2008 Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellows announced

February 2008

2008 Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellows announced

Two noted New Zealand authors have been announced joint winners of this year's Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship. Brigid Lowry and Paula Morris will each spend 5 months in the Sargeson Centre in Auckland, with Brigid taking up tenure in February, and Paula in August. Each fellow will also receive a $20,000 grant, allowing them to focus full time on their writing.

Brigid will use her time to complete a collection of poetry and to begin a novel for adults, while Paula plans to work on her fourth novel, Rangatira, inspired by the life of her ancestor, Paratene Te Manu. This year is the 21st anniversary of the award and the 11th year of Buddle Findlay's sponsorship of the fellowship. Buddle Findlay National Chairman, Peter Chemis, says the Sargeson Fellowship is about giving New Zealand writers the freedom to craft their stories.

"It has given creative space to some of our most notable writers, allowing them time to develop and polish their ideas into works that can become part of our cultural heritage. "Being a writer is not an easy task.

In many cases it requires purpose and self sacrifice. Our involvement with the fellowship acknowledges this." Brigid is both an author and a creative writing teacher. Her 1996 young adult title, Guitar Highway Rose (Allen & Unwin), was shortlisted for a number of major prizes in Australia, and more recently her novel, With Lots of Love from Georgia (Allen & Unwin), was the 2006 winner of the NZ Post Book Awards Young Adult category.

Her seventh book Juicy Writing: Inspiration and Techniques for Young Writers (Allen & Unwin) will be released in March. Paula, who also teaches creative writing, is the author of 3 novels. Queen of Beauty (Penguin Books) won the 2003 Montana NZ Best First Book Award for fiction. The film rights of her second novel, Hibiscus Coast (Penguin Books), have been optioned by Eyeworks Touchdown.

Paula is currently working on a short story collection, Forbidden Cities. The Fellowship was established in 1987 to commemorate Frank Sargeson and provide assistance for New Zealand writers. It aims to offer outstanding writers the opportunity to write full time, free from financial pressure.

Last year's holder of the Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship was writer James George who used his tenure to complete the final draft and editing of his fourth novel, Theme from an Imaginary Western, and to undertake work on his fifth novel, Two Rivers.

Both novels will be published by Huia Publishers. Past Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellows (from 1997 onwards) include: Fiona Samuel, Peter Cox, Karyn Hay, Craig Marriner, Toa Fraser, Debra Daley, Denis Baker, Riemke Ensing, Vivienne Plumb, Chad Taylor, Shonagh Koea, Diane Brown, Catherine Chidgey, Sarah Quigley, Tina Shaw, Kapka Kassabova, Sue Reidy, James Brown, Charlotte Grimshaw and Emily Perkins.

ENDS