Tina Makereti wins NZSA Peter & Dianne Beatson Fellowship
The IIML staff member and Creative Writing graduate (PhD) has received the 2016 Fellowship to work on a new fiction project.
The New Zealand Society of Authors Peter and Dianne Beatson Fellowship of $7,000 is awarded each year to a mid-career or senior writer to work on a project that shows a high level of literary merit and national significance.
The 2016 recipient Tina Makereti will use the fellowship to work on her fiction project the Imaginary Lives of James Pōneke. Tina said 'I'm so very grateful to receive the NZSA Peter & Dianne Beatson Fellowship as it means I'll be able to take valuable time out to complete this novel. The Fellowship not only supports the project financially, but provides crucial encouragement and just the right amount of time pressure to get things done! Ngā mihi nui ki te whānau Beatson mō tēnei taonga miharo.'
Selection panel convenor Joan Rosier-Jones noted that, while there were a number of excellent and worthy applications, 'the panel were eventually unanimous in their choice of Tina Makereti for The Imaginary Lives of James Pōneke. It is very fine writing and an entertaining concept which should guarantee a wide market'.
This annual award is made possible thanks to the generosity of the Beatsons. Previous recipients have included Michael Harlow, Emma Neale, Mandy Hager, Carl Nixon, Glenn Colquhoun, Sue McCauley and Marilyn Duckworth.
Tina is a Victoria staff member and graduate, who convenes the workshop CREW 256 Special Topic: Maori and Pasifika Creative Writing at the International Institute of Modern Letters. She was awarded a PhD (Creative Writing) in 2013, having previously completed an MA in Creative Writing. Read Tina's PhD graduate profile.