Society of Authors: This year's CompleteMS recipients

NZ Society of Authors is delighted to announce this year's CompleteMS recipients

Thirteen writers with manuscripts that span creative non-fiction, spec fiction, short stories, interview narratives, historical fiction, young adult (fiction and fantasy), poetry, alternative future fiction, adult fiction, and a legal drama have been chosen for the NZSA CompleteMS programme.

Congratulations to the NZSA CompleteMS 2018 recipients: Caroline Barron, Nandini (Nod) Ghosh, Emma Hislop, Celine Kearney, Pip McKay, Caoimhe McKeogh, J Michaels, Samantha Montgomerie, Maris O'Rourke, Keryn Powell, Jan Thorburn, Matthew Turner, and Karen Zelas

These compelling writers hail from across New Zealand: ranging from the sprawling suburbs of Auckland through Leamington, Marfell, Napier, Wellington, Christchurch and Macandrew Bay, Dunedin.

This programme gives each writer a detailed assessment and feedback on their manuscripts by one of New Zealand's leading assessors.James Norcliffe, convener of the 2018 selection panel along with writers Lee Murray and Deborah Shepard, commented: ‘…There was a mix of fiction and non-fiction; of projects aimed at children, YA and adult; of genre including historical fiction, science fiction, speculative fiction, legal fiction and romance. Finally there was a range of mood and tone from comic and satirical to dark and compelling… in the final analysis, we asked ourselves of each application, ‘Would I like to read this book?’ or ‘Would I be happy to give this book as a gift to a friend?’

That we could answer a resounding yes so often is an indication of how many talented writers there are in this country and how good it would be if we could get to read their work at some time. It was difficult to choose only thirteen to be granted the assistance of an assessor. I am so pleased that this NZSA initiative is doing such a fine job in trying to bring this about.’

CompleteMS Manuscript Assessments are offered by NZ Society of Authors every year with the intent of fostering and developing emerging talent with the support of established practitioners. The NZSA has run a highly successful full manuscript assessment programme for writers since 1999 and it is supported by funding from Creative New Zealand.

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