Cambridge writer and University of Waikato English
lecturer Tracey Slaughter has won the 2015 Landfall
Essay Competition for her essay ‘Ashdown Place’.
‘The burnished sentences and subtle imagery lifted
Tracey Slaughter’s essay out of ordinariness,’ says competition judge David
Eggleton. ‘Slaughter addresses some of the cultural shifts that occurred in New
Zealand in the 1970s, ones whose aftermath we are still dealing with today.’
Tracey Slaughter writes fiction, non-fiction and
poetry. The news of the win stunned and amazed her: ‘I’m currently on study
leave, in the midst of a creative phase. “Ashdown Place” was the first piece of
writing to brew to the surface. It was unexpected – I hadn’t set out to write
non-fiction. The writing flowed – it’s so exciting to have that voice
confirmed.’
The Landfall Essay Competition is judged
‘blind’ by Landfall editor David Eggleton.
The winner receives $3000 and a year’s subscription to Landfall.
The 32 entries in this year’s competition ‘encompassed
a fascinating variety of topics’, says Eggleton, ‘from journalism in the age of
the internet, to the philosophy of altruism versus the politics of narcissism,
to the history of the national flag, to the life of a shady Auckland underworld
figure of the 1970s.’
Phil Braithwaite came second with his essay ‘War and
Truth’. Third place went to Louise Wallace for ‘Getting the World into Poetry’.
‘There’s Probably a Pill for This: An Essay on Addiction’ by Therese Lloyd was
Highly Commended.
The three top essays will be published in Landfall
230.
Tracey Slaughter’s novella the longest drink in town was published by Pania Press in June
2015, and her collection of short stories entitled deleted scenes for lovers is due for publication by Victoria
University Press in early 2016. In 2014 she won the Bridport Short Story Prize and
was shortlisted in the Manchester Poetry Prize. Tracey teaches creative writing
at the University of Waikato, and edits the online literary journal Mayhem.
For further details about the competition
visit our website:
http://www.otago.ac.nz/press/authors/awards/otago065482.html
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