Japanese story takes New Zealand's biggest literary prize

Carl Shuker

New Zealand's most lucrative literary prize was awarded to Carl Shuker of Auckland at the weekend.

Mr Shuker, 31, picked up $65,000 for winning the Prize in Modern Letters at a function in Wellington on Saturday night. He won the award for his 2005 novel, The Method Actors.

The book has only recently gone on sale in New Zealand but has been on American bookstore shelves since May.

The novel draws on the intensity of contemporary Tokyo, where Mr Shuker lived for 18 months after completing his undergraduate degree at Victoria University.

"Tokyo's just like a constant education and a constant buzz. It can be like a drug. It gives a lot, but it also takes away from you as well," he told the Herald.

University communications adviser Nancy Linton said the novel told a story "in which the hedonism of young expats collides with a secret history of Japan".

One of the prize judges, Barbara Epler of United States publishing house New Directions, praised Mr Shuker's writing for its descriptiveness and emotion.

"The novel would be remarkable if only for its ambition," said Geoffrey Wolff, another judge. "The novel roams around the world, and its local accuracy - about manners, idiom and environment - is extraordinary."

Mr Shuker said the cash would allow him to begin a new book while living in London and travelling through Europe.

The final draft of his second book, The Lazy Boys, is about to be submitted to publisher Shoemaker and Hoard. It is due for release at the end of 2006.

The Prize in Modern Letters is administered by Victoria University's International Institute of Modern Letters and is awarded biennially.