Ken Duncum wins Mansfield Prize
Wellington playwright Ken Duncum has won the 2010 New Zealand Post Mansfield Prize.
The $100,000 Prize is the most valuable international residency programme for New Zealand writers and enables them to work at the Villa Isola Bella in Menton, France, where famed writer Katherine Mansfield lived and wrote in 1919 and 1920. The Prize covers return travel to France and living and accommodation expenses.
This year is also the 40th anniversary of the New Zealand Post Mansfield Prize, formerly known as the Katherine Mansfield Fellowship.
Ken Duncum has been writing for theatre and television for more than 20 years and is the Director of Scriptwriting at Victoria University’s International Institute of Modern Letters.
Mr Duncum says he is looking forward to going to a different place and doing different things.
“Most writers spend a lot of their life doing other things to support themselves so they are able to write. In a funny way, the prize writers want most, is time. I have more projects and ideas in my head than I have time to write. That’s why this Prize means a huge amount to me. I get an extended period to just write, and to catch up with myself.”
The Prize has supported many authors over the years, including Janet Frame, Witi Ihimaera, Vincent O’Sullivan and Dame Fiona Kidman. Last year’s Prize winner, Jenny Pattrick, is about to finish her time in Menton.
Chair of the Katherine Mansfield Menton Trust Richard Cathie said it was special that the 2010 prize winner is a playwright, as there have been few playwrights who have won the prize over the years.
“Ken Duncum plans to work on two major theatre projects during his time in Menton. We can look forward to continuing output from this distinguished writer.”
The New Zealand Post Mansfield Prize is offered in conjunction with the Winn-Manson Menton Trust and administered by Creative New Zealand.
