Sanders wins the 2025 NZSA Shaw Writer’s Award

The New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa (NZSA) has announced Cristina Sanders as the winner of the 2025 NZSA Shaw Writer’s Award, worth NZ$5000.

Sanders is a historical fiction writer. She is the author of Displaced (2021, Walker Books) and Mrs Jewell and the Wreck of the General Grant (2022, The Cuba Press), which was shortlisted for the Ockham NZ Book Awards fiction category.

Sanders plans to use the prize money to conduct research for her time-travel story of colonial governor, Sir George Grey. She said, ‘The timing of this award is perfect; I’m off to wander Te Rohe Pōtae next week, whispering up ghosts and stories, tracing our colonial history in the geography of hills and rivers.’

This year’s judges Paula Morris and Catherine Roberston said, ‘Cristina Sanders is a serious writer, intent on developing her skill and repertoire and with the talent/experience to do so.’

Established by novelist Tina Shaw, the NZSA Shaw Writer’s Award is presented to ‘encourage the development of new novels by mid-career fiction writers’.

Last year’s winner was Steph Matuku.

More information about the award is available on the NZSA website.

Category: Awards Local news