Burnside pupil wins literary award

Press, 3 November 1984, Page 9

Burnside pupil wins literary award

A sixth-form pupil at Burnside High School, Anna Walters, has won the 1984 Peter Smart Memorial Award for original writing — the first literary competition she has entered. The award, worth $5O, is open to post-primary pupils in Canterbury and Westland. Entrants were asked to submit a portfolio of original writing, with no restriction on style or quantity. Anna, aged 15, said she had been writing since the age of five. Her portfolio included both poetry and prose, although she wrote mostly poetry.

"Some people think my work is pessimistic, but I don’t think it is. I thought one poem about pollution was really positive,” she said.

This is the second year the award has been available. It is organised by the Canterbury English Teachers’ Association and commemorates the life and work of the late Peter Smart.

Mr Smart, who died in 1981, was one of New Zealand’s most distinguished

English teachers and editor of the literary periodical, “Landfall.”

The judge for this year’s award was Mr Simon Garrett, of the English department at the University of Canterbury. Mr Garrett said the overall standard of the 23 entries revealed a promising future for imagination literature in New Zealand.

“Anna’s poems have a lyrical quality, a control of tone, and understanding of

form and a range ot theme that is very impressive,” he said.

“Her three prose pieces also demonstrate an ability to manipulate and control a variety of moods.”

Those commended were Michele Ferrand, Aranui High School; Nina McMurdo, Ashburton College; Jane McLaughlin, Linwood High School; Tania Novitz, Burnside High School; Rebekah Palmer, Linwood High School.