Creative New Zealand has announced the
winners of the 2015 Prime Minister’s Awards for Literary Achievement. They
are social anthropologist Dame Joan Metge, playwright Roger Hall and poet
Bernadette Hall.
Each will be awarded $60,000 in
recognition of their outstanding contribution to New Zealand literature. Dame
Joan Metge will be honoured for non-fiction, Roger Hall for fiction and
Bernadette Hall for poetry.
Arts Council Chairman, Dr Dick Grant,
says, “These awards recognise our finest writers, nominated for an
extraordinary legacy of literary achievement. This year the recipients
represent diverse, but also profoundly New Zealand perspectives. They are
leaders in the practice of their craft and throughout their careers have
enriched us with insight, imagination, humour and humanity. I extend them my
sincere congratulations.”
The Honourable Maggie Barry, Minister
for Arts, Culture and Heritage, will present the awards at a ceremony held at
The Grand Hall, Parliament, Wellington, on Thursday 22 October. The 2015
Creative New Zealand Michael King Writer’s Fellowship winner, Martin Edmond,
will also be honoured at the ceremony.
The Prime Minister’s
Awards for Literary Achievement were established in 2003. Every
year, New Zealanders are invited to nominate their
choice of a writer who has made a significant contribution to New Zealand
literature in the genres of non-fiction, poetry and fiction. New Zealand
writers are also able to nominate themselves for these awards.
Nominations are assessed
by an expert literary panel and recommendations forwarded to the Arts Council
of Creative New Zealand for approval. This year’s selection panel was
John Huria (Chair), Paul Diamond, Morrin Rout, Jill Rawnsley and Murray Edmond.
A full
list of previous recipients can be found on the
Creative New Zealand website.
The
Creative New Zealand Michael King Writer’s Fellowship is open to
established writers of any literary genre who have already published a
significant body of work. Valued at $100,000, it is awarded annually for a
project that will take two or more years to complete.
Creative New Zealand and Unity Books
invite you to a free literary event
The recipients of the 2015 Prime
Ministers Awards for Literary Achievement: Dame Joan Metge, Roger Hall and
Bernadette Hall, will read and discuss their work with the recipient of the
Michael King Writer’s Fellowship, Martin Edmond.
This is a free event at Unity Books,
57 Willis Street, Wellington on Friday 23 October, 12-12.45 pm. All welcome.
No comments:
Post a Comment