Story: Awards and prizes

Jessie Mackay poetry prize, 1939

Jessie Mackay poetry prize, 1939

This notice, by the New Zealand branch of the international writers' organisation PEN (later the New Zealand Society of Authors) appeared in Wellington newspaper the Evening Post in March 1939. It announced the inception of the Jessie Mackay poetry prize, named for a leading New Zealand poet who had died recently. In the early 2020s this prize, awarded annually for the best first book of poetry, formed part of the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.

Using this item

National Library of New Zealand, Papers Past
Reference: Evening Post, 4 March 1939, p. 25

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How to cite this page:

Mark Derby, 'Awards and prizes - Awards and their origins', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/document/44672/jessie-mackay-poetry-prize-1939 (accessed 25 April 2024)

Story by Mark Derby, published 22 Oct 2014, updated 1 Apr 2020