Pip Adam wins Michael King Writer’s Fellowship

Creative New Zealand has announced Pip Adam as the recipient of the $100,000 Michael King Writer’s Fellowship.

Awarded biennially, the fellowship is presented ‘to an established New Zealand writer of literature to work on a major project’.

Adam is a novelist and short story writer. Her book Everything We Hoped For (VUP) won the NZ Post Best First Book Award, The New Animals (Te Herenga Waka University Press) won the Acorn Foundation Fiction Prize, and her latest novel, Audition (Te Herenga Waka University Press, Giramondo), was shortlisted for the Ockham New Zealand Book Award for Fiction.

Adam plans to work on performance pieces during the fellowship, beginning with an adaption of Audition. 

‘I’m interested in what happens if I write for performance rather than for reading,’ Adam said. ‘I’m going to write three works over the two years. The umbrella they all come under is the idea of life at the end of capitalism. I think we’re in a moment where capitalism is either in its death throes, or it’s about to have another magnificent reincarnation, and I’m interested in capturing this time.’

Lead practice adviser of literature at Creative New Zealand, Malcolm Burgess said: ‘Pip’s proposal was compelling; she presented a bold, innovative idea that the panel agreed was a great match for the purpose of the Fellowship. The shift to writing for performance will develop Pip’s practice and push her to take risks. That’s high stakes for an established writer with a growing international reputation.’

The 2023 recipient of the Michael King Writer’s Fellowship was Danny Keenan (Ngāti Te Whiti ki Te Ātiawa) who developed ‘new work examining a history of Māori responses to three significant pandemics’.

More information about Adam and the fellowship is available on the Creative New Zealand website.

Category: Awards Local news