MAIL SORTER’S POEMS WIN $65,000 PRIZE
5:00AM Monday March 17, 2008
A writer who has spent much of his life working as a mail sorter has won New Zealand’s largest literary prize.
David Beach, from Wellington, was on Saturday given $65,000 as winner of the biennial Prize in Modern Letters for his book of poems, Abandoned Novel.
“That a book of poems can win a $65,000 prize makes me feel as if I’ve stumbled into a parallel universe where poetry is considered important,” Beach said.