Prize winners
The International Institute of Modern Letters awards several literary and script prizes annually. Browse a list of our previous winners.
The following prizes and prize winners relate to the MA in Creative Writing and date back, in some cases, to 1997. The recipients of IIML Project Scholarships (offered from 2006-2022) and the winners of the Glenn Schaeffer Award (offered from 2000-2007) are also included here.
- Adam Foundation Prize in Creative Writing
- Biggs Family Prize in Poetry
- Brad McGann Filmwriting Award
- David Carson-Parker Embassy Prize in Scriptwriting
- Letteri Family Prize for Creative Nonfiction
- Modern Letters Fiction Prize
- IIML Project Scholarships
- Glenn Schaeffer Award
Please note: the links below will take you to the relevant landing page of Victoria University of Wellington's Scholarships database, where you can search for individual prizes alphabetically and scholarships by title.
Adam Foundation Prize in Creative Writing
The Adam Foundation Prize in Creative Writing was established in 1996 through the Victoria University of Wellington Foundation by Denis and Verna Adam because of their strong wish to support the development of creative writing in New Zealand.
In each year the Adam Prize is awarded to the author of the best page-based portfolio for the MA.
Winners
2023
Joseph Trinidad
Lucky Creatures (essay collection)
2022
Olive Nuttall
Kitten (novel)
Published by Te Herenga Waka University Press (THWUP), 2024
2021
Sharron Came
Peninsula (novel-in-stories)
Published by THWUP, 2022
2020
Kōtuku Titihuia Nuttall
Tauhou (hybrid)
Published by THWUP, 2022
2019
Rebecca K Reilly
Vines (novel)
Published as Greta and Valdin by Victoria University Press (VUP), 2021. Winner of the Hubert Church Prize for Best First Book at the 2022 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.
2018
Laura Southgate
The boyfriend (novel)
Published by VUP, 2019
2017
Tayi Tibble
In a Fish Tank Filled with Pink Light (poetry collection)
Published as Poūkahangatus, VUP, 2018. Winner of the Jessie Mackay Prize for Best First Book of Poetry at the 2019 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.
2016
Annaleese Jochems
And Lower (novel)
Published as Baby, VUP, 2017.
Winner of the Hubert Church Best First Book Award for Fiction at the 2018 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.
2015
Nick Bollinger
Goneville (music memoir)
Published by Awa Press, 2016
2014
Craig Gamble
The Watch List (young adult novel)
2013
Helena Wiśniewska Brow
Give Us This Day: a memoir of family and exile
Published by VUP, 2014
2012
Kerry Donovan Brown
Lamplighter (novel)
Published by VUP, 2014
2011
Hera Lindsay Bird
And Together We Fight Crime (prose poetry collection)
2010
Rayne Cockburn
Someplace for Boys (novel)
2009
Ashleigh Young
Can You Tolerate This? (personal essays)
Published by VUP, 2016. 2017 winner of the Yale University Wyndham-Campbell Literature Prize and the Royal Society Te Apārangi Award for General Non-Fiction at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.
2008
Lynn Jenner
Dear Sweet Harry (mixed genre)
Published by Auckland University Press (AUP), 2010. Winner of Best First Book Award for Poetry at the 2011 NZ Post Book Awards.
2007
Eleanor Catton
The Rehearsal (novel)
Published by VUP, 2008 and subsequently by Granta in the UK (2009) and Little Brown in the US (2010). Winner of the NZSA Hubert Church Best First Book Award for Fiction at the 2009 Montana NZ Book Awards, and the 2009 UK Society of Authors' Betty Trask Award.
2006
Anna Taylor
Going Under: Stories (short story collection)
Published as Relief by VUP, 2009
2005
Michele Amas
After the Dance (poetry)
Published by VUP, 2006. Shortlisted for the NZSA Jessie Mackay Award for Best First Book of Poetry at the 2007 Montana New Zealand Book Awards.
2004
Emily Dobson
A Box of Bees (poetry)
Published by VUP, 2005
2003
Josh Greenberg
A Man who Eats the Heart (novel)
Published by VUP, 2004
2002
Cliff Fell
The Adulterer's Bible (poetry)
Published by VUP, 2003. Winner Best First Book of Poetry at the 2004 Montana Book Awards.
2001
Paula Morris
Queen of Beauty (novel)
Published by Penguin, 2002. Winner Best First Book of Fiction at the 2003 Montana Book Awards.
2000
Tim Corballis
Below (novel)
Published by VUP, 2001
1999
No award made.
