Ronald Hugh Morrieson judges announced for 2024

The wait is over! The judges for the Lysaght Watt Trust Ronald Hugh Morrieson Literary Awards 2024 have been announced.

Taranaki-based writer David Hill is the Short Story Judge. David is a prolific and highly regarded New Zealand writer, playwright, poet, columnist, and critic. Best known for his highly popular and award-winning body of work for young people, ranging from picture books to teenage fiction, his novels have been published all around the world and translated into several languages. His short stories and plays for young people have been broadcast here and overseas.

Tracey Slaughter is the Poetry Judge for this year’s competition. Tracey is a poet, fiction writer and essayist from Aotearoa New Zealand. Her work has received numerous awards including the Manchester Poetry Prize 2023, the Fish Short Story Prize 2020 and the Bridport Prize 2014. She teaches at the University of Waikato, where she edits the journals Mayhem and Poetry Aotearoa. Her recent books are Devil’s Trumpets (2021) and Conventional Weapons (2019) and her latest collection The girls in the red house are singing comes out later this year. She is currently working on a collection of personal essays and collaborating with Liam Hinton on a screenplay adaption of her novella The Longest Drink in Town.

The judges will be joined by Taranaki Daily News editor Matt Rilkoff, who will be judging the research section.

“We are very excited to welcome these three prestigious judges to South Taranaki’s premiere literary competition this year,” says South Taranaki District Council Community Outreach Librarian Katherine Bosworth.

The competition opens on Thursday 13 June with the kick off of the secondary school workshops. As always, open writing and poetry workshops taken by the judges are available to the public for free and will be held at Te W’anake | The Foundry in Hāwera

• Open short story workshop with David Hill on 15 June
• Open poetry workshop with Tracey Slaughter on 22 June

“Usually, these workshops are held on the same weekend, but due to the commitments of the judges, we’ve had to spread them over two dates this year,” says Katherine. “We hope that this means that more people can come and soak up the knowledge these two can provide.”

We are now taking bookings for the open workshops. Please contact your local LibraryPlus, email entries@stdc.govt.nz or phone 0800 111 323 to secure your space.