Staff member and graduate win prestigious literary prize
The Viva la Novella prize began in 2012 to celebrate and promote short novels. Winners of the prize receive AD 1000 and the opportunity for print and digital publication with Seizure, an Australian volunteer-run publishing initiative.
Seizure’s judges say the two novellas are very different in tone but alike in quality, and they are pleased to be rewarding the Kiwis for their “incredible work”.
Anna’s novella, The Bed-making Competition, is an intimate and witty look at the joys and strains of family life. “A quirky and tender novella, by turns hilarious and heart-breaking, caustic and deeply compassionate,” says one Australian poet and critic.
Avi’s Swim wrestles with what it means to become an adult, and how a tragic past can overshadow the present. A reviewer says of the book: “Compelling, fresh and vivid. A young man swims for his life—my heart was in my throat.”
Both books were launched in Wellington and Auckland last week with the final launch to be held in Sydney at Better Read Than Dead bookstore.