1998
William Brandt
Alpha Male (short fiction)
Published by VUP, 1999, and subsequently published by Jonathan Cape. Winner Best First Book of Fiction at the 1999 Montana Book Awards.
1997
Catherine Chidgey
In a Fishbone Church (novel)
Published by VUP, 1998. Winner Best First Book of Fiction at the 1998 Montana Book Awards.
Biggs Family Prize in Poetry
The Biggs Family Prize in Poetry has been awarded annually since 2006 to recognise the potential of a graduating poet.
Winners
2023
Ella Borrie
Confluence
2022
Nafanua Purcell Kersel
Black Sugarcane
2021
Leah Dodd
Past Lives
Published by THWUP, 2023
2020
Joanna Cho
People Person
Published by THWUP, 2022
2019
Manon Revuelta
Kissing the Field
2018
Timothy Grgec
At the Table
All Tito's Children, published by THWUP in 2021, developed from this manuscript
2017
Sam Duckor-Jones
People from the Pit Stand Up
Published by VUP 2018
2016
Natalie Morrison
The Better to See You
2015
Nina Powles
Luminescent
Published by Seraph Press, 2017
2014
Faith Wilson
Dolly Mix Tape
2013
Morgan Bach
Some of us eat the seeds
Published by VUP, 2015
2012
Zarah Butcher-McGunnigle
Autobiography of a Marguerite
Published by Hue & Cry Press, 2014
2011
Rachel Sawaya
The Bones in the Baobab
2010
Aleksandra Lane
Birds of Clay
Published by VUP, 2012
2009
Bill Nelson
The Wolf Market
2008
Louise Wallace
Since June, published by VUP, 2009
2007
Joan Fleming
2006
Amy Brown
The Propaganda Poster Girl, published by VUP, 2008
Brad McGann Filmwriting Award
A generous donation in memory of noted New Zealand filmmaker Brad McGann led to the establishment, in 2013, of the Brad McGann Filmwriting Award for MA in Creative Writing graduates. The award will be presented annually to a graduating scriptwriter from the IIML who has, through their folio of work, demonstrated excellent potential as a film scriptwriter. It is intended to support the further development of their work.
Winners
2023
Tenzin Casey-Waters
Psychopomps
2022
Kyan Krumdieck
Comrade Andrei
2021
Lynette Mentink
Lily
2020
Matthew Darragh
The Holy Bungalow
2019
Jonathan King
The Henge
2018
Vincent Konrad
Blue Smoke
2017
Richard Dey
Ngawi
2016
Callum Fordyce
Heroin and Dandelions
2015
Ali Burns
Adah
2014
Abigail Howells
Standing Up
2013
Lisa Cherrington
Emoha
David Carson-Parker Embassy prize in Scriptwriting
David Carson-Parker, with the Victoria University of Wellington Foundation, established the David Carson-Parker Embassy Prize to be awarded to a student from the Scriptwriting stream of the MA in Creative Writing. This prize was originally funded by the Embassy Trust, which was formed in July 1996 to preserve and restore the early 20th century theatre turned cinema, and to support the infrastructure of the local theatre and film industry. With the completion of the Embassy restoration and the winding up of the Trust, one of the trustees, David Carson-Parker, generously stepped in to continue funding the prize, and to increase its value.
The IIML was saddened by the news of David Carson-Parker's death in October 2012.
Winners
2023
Jennifer Wilton
Contained (screenplay)
2022
Ella Yiannett
Dumbshow (stageplay)
2021
Georgie Wright
Body On Loan (screenplay)
2020
Mark Joyce
The Delegate (TV comedy series)
2019
David Mamea
Burning Spear (TV drama series)
2018
Dana Leaming
Not Even (TV comedy series)
2017
Sarah Harpur
Blast the Museum! (screenplay)
2016
Anya Tate-Manning
Waikouaiti Whalers (drama series)
2015
David Brechin-Smith
Devils & Dust (screenplay)
2014
Jack Barrowman
The Sun at Night (screenplay)
2013
Alison McLachlan
The Staceys (TV drama series)
2012
Vinay Choudary
The Bloody Mulligans (screenplay)
2011
Barbara Burke
Orla (screenplay)
2010
Maya Hammarsal
Abandoned Islands (screenplay)
2009
Colin Hodson
Life on the Island (screenplay)
2008
Simon Hall
Miracle Road (screenplay)
and
Hannah McKie
McKenzie Country (stageplay)
Premiered at BATS Theatre, Wellington, June 2011
2007
Tusi Tamasese
The Orator (screenplay)
World-premiered in competition at the 68th International Venice Film Festival, 2011. Released late 2011 and submitted as New Zealand's entry to the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 2011 Academy Awards. The Orator / O Le Tulafale has won multiple awards and received widespread critical acclaim. (Writer/director Tusi Tamasese.)
