Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Skiting

I'm about to break a Great New Zealand Taboo here - I'm going to Skite. So if you can't cope, stop reading now.

Earlier this year, I did the course in creative non-fiction writing at the International Institute of Modern Letters at Victoria University. It was, like, OMG, SO awesome! No, really, it was, I loved every minute of it.

What I didn't know was that there is a prize for original composition, awarded each year in memory of Victoria University Press's first editor, Pamela Tomlinson, to one of the students either in this course or in short fiction writing. Today I opened a letter telling me I'd won it.

[Here you have to imagine a prolonged but inarticulate noise expressing enormous surprise, joy and excitement.]

There is just one tiny problem. I now have absolutely no excuse whatsoever for not addressing myself seriously to the writing project I focused on while I was doing the course. If there are long gaps in this blog, that may be because I am finally (after not just years, but decades of dithering around) Getting On With It.

8 comments:

  1. Hurrah! Congratulations!

    And that's just for breaking those taboos.

    As for winning the prize, that's marvellous. And wonderful. Super-congratulations!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Congrats, Anne! That's fantastic!

    I am anxiously awaiting to see your finished work :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. How wonderful. Write on and we will look forward to the results.

    Did you know that there is an Australian blog, The View from Elsewhere, and the author (whose name is Eleanor and is known as Els) has just completed a US MFA in creative non-fiction and is presently at Yaddo colony on a writing fellowship? This strikes me as an amazing coincidence - the downunder Else connection to creative non-fiction.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Anne, just wanted to drop by and say thank you for the lovely card and letter from you and Harvey. I received it today, and as I don't normally get ANY mail worth opening, it was very exciting! Hope you are both well, and congratulations on your prize!
    Amy.
    (opps! Poor spelling must be seen to!)

    ReplyDelete
  6. We are all very proud of you Anne - and I know it was well deserved!
    I can do my own bit of skiting about having been on the course with you...
    Nicola

    ReplyDelete