2026 Sargeson Prize Chief Judge Becky Manawatu
Six-year-old Becky Manawatu would grab anything she could get her hands on and start writing.
She took a leap of faith and dedicated her life to her craft, and now she’s an award-winning author and this year’s Chief Judge of the University of Waikato’s Sargeson Prize.
Entries for New Zealand’s biggest short story competition open on 1 April and Ms Manawatu (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Māmoe, Waitaha) says she’s looking for stories that invite the reader to empathise with another person’s experience rather than observe it from the outside.
“Empathy doesn't have to be invoked by sadness – we could all use a bit of hope in the world right now,” Ms Manawatu says. “I like space for the reader, crisp dialogue and stories driven by characters and the choices they make, where the plot grows naturally from the worlds they live in.”
She’s encouraging writers across the country to enter the competition.
“Finish something early so you have time to revisit it with fresh eyes, polish it and send it in,” she says, ahead of entries closing on 30 June.
Ms Manawatu was named the 2025 winner of the Sargeson Prize from a record-breaking 1,470 entries. Her winning story, The Vase, was written in an afternoon and then put away in storage for more than a year before she revisited it, edited it and submitted it. It was her fourth time entering the competition.
Winning gave me time and space to write, as well as building my confidence. I felt empowered and reassured that I was still on the right path.
“As writers, you need reminders that you’ve made a good choice in life and what you’re doing with your time.”
Writing has always been Ms Manawatu’s safe space – the place where she feels her strongest, most confident and brightest self.
Encouraged by her mother and schoolteachers to write, she says support from others can make a huge difference for emerging writers.
“When someone outside of yourself provides confidence and encouragement, it makes you feel like you’re doing something special,” she says.
“I found that I could express things more deeply – things that I was feeling or seeing in the world – through writing rather than other forms of communication."
In 2020, Ms Manawatu won two Ockham New Zealand Book Awards and Best Crime Novel at the Ngaio Marsh Awards for her debut novel, Auē.
Named after celebrated New Zealand writer Frank Sargeson and first offered in 2019, the Sargeson Prize was conceived by multiple award-winning author and University of Waikato English and Writing Studies Associate Professor Catherine Chidgey.
The range and quality of stories we receive each year is extraordinary – a testament to the strength of the genre in Aotearoa. I’m thrilled to have superstar Becky Manawatu as our Chief Judge for 2026, and I can’t wait to see which pieces she chooses for the winners’ podium.
The Open Division offers a first prize of $15,000 and is open to New Zealand citizens, permanent residents or New Zealanders living overseas. Entries must be original, unpublished short stories of no more than 5,000 words.
The competition also includes a category for secondary school students aged 16 to 18. The first prize is $2,000, along with a one-week summer writing residency at the University that includes mentoring. Entries must be original, unpublished stories of no more than 3,000 words.
The winning stories will be published by Newsroom in its literary section ReadingRoom. More information here.
