Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Literary grandee James McNeish wins Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement

Random House NZ proud of their author -  press release from them this morning:

James McNeish has won the prestigious Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement, in the non-fiction category. The Award, which carries a purse of $60,000, was announced at a ceremony held at the Prime Minister’s official residence, Premier House, in Wellington last night.

In accepting his award, James McNeish said, “Like Michael Holroyd, I would often be described at literary functions as ‘an award-winning writer’, then hurry home afterwards to see which award I had won only to find the cupboard bare. I came to realise it was one of those phrases concocted by well-meaning journalists and otherswho had obviously not read my books and were at a loss what to say.”

Coming in his 80th year, the Prime Minister’s award is McNeish’s first – and only – literary prize. None of his works, including a landmark first novel Mackenzie (1970), his best-selling multiple biography Dance of the Peacocks, or his non-fiction novel Lovelock, nominated in London for the 1986 Booker Prize, has ever been considered for a literary award in New Zealand.
McNeish’s most recent work is a novel, The Crime of Huey Dunstan, which was published by Random House New Zealand in June 2010.

A recent article in the NZ Listener by Denis Welch says “McNeish eludes definition and is unique among New Zealand writers.” Welch calls him “the cross-over man”, forever invading the borderlands between fiction and reality, fact and fantasy. The Crime of Huey Dunstan is a case in point. The book is a courtroom drama about a forgotten case of murder and recovered memory; it has been taken – incorrectly – as a comment on recent law changes in New Zealand, although it is first and foremost a novel. Bernard Brown, from Auckland University’s Faculty of Law, described The Crime of Huey Dunstan as ‘Essential reading for those perturbed by New Zealand’s kneejerk response to the Weatherston trial – of abolishing the defence of provocation – and for those who still question the adversarial method of trial.’

James McNeish is a novelist, playwright, journalist, broadcaster and biographer. He is the author of more than 20 books and plays, and the most recent recipient of the Creative New Zealand Berlin Writers’ Residency.

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