Editor, novelist and poet Emma Neale won the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry for her collection Liar, Liar, Lick, Spit at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards in Auckland on Wednesday night.
She said she felt calm on the night but later when she was talking to her husband about it she found herself getting quite teary.
"It’s been very affirming."
Mrs Neale said it was nice to be recognised by the judges who she admired quite a bit.
"To think that they’ve been reading your own work so closely has been just such a gift."
Mrs Neale had been writing books since the 1990s and did not expect Liar, Liar, Lick, Spit to be the book that won her an award.
Her poems were personal — one took about 30 years to write — and it was a joy for her to see so many people connect with her work.
"The connection is similar to having a wonderful conversation with someone."
She said the poem took her some time to write because she was learning to craft it in a way that was not too heavy-handed for the reader.
