The inaugural Kathleen Grattan Award for poetry was presented yesterday to Joanna Preston, of Christchurch, for The Summer King.
The winning collection is her first published book of poetry.
Preston was born in rural New South Wales, Australia, and has lived in New Zealand since 1994.
The award includes $16,000, making it the richest poetry prize in New Zealand, and publication by Otago University Press. The award is administered by Otago University Press and was judged by London-based poet Fleur Adcock.
Kathleen Grattan was an Auckland poet, journalist and former editor of the New Zealand Woman's Weekly, who died in 1990. A member of Titirangi Poets, her work was published in Landfall and other volumes including, Premier Poets, a collection from the World Poetry Society.
The 2008 Landfall Essay Competition was jointly won by Kirsten Warner (The New Colonists) and Alice Miller (Several Small Gulls Struggle to Find Footing in NZ & Elsewhere).
