Lysaght-Watt Trust Ronald Hugh Morrieson Literary Awards

This competition (comprising of a short story/drama script, poetry and research article section) is open to residents and ratepayers of South Taranaki and the wider Taranaki community.

These annual Awards honour the work of local novelist and short story writer Ronald Hugh Morrieson (29 January 1922 – 26 December 1972).

Morrieson wrote four novels: coming of age tale The Scarecrow (1963), Came a Hot Friday (1964), Predicament (published in 1975) and his only contemporary novel Pallet on the Floor (1976). All adapted for the cinema, Morrieson is the only New Zealand writer to have achieved this. Two short stories were published posthumously in 1974, Cross My Heart And Cut My Throat and The Chimney.

The 2023 Lysaght-Watt Trust Ronald Hugh Morrieson Literary Awards are now closed. Watch this space for next year's event, from June 2024.