2006
Brendon Simpson
Into Africa (stageplay), working title)
2005
Lucy O'Brien
Katydid (stageplay)
Premiered at BATS Theatre, Wellington, 2010 and won several prizes including Outstanding New Playwright for O'Brien at the 2010 Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards.
2004
Marian Evans
Mothersongs/Chansons Maternelles (screenplay)
2003
Renata Hopkins
The Waiting Game (TV drama series)
2002
Claire Ashton
Vena Cava (screenplay)
Letteri Family Prize for Creative Nonfiction
The Letteri Family Prize for Creative Nonfiction (formerly the Modern Letters Creative Nonfiction Prize), was established in 2018 to allow a creative nonfiction writer of excellent potential to focus full-time on the completion of a manuscript. From 2023 it is funded by Abby and Joe Letteri via the Victoria University of Wellington Foundation.
2023
Madeleine Ballard
Mixed Feelings (essay collection)
2022
Kahu Kutia
Cyber-Mokopuna (hybrid collection)
2021
Flora Feltham
Bad Archive (essay collection)
2020
Ethan Te Ora
Tuakiri (essay collection)
2019
Cristian Cucerzan
How to Be a New Romanian (essay collection)
2018
Rose Lu
All Who Live On Islands (essay collection)
Published by VUP, 2019
Modern Letters Fiction Prize
The Modern Letters Fiction Prize, funded by the International Institute of Modern Letters via the Victoria University of Wellington Foundation, was established in 2018 to allow a fiction writer of excellent potential to focus full-time on the completion of a manuscript.
2023
Michelle Duff
Surplus Women (short story collection)
2022
romesh dissanayake
when i open the shop (novel)
2021
Phoebe Wright
This World and No Other (novel)
2020
Samantha Murphy
Hard Wear and Other Stories (short story collection)
2019
Janey Street
Au (novel)
2018
Michelle Rahurahu Scott
Pōhara (novel)
IIML Project Scholarships (not currently offered)
From 2006 to 2022 a number of IIML Project Scholarships were awarded annually to completing Master of Arts in Creative Writing students, based on merit and academic need. Students could only apply after submission of their final MA folio and scholarships were awarded by recommendation of the examiners. In each case, the examiners needed to be satisfied that four to six weeks of funded full-time writing will help bring a folio project to a level where it was ready for submission to a publisher, production house, or theatre.
Several of these creative writing scholarships were funded through the generosity of specific donors:
- Michael Hirschfeld Project Scholarship—awarded to a script or screen writing student.
- Jean Squire Project Scholarship—awarded to a student in the page writing programme, with preference for it to go to a children's writer where appropriate.
- Letteri Family Project Scholarship—awarded to a promising graduating writer.
These scholarships were put on hold in 2023, due to University-wide budget constraints. We hope to reinstate them in the future.
2022
Melanie Cleary
Amber Esau
Natasha Lampard - Letteri Family Scholarship
Jacqueline Lee Morrison
Jennifer Nimon - Jean Squire Project Scholarship
Indigo Paul - Michael Hirschfeld Project Scholarship
Emma Robinson
Amy Wright
2021
Jemma Gill - Michael Hirschfeld Project Scholarship
Zoe Higgins
Joe Parker
NKhaya Paulsen-More - Letteri Family Scholarship
Evangelina Telfar
Michaela Tempany
Eva Wyles - Jean Squire Project Scholarship
Dani Yourukova
2020
Greta Casey-Solly
Olly Clifton
Kristene Cristobal
Joy Holley
Marita Hunt
Katie Kabala - Michael Hirschfeld Project Scholarship
Isabelle McNeur - Jean Squire Project Scholarship
Justine Whitfield - Letteri Family Project Scholarship
2019
Melanie Ansell - Jean Squire Project Scholarship
David Glynn
Emilie Hope
Catarina de Peters Leitão - Letteri Family Project Scholarship
Mikee Sto Domingo
Rachael Stokes - Michael Hirschfeld Project Scholarship
2018
Ralph McCubbin Howell - Michael Hirschfeld Project Scholarship
Madison Hamill - Jean Squire Project Scholarship
