Jacinda ARDERN
Arts, Culture and Heritage Spokesperson
16 October 2013 MEDIA STATEMENT
Kiwi lights up literary world
Labour has today congratulated young Kiwi author, Eleanor Catton, on winning literature’s prestigious Man Booker prize.
“Eleanor must be feeling absolutely elated, and justifiably so,” Arts, Culture and Heritage spokesperson Jacinda Ardern
says.
The judges praised the maturity of The Luminaries, saying “you read every sentence and you are astonished by its
knowledge and its poise.”
“It’s an amazing achievement made even more so by the fact that she is the youngest author ever to be awarded the Man
Booker. She now joins a list of the world’s greatest writers that includes names such as Iris Murdoch, Salman Rushdie,
Margaret Atwood and Kingsley Amis.
“Coincidentally Eleanor’s win comes 28 years after New Zealand’s Keri Hulme won the same prize for The Bone People in
1985, the year Eleanor was born.
“The wider impact of Eleanor’s win for New Zealand is immeasurable, as it will be for her. Anyone who reaches such
heights becomes an ambassador for all Kiwis - reluctantly or otherwise.
“Today all Kiwis will be feeling proud of Eleanor and the legacy she has created. For someone so young, it is an
incredible achievement.”
ENDS