Two awards in a month for local writer

By Wanaka App | Posted:

Prolific, award-winning Wanaka writer Liz Breslin has had a stellar month: picking up prizes from both the International Writers' Workshop and the Queenstown Writers’ Festival. Two weeks ago, November 5-8, Liz won the adult category of the inaugural Queenstown Writers’ Festival Short Story Competition.

Dr Maxine Alterio whittled down the entries and chose Liz’s story, The Very Bones, as the winner.

"The majority of stories entered in this category were of a high quality, making the task of selecting a short list very difficult,” Maxine said.

Liz has also been announced as the 2020 winner of the Kathleen Grattan Prize for a Sequence of Poems, at the annual prize giving ceremony of the International Writers' Workshop.

Liz won the $1,000 prize for her sequence of poems, entitled: "In bed with the feminists.”

The competition was judged by 2019 winner Siobhan Harvey, who read two of the poems from Liz’s sequence at the award ceremony.

“I was so surprised and delighted to get the call to say I'm this year's winner. I worked on these poems during a period on my own in lockdown, so it's really affirming to see them recognised outside my head and my house,” Liz said.

Siobhan commended Liz’s winning entry... "for its unapologetic voice, clear vision and assured awareness".

"The her-storical narrative and creativity make this a compelling lyrical analysis of feminism both in the contemporary age and in the past," she said.

Liz, who sets off this week with fellow wordsmiths Laura Williamson and Annabel Wilson on a poetic tour of the Rail Trail, is also currently working on a play for the Festival of Colour.

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