Alie Benge - Letteri Family Project Scholarship
Julia Ludbrook (Scriptwriting)
Max Olijnyk (Writing for the Page)
Anna Rankin (Writing for the Page)
2017
Lindsay Christopherson - Michael Hirschfeld Project Scholarship
Greta (Claire) O'Loughlin - Jean Squire Project Scholarship
Clare Moleta (Writing for the Page)
Joshua (Essa) Morris (Writing for the Page)
Lynne Robertson (Writing for the Page)
Jonathan Watt (Scriptwriting)
2016
William Connor - Jean Squire Project Scholarship
Roxane Gajadhar - Michael Hirschfeld Project Scholarship
Cherie Lacey (Writing for the Page)
Isla Macleod (Scriptwriting)
Eamonn Marra (Writing for the Page)
Nicole Phillipson (Writing for the Page)
2015
Whitney Cox - Jean Squire Project Scholarship
Helen Crampton (Writing for the Page)
Katherine (Alex) Hollis (Writing for the Page)
Justine Jungersen-Smith (Writing for the Page)
Ryan Knighton (Scriptwriting)
Finnius Teppett - Michael Hirschfeld Project Scholarship
2014
Agnes Almeida - Jean Squire Project Scholarship
Judith Cowley (Scriptwriting)
Douglas Dillaman (Writing for the Page)
Anahera Gildea (Writing for the Page)
Patrick Dunn (Writing for the Page)
Renee le Bas - Michael Hirschfeld Project Scholarship
2013
Linley Boniface - Jean Squire Project Scholarship
Avi Duckor-Jones (Writing for the Page)
Joanne (Louise) Harness - Michael Hirschfeld Project Scholarship
Emma Hislop (Writing for the Page)
Rachel Kerr (Writing for the Page)
Maryse Ridler (Scriptwriting)
2012
Samantha Byres - Jean Squire Project Scholarship
Susan Francis (Writing for the Page)
Kirsty Hamilton (Scriptwriting)
Andrew James - Michael Hirschfeld Project Scholarship
Gregory Kan (Writing for the Page)
Adam Stewart (Writing for the Page)
2011
William Agnew (Scriptwriting)
Ken Heaton (Writing for the Page)
Lucy Kirton (Writing for the Page)
Alexandra Lodge - Michael Hirschfeld Project Scholarship
Emily McHalick (Writing for the Page)
Rosabel Tan - Jean Squire Project Scholarship
2010
Sam Burt (Scriptwriting)
Amy Head (Writing for the Page)
Simone Kaho (Writing for the Page)
Sarah McCallum (Writing for the Page)
April Phillips - Michael Hirschfeld Project Scholarship
Sylvie Thomson - Jean Squire Project Scholarship
2009
Breton Dukes (Writing for the Page)
Kay Corns (Writing for the Page)
Gwyneth Hyndman (Scriptwriting)
Emma Martin (Writing for the Page)
Melissa Reid - Jean Squire Project Scholarship
Amy Rountree - Michael Hirschfeld Project Scholarship
2008
Rachel Cookson - Jean Squire Project Scholarship
Sylvie Haisman (Writing for the Page)
Heather Mackenzie (Writing for the Page)
Simon Hall (Scriptwriting)
Martha Hardy-Ward - Michael Hirschfeld Project Scholarship
Tina Makareti Dahlberg (Writing for the Page)
2007
Philipa (Pip) Adam (Writing for the Page)
Sarah Bainbridge (Writing for the Page)
Rachel Callinan (Scriptwriting)
Mariana Isara - Jean Squire Project Scholarship
Brent Kininmont (Writing for the Page)
Tim Worrall - Michael Hirschfeld Project Scholarship
2006
Pip Desmond (Writing for the Page)
Emma Gallagher - Jean Squire Project Scholarship
Therese Lloyd (Writing for the Page)
Rebekah Palmer - Michael Hirschfeld Project Scholarship
Brendon Simpson (Scriptwriting)
Nick Stanley (Writing for the Page)
Glenn Schaeffer Award (no longer offered)
From 2001 to 2007 the Glenn Schaeffer Award, also known as the Schaeffer Fellowship, provided the opportunity for the University's leading MA in Creative Writing graduates to go on to grant-aided study at North American co-centres of the IIML, such as the Iowa Writers' Workshop, the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, and the University of California (Irvine). It was only available to New Zealand citizens and was not offered after 2007 due to the lack of ongoing funding.
Winners
2007
Ellie Catton (novelist)
2006
Therese Lloyd (poet)
2005
Alice Miller (poet)
2004
Emily Dobson (poet)
2003
Tracey Hill (novelist)
2002
Anna Livesey (poet)
2001
Paula Morris (novelist)
2000
Tim Corballis (novelist)
Kate Duignan (novelist)