Embarking on a literary fellowship can transform a writer’s life – opening doors and providing writers with the opportunity to focus on their craft. Entries for the 2023 Grimshaw Sargeson Fellowship have now opened, and published authors from across New Zealand are being encouraged to apply.
Throughout its 36-year history, the prestigious national literary award has offered writers the chance to focus on writing full-time, while living in the historic Sargeson Centre and receiving a $20,000 dividend.
Frank Sargeson Trust Chair Elizabeth Aitken-Rose says that supporting the New Zealand literary community is more important than ever.
“The pandemic and uncertain economic outlook is placing real pressure on our writers, but the resilience of our community is still something to be proud of. And we are immensely grateful for the support of Grimshaw & Co Lawyers, which has allowed us to take the Grimshaw Sargeson Fellowship into its 36th year.
Acclaimed writers Nathan Joe and Dr Anna Jackson were recipients of last year’s fellowship. Joe, a Chinese-New Zealand performance poet, theatre-maker and New Zealand Slam Champion, used his fellowship to work on his newest plays Personal Essays and Gay Death Stocktake.
“For playwrights, being treated as serious literary writers and being given space to allow your craft to develop is rare. It is not only validating, but necessary to have residencies and opportunities to create and develop work. Theatre-making and playwriting are often done as a side hustle or at the mercy of larger organisations.”
Jackson is an internationally renowned writer, poet and academic, who teaches English literature at Victoria University of Wellington. She used her tenure at the Sargeson Centre to revise her short novel After Apple-Picking and write her poem Sunlit, which has been published in the acclaimed American journal Ancient Exchanges.
“It is very unusual to have so much open unstructured time in which to write, and it does allow not only for the sustained work of imagination that an extended form of fiction needs, but also for the surprising, unexpected moments of inspiration that would never otherwise have had the space around them to happen in.”
Paul Grimshaw, Partner at Grimshaw and Co,says he continues to support the fellowship because it makes an exceptional contribution to the New Zealand literary landscape.
“I encourage all writers, poets, playwrights and novelists to consider applying. We’re proud to help them focus on their craft, without interruption.”
Applications close on 1 November 2022, with the tenure taking place between February 2023 and October 2023. Further information on the Fellowship is available here. Any queries can be directed to Elizabeth Bennie.
About Grimshaw & Co
Grimshaw & Co are leaders in dispute resolution, with experience across all areas of civil and commercial litigation.
About Frank Sargeson Trust
The Frank Sargeson Trust was formed in 1983 by Christine Cole Catley, Frank Sargeson’s heir and executor. The Trust aims to continue Sargeson’s lifelong generosity to writers through providing residential fellowships while preserving his house in Takapuna, Auckland, as New Zealand’s first literary museum. The first fellowship was awarded to Janet Frame in 1987. Learn more about Frank Sargeson and the Fellowship here.
