On Wednesday night, Airini Beautrais suddenly became $57,000 richer when she won the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction, New Zealand’s premier book award. But you won’t see her quitting her day job any time soon. “It’s kind of like this dream scenario to just write for a year, but then what will you do the year after that?” Beautrais wondered aloud. “You need money to pay the bills, your kids still need food and clothing, and you’ve used up your funds. It’s a bit of a conundrum.” Beautrais was speaking the morning after the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards ceremony – still, she admitted, slightly reeling from her big win the night before.
Airini Beautris: Ockham s winner on Bug Week, back-stabbing, motherhood and pole dancing
14 May, 2021 08:00 PM
9 minutes to read
Whanganui writer Airini Beautrais has won the coveted fiction prize at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards with a provocative collection of short stories. Photo / Marcel Tromp
Whanganui writer Airini Beautrais has won the coveted fiction prize at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards with a provocative collection of short stories. Photo / Marcel Tromp
By: Joanna Mathers
Airini Beautrais, this year s Jann Medlicott Acorn for Fiction winner at the 2021 Ockham awards, talks with Joanna Mathers about stepping into the limelight. They are waiting. The women are waiting. Down the lushly carpeted
Friday, 14 May 2021, 12:56 pm
It wasn’t your ordinary Wednesday, at least not for
UCOL lecturer Airini Beautrais. At the New Zealand Ockham
Book Awards it was announced that Beautrais has won the Jann
Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction – the country’s most
prestigious literary fiction award, coming with a $57,000
prize.
Beautrais won for her collection of short
stories ‘
Bug Week’, which judges described as
“a tightly-wound and remarkably assured
collection”.
The win has been viewed as something of
an industry upset, especially given that Beautrais was a
first time nominee, and is only the second person in 53
years to win for a collection of short stories.
Fiso cooks up Ockham winner 13 May 2021 08:30 AM Photo: Chef Monique Fiso Facebook.
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The awards were presented at a gala event in Auckland last night.
Fiso will speak on Sunday at the Auckland Writers Festival on her mission of taking Māori cuisine to the world.
A discretionary Māori Language Award, Te Mūrau o te Tuhi, went to Tā Tīmoti Kāretu for Mātāmua ko te Kupu!, which draws on his life s work composing, performing and teaching haka and waiata.