Lloyd Jones awarded Berlin Writers’ Residency

Media release

Date: 8 March 2007

Lloyd Jones awarded Creative New Zealand Berlin Writers’ Residency

Lloyd Jones, author of the acclaimed novel Mr Pip, will spend a year in Berlin from August 2007 as this year’s recipient of the Creative New Zealand Berlin Writers’ Residency.

For more than 20 years, the versatile Wellington writer has had novels, short stories, essays and articles published in New Zealand and overseas. During the residency, he will work on a new novel as well as two non-fiction projects.

Mr Pip, published in New Zealand and Australia last year, will be published in a dozen countries this year, including Germany. The novel has also been shortlisted in the South East Asia and South Pacific region of the 2007 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize.

Lloyd Jones said the timing of the residency is perfect.

“A writing life requires different things at different times. Sometimes it’s simply for nothing to change. At other times, it’s for your world to change. The stimulation of living in a major European city and the chance to set aside a concentrated period of time to work on new projects will be of enormous benefit to my writing,” Lloyd Jones said.

The biennial Creative New Zealand Berlin Writers’ Residency is the organisation’s largest residency for writers. Established in 2000, it enables a New Zealand writer to focus on a writing project over a sustained period and respond to the life, people and culture of Berlin. It also provides professional development opportunities for the writer to build networks, appear at literary festivals, and give lectures and interviews.

Creative New Zealand Arts Board Chair Alastair Carruthers said the residency is highly regarded by the literary sector and contributes to the development and profile of New Zealand writing.

“Lloyd is a stunning writer, who works hard at his craft and always challenges himself to take risks and produce fresh, compelling work. I have no doubt that his time in Berlin will be of enormous benefit and that he will take every opportunity available to him,” Alastair Carruthers said.

“His reputation and the success of Mr Pip means that this residency will also enhance New Zealand’s literary reputation in Europe and therefore benefit all New Zealand writers.”

This year’s residency attracted a particularly strong line-up of applicants. The selection panel, made up of literary practitioners, commended Lloyd Jones’ openness to explore new worlds in both his fiction and non-fiction, and immerse himself in the cultural life of Berlin.

The Creative New Zealand Berlin Writers’ Residency alternates with the biennial Creative New Zealand Berlin Visual Artists’ Residency at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien. Funded through the Arts Board, it is worth approximately $65,000. This covers the rental cost of an apartment situated in the heart of Berlin, and provides a $3000 a month stipend and travel allowance to the recipient.

Lloyd Jones has won numerous awards for his work and was the recipient of the 1989 Katherine Mansfield Fellowship. His novel, The Book of Fame, won the Deutz Medal for Fiction at the 2001 Montana New Zealand Book Awards and the 2003 Tasmania Pacific Prize.

Previous recipients are Sarah Quigley, Tina Shaw, Kapka Kassabova, Philip Temple and Tim Corballis.

ENDS

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