Shameless skite. Got a thrill being named in this by Steve Braunias (fgenuflect, genuflect) alongside such cool people. And Braunias is usually so MEAN! Award number three is the Wintec Press Club Best writer in NZ award. None of the finalists were able to make it today but the winner is in the room. The finalists are Jeremy Wells of Radio Hauraki, for his justly celebrated Mike Hosking parodies. He’s got Hosking’s horrible nasal drawl pitch-perfect but I think the main thing to cherish about it is the writing. He’s got Hosking’s horrible smug Tory asshole delivery pitch-perfect, right down to the sign-off phrase, Happy days. Emily Simpson, metro magazine. I love Emily. She’s my woman. She’s also a brilliant writer and I thought her story in Metro this year about a disgraceful school principle who ripped off her decile one school was the single best feature article I read all year. It was investigated with relish and genuine curiosity, and the quality of the writing was world-class. Deborah Hill-Cone, NZ Herald. Deborah’s weekly column in the Herald has been a harrowing read throughout 2014. She has experienced the depths of real despair and she has told everyone all about it in explicit detail. There was the famous line about the great English columnist and melancholic Jeffrey Bernard, that his columns were “suicide notes in weekly instalments”. Something similar was happening with Deborah, and she always wrote about her anguish vividly, elegantly, and with fantastic honesty. Matt Bowen, Waikato Times. A couple of months ago matt wrote a story about a guy in Hamilton who rescued a woman being attacked by her dog. It was a solid story but the remarkable thing about it were the quotes. A good writer is someone with an ear for language, for the way people actually speak, and Matt faithfully recorded the New Zealand nuances of the Kiwis in his story. He didn’t tidy them up; he quoted them excactly, and with obvious pleasure. A stand-out quote was from the rescuer’s girlfiend, who gave Matt a line of pure NZ poetry when she said: He just jumped that fence with a vicious as mutt like that.” And the winner of the 2014 Wintec Best writer in NZ award is also from the Waikato Times, the good looking, wildly talented, and absolutely top bird Aimie Cronin. Please come to the stage! There is often talk among older practitioners of NZ journalism of a bygone golden age, of a time when there was a lot of brilliant and original writing taking place. Writers like Emily Simpson and Diana Wichtel and Greg Bruce and Deborah Hill-Cone and Aimie Cronin suggest that golden age may well be now. Aimie’s feature work at the Waikato Times is constantly exhilarating. She’s an expressive and emotional writer who shown particular sensitivity in revealing Hamilton’s underclass. Last week’s feature about a disgraceful state housing project was a brittle masterpiece. But perhaps my favourite story of hers I read this year was a beautiful memoir about being a shy and vulnerable teenager spending summer in a New Zealand beach town. What an exquisite writer. Congratulations, Aimie, your cool.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Nov 2014 19:24:44 +0000