NZSA Shaw Writer’s Award 2026 goes to Jennifer Lane!
The New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa (PEN NZ Inc) congratulates Jennifer Lane on winning the NZSA Shaw Writer’s Award 2026.
Jennifer Lane will use the award to work on a novel and says ‘I’m thrilled to receive the NZSA Shaw Writer’s Award to support my novel-in-progress, Confession. The award will give me the time and space to immerse myself in the manuscript and write with greater intensity and focus. I’m incredibly grateful to Tina, the judges and the NZSA for making this opportunity possible.’
The judging panel of Rosetta Allan and David Hill said, “The applications represented an interesting and varied field, encompassing historical, speculative, crime and contemporary fiction, and writing for both younger and adult readers. There was a good level of technical competence across many of the entries, which made the stronger applications particularly interesting to discuss.
With Jennifer Lane’s winning entry, we were impressed by both the liveliness of the voice and the more demanding material the novel is prepared to take on.”
Tina Shaw said, “I’m very pleased that the award is going to Jennifer Lane this year. Jennifer is a committed and talented writer of fiction that speaks to the quirkier side of family life, and I know she’ll put the award to good use.”
The $5,000 award was established by award-winning novelist Tina Shaw to encourage the development of new novels by mid-career fiction writers. Previous winners of this award are Steph Matuku, who used the award to help complete the writing of The Blue Dawn, a novel set in early 19th century New Zealand, when the whaling industry was at its peak; Cristina Sanders, who used the award to continue research into her time-travel story of colonial governor, Sir George Grey.
Tina Shaw is a novelist, short story writer and editor who has received many awards for her work, including the CNZ Berlin Writers Residency, the University of Waikato Writer-In-Residence and the Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship. She won the 2018 Storylines Tessa Duder Award with Ursa which was published in 2019 by Walker Books Australia and received a Storylines Notable Book Award. As editor, her 7th edition of the Bateman NZ Writer’s Handbook was published in 2023. Her novel manuscript A House Built on Sand won the 2023 Michael Gifkins Prize and was published in 2024 by Text Publishing.
Shaw works as a book reviewer, mentor, manuscript assessor, publisher, and is editor of the NZSA quarterly publication NZ Author.
Find out more about the NZSA Shaw Writer’s Award
The NZSA would like to thank the 2026 Judging Panel – Rosetta Allan, David Hill. Thanks also to Tina Shaw for generously establishing this award.