Finalists Announced for Ronald Hugh Morrieson Literary Awards 2022

Finalists for South Taranaki’s premiere literary event, the Lysaght Watt Trust Ronald Hugh Morrieson Literary Awards, have been announced.

The finalists were chosen from 167 entries and have kept this year’s judges busy, since the competition closed in August.

There are five categories in the Awards: Secondary School Poetry and Short Story categories, the Open section Poetry, Short Story categories and the Secondary School True Story - Research Article category.

Poetry judge Robert Sullivan commented on the quality of the entries he received for this year’s competition.

“I had to think very carefully about many entries before choosing the winners” he says.

Research article judge Matt Rilkoff said this year’s entries used sometimes ambitious techniques to honour the truth.

“They imbued their stories with hindsight, structured believable dialogue and stream of consciousness, shared jokes and observations, and more than once took a stab at philosophy.”

Short Story judge Airini Beautrais says entries this year all connected to the local theme well.

“Entrants have responded to the brief by grounding their stories firmly in local settings and/ or peopling them with a cast of recognisable characters.” she said.

Event organiser, South Taranaki District Council community outreach librarian Katherine Bosworth, invites all interested members of the public to attend the Awards Ceremony, where the judges will comment on their respective categories and highlight the works that won them over.

The Awards are being held at the TSB Hub, Hāwera on Wednesday 19 October, with doors opening at 6.45pm for a 7pm start.

Please RSVP with numbers attending to entries@stdc.govt.nz by Wednesday 12 October.

Finalists (all categories)

Airana Ngarewa

Aria Brophy

Bethany Gyde

Bruce Finer

Emma Hislop

Frances Rookes

Georgia Bryant

Hunter Quinn

James Anglesey

Jerry Wei

Jordan Dawson

Krishay Lal

Lexi McQuaig

Michaela Stoneman

Mikaela Nyman

Molly McDonald

Oliver Marsh

Rosie Butler

Sahan Larsen

Tin Tin Nguyen

Additional information:

The annual Awards, sponsored by the Lysaght Watt Trust, honour the work of one of New Zealand’s most preeminent authors, Ronald Hugh Morrieson (1922 – 1972). Morrieson wrote four novels: a coming-of-age tale The Scarecrow (1963), Came a Hot Friday (1964), Predicament (published in 1975) and his only contemporary novel Pallet on the Floor (1976). All have been adapted for the cinema, the only New Zealand writer to have acquired this achievement. Two short stories were published posthumously, in 1974; Cross My Heart and Cut My Throat and The Chimney.

Further information about the Judges can be found here: http://www.rhmorriesonawards.com/the-judges.html