Organisers thrilled by entries to South Taranaki literary awards

Hāwera's TSB Hub is the venue for the Ronald Hugh Morrieson Literary Awards on October 24. Photo / Tracey Grant

The 13 finalists in the Ronald Hugh Morrieson Literary Awards have been revealed and they come from across the Taranaki region.

The winners will be announced on October 24, in a function at the TSB Hub in Hāwera. It starts at 7pm, and those intending to go need to email contact@stdc.govt.nz by October 22.

Entries to the awards have increased again this year, South Taranaki District Council children and young adults librarian Pam Jones said. She is rapt with the response, and said it showed the value of keeping the awards going.

"A large proportion of entrants have never entered the competition before so new writers continue to emerge. This brings fresh views and voices to the rich collection of local stories about life in our community."

The community gains from gathering and hearing these stories, she said.

One category that got a lot of entries was the research article. This year the subject was the way technology is changing life in small towns.

Entries covered the way doctor consultations in Pātea have been done online, whether cellphones are good or bad and how farming has been changed by technology. The young entrants were sceptical about how good this was for humanity, awards judge Matt Rilkoff said.

The five Hāwera finalists are Bruce Finer, Darly Paraha, Chris Purdon, Holly Stewart, with Sasha Finer from Hāwera High School. Maria Cunningham is a New Plymouth finalist, Alyx Devlin is an Eltham finalist and finalist Stuart Greenhill is from Stratford.

Finalist Lexi McQuaig goes to Ōpūnake High School, and Michaela Stoneman is a Pātea finalist. The remaining three finalists all go to St Mary's Diocesan School and are Maia-Lane Rupapera Maeke, Alex Paish and Monique Radford.

Judges will comment on the entries in their categories on awards night, and tell the audience how they chose the winners.