Lawrence Patchett is a New Zealand novelist, short story writer, and editor. His book of short stories, ''I Got His Blood on Me'', won the Best First Book award at the 2013 New Zealand Post Book Awards. Following this Patchett released his debut novel, ''The Burning River'' in 2019. Patchett has held several writing residencies in New Zealand, including the Michael King Emerging Writer's Residency.

Biography

Lawrence Patchett was born in

Canterbury, New Zealand Canterbury ( mi, Waitaha) is a region of New Zealand, located in the central-eastern South Island. The region covers an area of , making it the largest region in the country by area. It is home to a population of The region in its current f ...

. He is of Great British and Irish ancestry. He studied English at the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...

and completed a Masters, and then a PhD, in Creative Writing at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington, finishing in 2012. He is a member of the Institute of Professional Editors and the

New Zealand Society of Authors The New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN New Zealand Inc.) promotes and protects the interests of New Zealand writers. It was founded as the New Zealand PEN Centre (Poets, Essays and Novelists) in 1934. It broadened its scope and became the New Ze ...

Awards and prizes

* 2013 NZSA Hubert Church Best First Book of Fiction at the

New Zealand Book Awards The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are literary awards presented annually in New Zealand. The awards began in 1996 as the merger of two literary awards events: the New Zealand Book Awards, which ran from 1976 to 1995, and the Goodman Fielder W ...

* 2018 Michael King Emerging Writer's Residency * 2019 University of Canterbur
Ursula Bethell Residency
ref name=":4" /> * NZ Pacific Studio Artist's Residency

Bibliography

* ''I Got His Blood on Me'' (

Te Herenga Waka University Press Te Herenga Waka University Press or THWUP (formerly Victoria University Press) is the book publishing arm of Victoria University of Wellington, located in Wellington, New Zealand. As of 2022, the press had published around 800 books. History Vi ...

, 2012) * ''The Burning River'' (Te Herenga Waka University Press, 2019)

Critical reception

''I Got His Blood on Me'' received positive reviews and Michael Larson in the New Zealand Herald described it as a "remarkable collection". Reviews of ''The Burning River'' at the time of publication were generally favorable, although one critic's viewpoint was that it did not go far enough to address issues of colonisation in New Zealand.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patchett, Lawrence Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century New Zealand male writers 21st-century New Zealand novelists 21st-century New Zealand short story writers People from Canterbury, New Zealand