Award-winning author Becky Manawatu has taken out the prestigious Sargeson Prize with a quirky, unforgettable tale of a vase mysteriously resurrected after being smashed during a cousins’ drinking session.
With a $15,000 first prize, New Zealand’s biggest short story competition drew a strong field of entries, and winners were announced on Saturday evening at the annual Frank Sargeson Memorial Lecture at the University of Waikato.
Mrs Manawatu (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Māmoe, Waitaha), author of the award-winning novel Auē, says winning the Sargeson Prize has given her a “huge boost of confidence as a writer” and ignited a lot of excitement for her in the short story form, which she finds very intimidating.
Becky Manawatu won this year's Sargeson Prize with her story 'The Vase'
“The deadline for the Sargeson has been on my calendar for a number of years, and I have been grateful for that deadline to force me to experiment and challenge myself and come up with something I can enter each year. I feel so grateful, and fortunate.”
Having written the draft in one afternoon over a year ago, the story was tucked away after feedback and left to simmer for over a year.
“I returned to it about six months later and freshened it up and then freshened it up once or twice more before entering it into the contest.”
This year’s Chief Judge, multiple award-winning author Elizabeth Knox, says ‘The Vase’ is a powerfully moody story.
"It also has a plot and mystery. It keeps offering solutions to its mysteries that all feel possibly true – which is a real accomplishment. ‘The Vase’ is an unsettling work that ends with the dilemma of its protagonist’s sense that they’ve lost everything, and that what they’ve lost leaves them alone, but will never leave them in peace.”
Becky Manawatu and Brooke Smith won their respective categories at the Sargeson Prize.
Ms Knox observed a surprising common theme running through the Open Division entries.
“What struck me was how many of the stories were grief pieces about disappointment rather than loss. Stories where the conditions of hope being rewarded has died away, leaving the bones of hope.”
She felt the pieces offered her the sense of not just an up-to-the-minute look at the state of the short story, but of taking the temperature of “a patient with something serious brewing”.
“I felt that, though I was reading particular, original products of particular, unrepeatable minds, there was the murmur of a crowd behind them. So, New Zealand short fiction is alive and kicking, and it's not a day spa, it's not a self-help book. It might be the canary in the mine – or the gas sensors when they're working even though management has been too cheap to replace them.”
Poet Chris Tse delivered the Frank Sargeson Memorial Lecture.
University of Waikato Associate Professor in Creative Writing and accomplished author Catherine Chidgey expressed her delight at the overwhelming response to this year’s competition.
“We were swept away by a record-breaking 1,470 entries this year – an extraordinary response that speaks to the strength of short fiction in Aotearoa.
“It’s a joy to see so many writers embracing this beguiling and rewarding form. The winning pieces dazzle with their craft, their voices and their sheer variety.”
Student winner Brooke Smith with Vice-Chancellor Neil Quigley.
The competition was also open to secondary school students, and Ms Knox said each of the shortlisted stories offered a distinctive emotional and intellectual experience.
“As a whole category the 16- to 18-year-old offerings delighted me with their ambition, breadth and originality.
“I was often warmed by their openhearted thinking about the world, spending time with young characters watching things closely, and figuring out how to feel, what to think, and how to participate in the life around them.”
Brooke Smith, a student at Auckland’s Waiuku College, won first place in the Secondary Schools Division with her entry ‘Piece of the Furniture’.
The Sargeson Prize was held at the University of Waikato on Saturday night.
Ms Knox says the story moved her to tears.
“It opens with a child's view of a house being packed up,” she explains. “The family are leaving the house without telling the child what’s happening or where they’re off to. We see the sneaky haste of the whole process.”
Brooke says it feels really special to win but admits knowing so many people were going to read her story was pretty scary.
“The story feels quite personal, so to have it recognised and praised so much means a lot to me. I'm only hoping that it resonates with others and makes them feel seen.”
The experience has also inspired Brooke to continue pursuing creative writing.
“I’ve always been quite private about my creative writing, as much of it draws on personal experiences, so sharing this part of myself has been a step outside my comfort zone,” she said.
Sargeson Prize is New Zealand's biggest short story competition.
“While I’ve always enjoyed writing analytical essays and exploring societal ideas through that form, this experience has encouraged me to keep developing my creative voice as well.”
Brooke will receive $2000 and a one-week summer writing residency at the University of Waikato, which includes mentoring, accommodation and meals.
The winning stories will be published by Newsroom in its literary section, ReadingRoom.
Winners of 2025:
Open Division
Winner: ‘The Vase’ by Becky Manawatu of Kawatiri Westport
Second: ‘My Pal Mal’ by Maria Wickens of Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington
Third: ‘Orange Warning’ by Kate Duignan of Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington
Highly Commended
‘Goodbye Freddy’ by Octavia Cade of Ōtepoti Dunedin
‘Pond Scum’ by Leah Dodd of Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington
‘Callooh’ by Robert Jenkins of Whakatū Nelson
‘Puzzling World’ by Jessica Howland Kany of Wānaka
‘Freedom Voices’ by Sam Keenan (won in 2019) of Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington
‘The Singing Butcher’ by Harriet Salmon of Tāmaki Makurau Auckland
Secondary Schools Division:
Winner: ‘Piece of the Furniture’ by Brooke Smith of Waiuku College
Second: ‘Double Solitaire’ by Haelyn King of Green Bay High School
Third: ‘Glory Keeps Fucking With my Throat’ by Thomas Beaglehole-Smith, Wellington College
Highly Commended
‘On the Seventh Day’ by Jeremy Guy of Wellington College
‘Crests and Troughs’ by Anouk Hector-Taylor of Cashmere High School
‘Jewel Wasp Cockroach’ by Elizabeth Houghton of Hutt Valley High School
‘Confluence’ by Bryony Keynes of Whangarei Girls’ High School
‘The Camellias’ by Amelie Lewis of Kristin School
‘As It Is Written’ by Emily Feng Yi Ng of Villa Maria College
‘As a mother to a mother’ by Helianth Nguyen of Westlake Girls’ High School
‘Ritualistic Hunger’ by Polly O’Sullivan-Watts of Westlake Girls’ High School
‘Onsra’ by Thalia Peterson of Ōtautahi Christchurch
‘Ångermanälven’ by Grace Sutherland of Kuranui College
‘Small’ by Nenabella Sutherland-Demmocks of Mt Hobson Academy
