March
10, 2014
The Nigel Cox Unity
Books Award was awarded to writer Anne Kennedy (left) at a surprise announcement at
the end of her session at the Wellington Writers Week. The Nigel Cox Unity
Books Award is an award for a writer that displays ‘an exceptional way with
words’.
The award was founded by
Unity Books Auckland owner Jo McColl, and Susanna Andrew to commemorate Nigel’s
love of writing and reading. From his time as a bookseller, Nigel understood
the sad reality that writers don’t always have the money to spend on books. The
recipient receives a $1000 Unity Books voucher to spend as they wish.
Writers are readers
before they are writers and Nigel adored it when fellow writers came into the
shop, loitered and mulled and browsed the shelves. Unity Books, he believed,
was “a writers’ turangawaewae”.
Anne Kennedy has
recently published the novel The Last Days of the National Costume and
the poetry collection The Darling North. She is a writer who has
consistently surprised her readers with an utterly unique way of viewing the
world.
Previous winners of the
award have been writers Geoff Cochrane and Bill Manhire.
Susanna Andrew said, “A $1000 book voucher buys a
lot of browsing time… Research has shown that more thought goes into spending
vouchers than spending cash so I hope Anne will do a lot of standing around in
the bookshop and take all the time she needs. This voucher has no expiry date…
As an early fan of Anne’s writing, I know Nigel would be immensely proud to be
championing her work today. He thought she was immensely talented and I have a
clear memory of the way he loved slyly peddling her book 100 Traditional
Smiles (now sadly out of print) as though it were a secret society he was
letting you in on.”
Unity Books
19 High Street
AUCKLAND CBD
1010
ph – 09 307 0731
fax- 09 373 4883
auckland@unitybooks.co.nz
www.unitybooks.co.nz
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