10 July 2013
Announcement of 2013 Janet Frame Literary Trust Award
Christchurch poet Tusiata Avia has been named as the 2013 recipient of a Janet Frame Literary Trust Award worth $5,000. Avia has published two books of poetry: Wild Dogs Under My Skirt (2004) and Bloodclot (2009). Known for her dynamic performance style she has toured her one-woman show Wild Dogs Under My Skirt to places as diverse as Moscow, Jerusalem and Vienna, as well as destinations closer to home. Avia has held a number of
residencies including the Fulbright Pacific Writer’s Fellowship at the University of Hawai’i (2005) and the Ursula
Bethell Writer in Residence at the University of Canterbury (2010). She is regularly published in international literary
journals and invited to appear at writers festivals around the globe. Last year's highlights were performances in New
York and in London where she represented Samoa at the Poetry Parnassus held in the run-up to the 2012 Olympic Games.
Avia is currently working on a new book of poetry as well as an adaptation of Bloodclot for the stage to be called The Adventures of Nafanua. She intends to use the award to support her writing, and said: “While the money is a wonderful god-send, I am much
more thrilled about the award. It's no small honour to receive an award with Janet Frame's name on it!”
Janet Frame founded the Janet Frame Literary Trust in 1999 and instructed her trustees to give occasional grants from an
endowment fund to support and encourage New Zealand authors. Since Frame’s death from leukemia in 2004, her estate has
awarded a total of $100,000 in grants to benefit New Zealand writers.
More information on Tusiata Avia:
More information on the Janet Frame Literary Trust:
Web Page: http://www.janetframe.org.nz
ENDS