Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship

Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship

February 2009

Award-winning writers to take up this year's Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship

Two award-winning writers have been announced joint winners of this year's Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship.

Steve Braunias and Julian Novitz will each spend 5 months in the Sargeson Centre in Auckland, with Steve Braunias taking up tenure in February, and Julian Novitz in August.

Both writers will also receive a $20,000 grant, allowing them to focus full time on their writing and each will use the Fellowship to complete projects they already have underway. Steve Braunias will commence work on a comic novel and Julian Novitz will work on the second draft of a novel, as well as completing several short fiction stories.

Buddle Findlay National Chairman, Peter Chemis, says the two writers follow a proud tradition, which has seen many of New Zealand's most distinguished authors occupy the apartment in the centre, which is adjacent to Auckland University.

"The Fellowship, which we have sponsored for the past 11 years, is designed to give writers the financial freedom and personal space they need to contribute to New Zealand's literary tradition, which is such an important element in our cultural identity."

Steve Braunias is a writer, columnist and winner of numerous journalism awards, including the 2006 Qantas Fellowship at the New Zealand Qantas (Print) Media Awards. His weekly column appears in the Sunday Star-Times and his book of selected columns, Fool's Paradise, won Best First Book of Non-fiction at the 2002 Montana New Zealand Book Awards.

Steve has since written three more books; How to watch a bird (2007), Roosters I Have Known (2008) and Fish of the Week: Selected Columns (2008), all published by Awa Press. He is also a contributor to TV One's Eating Media Lunch and The Unauthorised History of New Zealand.

Julian Novitz is a short fiction and novel writer. His first book, My Real Life and other stories (Random House, 2004), won the New Zealand Society of Authors Hubert Church Best First Book Award for Fiction at the Montana New Zealand Book Awards in 2005. His story Three Couples won the 2008 Katherine Mansfield Short Story Award late last year.

Holocaust Tours (Random House, 2006) was Julian's first novel, and his work has also appeared in several editions of The best New Zealand fiction.

The Sargeson 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. Buddle Findlay has sponsored the Fellowship since 1997.

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, Emily Perkins, James George, Brigid Lowry and Paula Morris.

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