lots of people’s experience –
their experience if not now, then one day.”
The selection
panel for the award (Kate Camp, David Hill and Iain Sharp) were unanimous in
their enthusiasm for the project:
“The project excites and engages me, and I'd love to see
her complete it.”
“She's at the top of her game and already has a big
following and the subject matter for her memoir -- how to cope with ageing,
mental illness and violent death in the family -- will interest almost
everyone. I expect the finished book (or books) to be an international
bestseller, much as Joan Didion's grief memoirs The Year of Magical Thinking
and Blue Nights were.”
“I feel that Knox has the chops to carry it off and write
a compelling and profound book. I finished the application thinking – I want to
read this book (and also, I’m scared to read this book).”
Elizabeth Knox will be the twelfth recipient of the
Michael King Fellowship since its establishment in 2003. The award was renamed
in recognition of the late Michael King for his contribution to literature and
his role in advocating for a major fellowship for New Zealand writers.
The fellowship is available to established New Zealand
authors of any literary genre with a significant publication record. It is
offered annually for writers working on a major project which will take two
years or more to complete.
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