Writers’ dreams closer

victoria-university-of-wellington

Wed Jan 17 2007 13:00:00 GMT+1300 (New Zealand Daylight Time)

Writers’ dreams closer

Wednesday, 17 January 2007, 1:47 pm
Press Release: Victoria University of Wellington

MEDIA RELEASE

17 January 2007 – Updated 1:27pm

Six emerging authors are closer to realising their dream of seeing their writing produced after being awarded the inaugural Project Scholarships at Victoria University of Wellington.

Professor Bill Manhire, Director of Victoria’s International Institute of Modern Letters, says the Project Scholarships will help graduates of the Institute’s Master of Arts programmes bring their project to a level where it is ready for submission to a publisher, production house, or theatre.

“All too often students have to go straight into fulltime work when they graduate and their manuscript sits on a shelf gathering dust. Project Scholarships will enable students to complete their manuscripts and give them a chance to try to get their work into the literary marketplace.”

The six $5,000 scholarships are provided from funding raised as part of the million dollar challenge laid down to the then fledgling Institute in 2001. An American benefactor challenged them to raise
NZ$1 million by the end of 2005, promising to match the sum with US$1 million if successful. The Institute and the Victoria University of Wellington Foundation accepted the challenge and by December last year had raised more than $800,000, with a last minute donor ensuring the challenge was met.

Inaugural Project Scholarship recipients:

Pip Desmond – PIP’S thesis is a memoir, Standing on Shaky Ground: a true story of women in gangs. She was awarded a Distinction. Pip has worked in government and in social services. Her book - part social history, part autobiography - was recognised as a significant and highly publishable work.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Emma Gallagher completed most of a novella, The Lost Wife, building it from small scenes and fragments. Her book is set in the 1950s, and deals with a disturbed young woman who has been institutionalised. Her examiners, who awarded the thesis Distinction, called her “incredibly gifted – someone who thinks with her imagination, and has a poet’s command of language”. Emma’s Project Scholarship has been named by donors Bob and Timi Morey as the Jean Squire Scholarship in honour of Jean Squire, the retired Children’s Librarian at the Napier Public Library.

Therese Lloyd is a Wellington poet and part-time librarian. Her thesis, Caution Moving Parts, received a Distinction, and was commended for its wry humour and imaginative reach.

Rebekah Palmer completed her MA in scriptwriting, submitting as her thesis a feature-length screenplay, Prelude. Set in the 1920s in London and France, the script features New Zealand writer Katherine Mansfield as the main character. Rebekah will use the Project Scholarship to work on a further draft of the script for this project and as a treatment for potential producers. Rebekah has published two novels with Penguin and has a children’s book due out in the next year. Rebekah’s Project Scholarship has been named in memory of Michael Hirschfeld by the trustees of The Michael Hirschfeld Trust and members of Michael’s family.

Brendon Simpson is a writer with a theatre performance background. Having spent 10 years travelling, Brendon came home to formalise his interest in Film and Theatre and has just completed his Master of Arts degree in Scriptwriting with Distinction. Brendon recently received the keenly anticipated Embassy Trust Prize that recognises high potential in an emerging scriptwriter and is now working with a producer to realise his feature film script.

Nick Stanley is a New Zealander who recently returned from several years in Mexico. He was awarded an MA with Distinction for a draft of his novel, Santa Cruda, which is set in Mexico and deals with the reverberations in the lives of three central characters following the murder of an American surfer. His writing was praised for its comic timing as well as its rich evocation of place.

Visit www.vuw.ac.nz/turbine for a glimpse into Victoria University’s Master of Arts workshop, at the International Institute of Modern Letters, in the 2006 issue of the online literary journal, Turbine. It contains examples of student work and excerpts from journals kept by student writers, including Project Scholarship awardees Emma Gallagher and Therese Lloyd.

ENDS

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

a.supporter:hover {background:#EC4438!important;} @media screen and (max-width: 480px) { #byline-block div.byline-block {padding-right:16px;}}

Using Scoop for work?

Scoop is free for personal use, but you’ll need a licence for work use. This is part of our Ethical Paywall and how we fund Scoop. Join today with plans starting from less than $3 per week, plus gain access to exclusive Pro features.

Join Pro Individual Find out more

Find more from Victoria University of Wellington on InfoPages.