The judge convenor, Thom Conroy, says, “Intimate, funny, and, above all, honest, Delirious is an absorbing, inspiring novel, and a damn fine read.”
Damien says the news is still sinking in, saying, “It is surreal and overwhelming to win the prize. It means a huge amount to me that the judges selected Delirious.”
Publisher Fergus Barrowman says, “Damien is a very special member of our core group of authors, as both writer and talent-spotter. This prize cements his place further in our number of great novelists, alongside the likes of Eleanor Catton, Catherine Chidgey, Pip Adam, and Elizabeth Knox.”
THWUP is based on Te Herenga Waka’s Kelburn campus and has been publishing award-winning and vital books here since the 1970s.
Authors published by THWUP also won two further awards, with Poorhara by Michelle Rahurahu (Ngāti Rahurahu, Ngāti Tahu‒Ngāti Whaoa) taking home the Hubert Church Prize for Best First Book of Fiction, and Una Cruickshank taking home the E.H. McCormick Prize for Best First Book of General Non-fiction for The Chthonic Cycle.
Both Una and Michelle are alumnae of the IIML Master of Arts in Creative Writing, and both winning books are versions of their Master’s theses.
The IIML has been offering postgraduate degrees in Creative Writing since 1997, and Damien has led the institute since the retirement of Bill Manhire in 2014.
The Acorn Prize is Aotearoa’s richest, with the winner receiving $65,000, thanks to the generosity of the late Jann Medlicott. This and the other awards mentioned were presented as part of the prestigious Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.