Nobody will hear writer scream

Emily Perkins

Novelist Emily Perkins is this year's Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellow.

The award grants her use of a historic central Auckland flat named after celebrated short story writer Frank Sargeson until the end of the year and monthly stipends totalling $20,000.

It is the first time in 10 years that the fellowship has not been divided between two or three writers.

Trust chairwoman Christine Cole Cately said Perkins deserved to be the sole recipient because she "is an outstanding writer of great promise".

Perkins, 36, won the Best First Book (Fiction) at the Montana Book Awards in 1996 with Not Her Real Name and Other Stories.

Her novels are Leave Before You Go (1998) and The New Girl (2001), and she is currently working on Novel About My Wife.

Perkins, who has three young children, said the fellowship would give her much needed space and time: "It's rare that I get the chance to lock myself away to write for long periods of time. Here I can throw myself into the work and nobody will be able to hear me scream!"

Past fellows include Janet Frame, Alan Duff, Michael King and Toa Fraser.