MIT lecturer Eleanor Catton nominated for Man Booker Prize

24 July 2013

MIT lecturer Eleanor Catton nominated for Man Booker Prize

Eleanor Catton, Lecturer in Creative Writing at Manukau Institute of Technology, has just been long-listed for the 2013 Man Booker Prize.

Catton was nominated for her second novel,The Luminaries (Granta/VUP). It will be released in New Zealand on 1 August 2013.

“ Eleanor’s achievement is exceptional,” says Dr. Peter Brothers, Chief Executive of MIT.

“The Man Booker Prize is the world’s premier fiction prize. We are absolutely delighted that MIT’s creative writing students have the opportunity to learn their craft from a writer of Eleanor’s calibre,” says Dr. Brothers.

The Luminaries is a gold-rush era murder mystery set in Hokitika. Inspired in part by childhood experiences of travelling on the West Coast, the 832 page novel was three years in the making. And while Catton isn’t a habitual horoscope reader herself, she has used the zodiac as a device to structure elements of The Luminaries’ plot, which follows 12 characters from each of the 12 astrological signs over a 12 month timeframe.

Ms.Catton took up her current lecturing role at MIT in February this year. In guiding the development of her students, Catton says nurturing both the personal and professional growth of young writers is critical.

“The study of creative writing involves close examination of narrative itself--what is a story? what isn't a story? what could be a story?--but the goal isn't just to become a better writer; it's to become a better person.

“Fiction can offer something that no other art form in the world offers: the chance to inhabit the mind of someone else. Curiosity, kindness, and empathy are prerequisites. Everything else can be learned.”

MIT students studying under Ms Catton are able to progress through to a degree level qualification in creative writing.

About Eleanor Catton:

Eleanor Catton was born in Canada in 1985, and moved to New Zealand as a child. She has won numerous literary awards.

Ms Catton holds an MA from the International Institute of Modern Letters in Wellington, and an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where she was an adjunct professor. Today, she teaches creative writing at the Manukau Institute of Technology in Auckland.

Her first novel The Rehearsal (2008) won the Adam Prize, the Amazon.ca First Novel Award, a Betty Trask Prize, and the NZSA Hubert Church Best First Book Award for Fiction.

The Rehersal was also was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and long-listed for the Orange Prize. It has been published in twelve languages around the world.

In July 2013 ,Ms Catton’s second novel, The Luminaries, was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize.

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