Derby wins 2024 CLNZ/NZSA Writers’ Award
Mark Derby has won the 2024 Copyright Licensing New Zealand (CLNZ) and the New Zealand Society of Authors (NZSA) Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa (PEN NZ Inc) Writers’ Award, worth NZ$25,000.
A Wellington-based writer and freelance historian, Derby was awarded the prize for a project with the working title ‘Outlaw Prophet—Hakaraia Mahika and the Tauranga Wars’. ‘This book is an account of the New Zealand Wars in the Bay of Plenty, with a focus on an extraordinary spiritual and military leader,’ said NZSA.
Derby said: ‘I’ve been intrigued by the impressive, mysterious 19th-century Bay of Plenty prophet Hakaraia Mahika for decades, ever since I saw a mention [of] him in [James] Belich’s The New Zealand Wars, as a leader who deserves more attention from historians. Since then I’ve been gathering archival and other information about Hakaraia in a piecemeal manner, while writing other projects, such as Waitangi Tribunal reports in the Bay of Plenty region.’
Derby added: ‘This generous grant is the spur I need to turn that large body of information into a book. I’ve also recently been asked by Hakaraia’s descendants to contribute to tribal wānanga about their tūpuna and his legacy, and it’s an honour to support local Māori to engage with their own history in this way. The NZSA|CLNZ grant means I can participate fully in these wānanga at no cost to anyone else. I am very grateful for it.’
The CLNZ/NZSA Writers’ Award is presented annually to provide financial support for a project, to cover research and associated expenses, and is open to writers of any genre of nonfiction, including writers of educational material.
Judges—Vanda Symon, Jade Kake and Elizabeth Kirkby-McLeod—also highlighted Barbara Dreaver’s project ‘Voyaging the Pacific’ and Jane McCabe’s project ‘Taiwhenua: Family Land in Rural Aotearoa’, which were both shortlisted for the award.
Last year’s winner was Tom Doig, for a project with the working title ‘We Are All Preppers Now: Kiwis Making Plans for the End of the World’.
Category: Local news
