The NZSA Laura Solomon Cuba Press Prize is an award for published and unpublished New Zealand writers. It is named after New Zealand writer Laura Solomon, who died in 2019, and funded by a gift from her family. It was first awarded in 2021.
History
The NZSA Laura Solomon Cuba Press Prize is an award which celebrates and commemorates the life and work of
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
writer
Laura Solomon
Laura Jane Solomon (28 June 1974 – 18 February 2019) was a New Zealand novelist, playwright and poet. She emerged as part of a new wave of young New Zealand writers in the 1990s anthologised in Mark Pirie's ''New Zealand Writing: The NeXt Wav ...
. Laura Solomon was a poet, novelist, playwright and software developer and a long time member of
NZSA. When she was 22, her first novel ''Black Light'' was published, but her writing career was later cut short by the diagnosis of a brain tumour and she died on 18 February 2019, aged 44.
The Prize is open to published or unpublished authors who have New Zealand citizenship or are permanent residents of New Zealand and covers manuscripts from a wide range of genres including fiction, poetry, drama, creative non fiction and writing for children. The judging criteria, as set by Laura Solomon, call for new writing with a unique and original vision.
The Prize was established and funded from a bequest from Laura Solomon and The Solomon Family. It is judged by a three-person panel consisting of one New Zealand literary figure and representatives from the Solomon family and The Cuba Press. The winner is awarded a cash award of $1000 (as an advance) and a publishing contract with The Cuba Press.
The Prize was first administered in 2020 with the announcement of the inaugural winner being made in 2021.
List of winners by year
2021:
Lizzie Harwood: ''Polaroid Nights''
2022:
Rachel Fenton: ''Between the Flags''
Runner-up:
Philippa Werry
Philippa Werry (born 13 September 1958) is a New Zealand writer. Her book ''Iris and Me'' won the Young Adult Fiction Award at the 2023 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.
Bibliography
* ''Iris and Me'' (The Cuba Press, 20 ...
: ''Iris and Me''
2023:
Lee Murray
Lee Brahim Murray-Lamrani (born 12 November 1977) is an English-Moroccan mixed martial arts fighter and criminal. In 2005, his MMA career was cut short after he was stabbed multiple times outside a Mayfair nightclub. He was arrested in Rabat, ...
: ''Fox Spirit on a Distant Cloud''
Runner-up: Melanie Kwang: ''Faultlines''
See also
*
List of New Zealand literary awards
Current and historic literary awards in New Zealand include:
See also
* New Zealand literature
References
{{reflist
Literary awards
A literary award or literary prize is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded liter ...
References
{{Reflist
Laura Solomon
Laura Jane Solomon (28 June 1974 – 18 February 2019) was a New Zealand novelist, playwright and poet. She emerged as part of a new wave of young New Zealand writers in the 1990s anthologised in Mark Pirie's ''New Zealand Writing: The NeXt Wav ...