Awards and scholarships
A range of awards and scholarships are available to students in the school.
Victoria University of Wellington’s Scholarships database is a searchable list of the full range of scholarships and prizes available to existing or potential Victoria University students.
English Literatures and Creative Communication
Prizes
A E Donne Prize in English
$500 (subject to available funds)
Awarded to the best mature student at 300-level completing a BA major in English language or literature.
Dr W E Collins Prizes in English
$500 each (subject to available funds)
Awarded for work of outstanding merit in:
a) 100-level English Literature courses
b) 200-level English Literature courses
c) 300-level English Literature courses.
Eileen Duggan Prize in New Zealand Literature
$500 book and cash
Awarded to the best undergraduate student of New Zealand Literature.
Harold Large Prize
$500 (subject to available funds)
Awarded to the best student in English literature of the Renaissance period.
John Tinline Prize in English
$500 (subject to available funds)
Awarded to a student chosen by the academic board on the recommendation of the Chairperson of the Department of English Literature whose BA degree majors in English (or English Language) and who is proceeding to BA (Hons) in English in the following year.
Lissie Rathbone Award
$1,000 (subject to available funds)
This prize is awarded to the top student in English and/or History at 100 level who has been a recipient for that year of a Victoria/Wellington Excellence Scholarship (or any other scholarship offered at entry-level based on academic merit) and who, at the time of the award, is enrolled in English and/or History at 200 level.
Maurice Gee Prize in Children's Writing
$400 (subject to available funds)
This is awarded to the author of the best folio in Victoria University of Wellington's undergraduate children's writing workshops.
Story Inc Prize for Poetry
2x $500 (subject to available funds)
The prize is awarded to the author of the best poetry portfolio in CREW 253 and CREW 260.
Wai-te-ata Press Shakespeare Prize
$500 (subject to available funds)
Awarded for the best critical and/or scholarly writing on Shakespeare's works by student enrolled in ENGL 200-499 or enrolled in a research degree in English.
Scholarships
Brian Fox Scholarship
$2,000 (subject to available funds)
This scholarship is offered to students enrolled full-time 2nd and 3rd year undergraduates, Honours, Masters, and PhD students studying English Poetry, New Zealand History, or at the International Institute of Modern Letters.
Elaine Geering Scholarship in English Literature
Approximately $3,000 (subject to available funds)
This scholarship is offered to honours or postgraduate students undertaking courses/research in the English department at Victoria University of Wellington or who upon completing their undergraduate studies are enrolled in postgraduate study in English overseas.
Meredith Lucy Bower Memorial Scholarship
$2,000 (subject to available funds)
This scholarship is offered to full-time undergraduate students studying English Literature at Victoria University of Wellington. Applicants must be intending to enrol in their second, third or Honours year of an undergraduate degree at Victoria University of Wellington.
Susan Price Scholarship
$2,000 (subject to available funds)
This scholarship is not being offered in 2022, but will return in 2023.
This scholarship shall be awarded to a student enrolled in a Masters or PhD studies at Victoria University of Wellington, or to an Honours student undertaking a research essay on an appropriate topic who intends to undertake research that will make use of the Susan Price Collection. Students undertaking courses in English, History, Librarianship, Creative Writing or Education are eligible, if their focus is on children's literature, writing, or development in regard to writing or reading. The scholarship is open to international students as well as New Zealand citizens and permanent residents.
Film
Film Studies Prize
$500 (subject to available funds)
Awarded to the best undergraduate or graduate student completing courses in film history, criticism, or production.
Theatre
Anna Pastor-Bouwmeester Production Excellence Award
$500 (subject to available funds)
This prize is awarded for excellence in the BA/MFA Theatre Programme to a student who demonstrates top skills in collaboration and generosity in theatre production.
The recipient must be enrolled in their final year of undergraduate or postgraduate study in the BA/MFA Theatre Programme.
Dronke Prize for Drama
$500 (subject to available funds)
The prize arises from a fund subscribed in 1981 by friends of John and Maria Dronke, on the occasion of their Golden Wedding, to commemorate their contributions to the cultural life of the community, especially in drama. It is awarded for meritorious work in any aspect and at any level of drama studies.
Art History
Prizes
D F McKenzie Award
$700 (subject to available funds)
Awarded to one student currently studying in an MA or PhD at Victoria University of Wellington in one of these disciplines: English, Film and Theatre, Media Studies, Music, Information Management, History, Art History, Māori Studies, Anthropology
Mossman Māori/Pasifika Art History Prize
2 x $750 (one Māori, one Pasifika)
This prize is awarded annually to a Māori/Pasifika student majoring in Art History, who has the best average grade in two 100-level Art History courses.
Osborne Prize in Art History
$500 (subject to available funds)
The Osborne Prize in Art History, a book prize, is awarded annually to the top Art History student at 100-level.
Scholarships
Ronald Woolf Memorial Trust Endowment
This Endowment provides funds for projects that support young photographers, students studying the history and practice of photography, and emerging curators of photography.
The Melvin Day Postgraduate Scholarship
The Melvin Day Postgraduate Scholarship in Art History is awarded to students who have studied Art History at Te Herenga Waka and who have been accepted into a postgraduate program in art history (at MA or PhD level) at a university or other institution outside of New Zealand.
Day Trust Grant in Art History
The Day Trust will also consider providing financial assistance for MA, PhD students, and recent graduates in Art History at Te Herenga Waka to facilitate their further studies including conference presentations, primary research, and publication.
The Oroya Day Fellowship in New Zealand Art History
This fellowship, established in 2023 on the centenary of Melvin Day’s birth, enables an early career scholar to research and teach New Zealand art history at Te Herenga Waka.