Jack Lasenby Award
The Jack Lasenby Award, offered by the Wellington Children’s Book Association, is made to the winners of a biennial competition for writers for children and for children who write in the Wellington region.
About Jack Lasenby:
Jack Lasenby’s first book was published in 1976 and now, with more than fifteen titles to his credit, he is amongst New Zealand’s most popular children’s writers and winner of multiple awards. He has captured the minds and imaginations of children with his rare honesty, vigorous language and soaring adventures. After a variety of jobs, including deer-culler and possum-trapper in the Ureweras, Jack became a school teacher, then editor of The School Journal and later a lecturer at Wellington College of Education. Jack lives in Wellington and is Patron of the Wellington Children’s Book Association.
There are two categories in the competition.
Category One is for students in Years 7 and 8 at primary and intermediate schools. Stories entered in this category should be for children aged from eight to twelve years, and should be no longer than 500 words. The winner of Category One will receive $200 plus a set of books published by Longacre Press. The school the winning writer attends will also receive a set of books from Longacre Press for its school library.
Category Two is for adult writers of children’s fiction. Stories entered in this category should also be for children aged from eight to twelve years, with a maximum length of 1,000 words. The winning writer will receive $500.
The theme of the stories is open but they must be set somewhere that is recognisably within the Wellington region.
The competition is open to people who live in Wellington's geographical area, i.e. the area covered by the Wellington telephone book.
For further information about the award, contact the Wellington Children’s Book Association, PO Box 1242, Wellington.
