The first New Zealand writers to be chosen in a new initiative to celebrate and acknowledge literary success have been announced.
Owen Marshall, Damien Wilkins, Ted Dawe and Martin Edmond are this year’s New Zealand Society of Authors (NZSA) honorary literary fellows.
They were recognised for their outstanding literary achievements in an inaugural Waitangi Day honours list, the society said.
Marshall is a renowned novelist and a fine short story writer. In 2013 he was awarded the Prime Minister’s Award for Fiction and the Henderson House residency in Alexandra, Central Otago.
Novelist, short story writer, poet and editor Wilkins received the 2013 Laureate award for literature, took the helm at the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University and published major new work Max Gate.
Young adult author Ted Dawe added a NZ Post Children’s Book of the Year award to his already impressive CV in 2013. His novel, Into the River, was the first self-published book to win a major national award, and is expected to pave the way for greater recognition of self-published works.
Martin Edmond’s non-fiction, biography, poetry and screenplays have won numerous awards. Last year he was awarded the Prime Minister’s Award for Non-Fiction, while his title Dark Night: Walking with McCahon was short-listed for the NSW Premier’s awards.
The announcement of the awards had been delayed by unforeseen complications, NZSA said. In future, recipients would be announced on Waitangi Day.
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