Winner of Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement, poet Dinah Hawken

On Thursday evening, poet Dinah Hawken was one of three recipients of a Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement. The others were, for fiction, Barbara Else and non fiction, Ross Calman. The awards have been made annually since 2003. They are managed by Creative New Zealand and decided by its governing Arts Council following public nominations and recommendations from an external panel. Dinah Hawken will publish her 11th book of poetry in 2026, Peace and Quiet. Her debut collection, It Has No Sound and is Blue won the Commonwealth Poetry Prize for Best First Time Published Poet back in 1987. Across those 48 years she has been published by Te Herenga Waka Press. In 2007 Dinah received the Lauris Edmond Award for Distinguished Contribution to Poetry. As a poet Dinah Hawken has a remarkable ability to situate herself and us in nature and history. To connect us to these bigger things, while - gently yet pointedly - make us ask questions of ourselves. Dinah joined Culture 101 in the Poneke Wellington studio on Friday, and we started with her reading a poem she read at the awards ceremony.