Whiti Hereaka awarded NZSA Peter and Dianne Beatson Fellowship 2022
Whiti Hereaka (Photo: Tabitha Arthur)
24 September 2021
Whiti Hereaka is an award-winning novelist and playwright of Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Arawa, Tainui and Pākehā descent, based in Wellington. She will use the fellowship to complete the research and development for a new novel.
Whiti says: ‘I’m not sure if there are enough exclamation marks in the world to express how thrilled I am to be awarded the 2021 NZSA Peter and Dianne Beatson Fellowship (although I’ll try to restrain myself to just one!)
I’d like to acknowledge the generosity of the Beatson’s in setting up the fellowship and thank Peter for his ongoing support of writers. When he rang me to congratulate me, Peter was warm and genuinely interested in my work and my career. It is lovely to know that my work is appreciated and supported, especially when I feel like I’ve been in the mid-career doldrums.
The NZSA Peter & Dianne Beatson Fellowship is an annual award open to any NZSA members working on a new fiction, non-fiction, poetry or drama project. Find out more about the fellowship.