Writer Albert Wendt earns New Zealand's Highest Award

4 June 2013

Writer Albert Wendt earns New Zealand's Highest Award

Acclaimed Samoan-born writer Albert Wendt has been awarded New Zealand's highest honour, Member of the Order of New Zealand for services to New Zealand, in the 2013 Queens Birthday Honours.

Albert has been an influential figure in the developments that have shaped New Zealand and Pacific literature since the 1970s and has won numerous awards for his works.

'All of us here at HUIA are immensely proud of the accomplishments of Albert and we are honoured to be able to work with a writer of such stature', said HUIA Publishers Managing Director Robyn Bargh. 'It is fantastic that his work is being recognised at the highest level'.

In November 2012, Albert received New Zealand's highest literary award - the Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement for Fiction.

His most recent title Ancestry, published by HUIA in September 2012, is a collection of his short stories. His next book, a novel, is due out toward the end of 2013.

Albert Wendt was Professor of New Zealand and Pacific Literature at the University of Auckland from 1988 to 2006, and held the Citizens' Chair at the University of Hawaii from 2004 to 2008. He is now Emeritus Professor at the University of Auckland, and is writing and painting full-time.

ENDS

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