Grants recognise research crucial to great NZ writing

16 June 2015

Grants recognise research crucial to great NZ writing

CLNZ/NZSA Research Grants 2015

Research is a crucial part of the writing process. Copyright Licensing New Zealand (CLNZ) and the New Zealand Society of Authors (NZSA) Research Grants support New Zealand writers by providing assistance to writers who wish to undertake research for a fiction or non-fiction writing project. The 2015 application process opens on 19 June.

Four grants of $5,000 each are available. Three are Open Research Grants and the fourth, the Stout Research Centre Grant includes funding of $5,000 and a six-week residential fellowship at the Stout Research Centre at Victoria University of Wellington.

In 2014, the Stout Research Centre Grant was awarded to Hannah August, author of a soon-to-be released book: No Country for Old Maids? Talking Differently About the New Zealand ‘Man Drought’. Hannah says the support she gained as a grant recipient was central to the process of writing her book.

Having time to focus solely on her project while at the Centre allowed for what Hannah calls a ‘percolating phase’ – as she read more, her research and themes took shape. Access to library resources and journal databases that would have otherwise been inaccessible, also helped ensure the calibre of her research was high.

But it could have been a very different process. Hannah says even after encouragement from her publisher, Bridget Williams Books, she was hesitant to apply. “While I’m a PhD, I didn’t really consider myself an author yet. It’s great to know that CLNZ and the New Zealand Society of Authors recognise a variety of works, including short works, and that the judging panel focuses on the merits of the proposal not where you’re at in your career.”

In 2015, as in previous years, projects of national or significant local interest and/or those that add significantly to the field or genre on a subject will be preferred by the selection panel.

Applications for the 2015 research grants open on 19 June and close at 5.00pm on 31 July.

Full guidelines and application forms are available on both the CLNZ and NZSA websites: CLNZ website, here; NZSA website, here.

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