The award, offered each year in partnership with The Frank Sargeson Trust,  allows an outstanding published New Zealand writer to live and write rent-free in the Sargeson flat, located next to Auckland University.

The fellowship was established in 1987 to commemorate Frank Sargeson and provide assistance for New Zealand writers. Buddle Findlay National Chairman, Sarah Roberts, says the award is about giving talented writers the freedom to focus on their creative activities.

'It is an opportunity for some of our most notable writers to develop their ideas, viewpoints and visions and in doing so contributing to the intellectual capital of our country.'

Background information

Frank Sargeson
Described as one of New Zealand's greatest literary innovators and mentor to the literary community, Frank Sargeson was a novelist and short story writer who became internationally known as the pioneer who broke from colonial literary traditions to an idiom that expressed the rhythms of New Zealand speech and experience. He qualified as a lawyer before committing himself to full-time writing and a day-to-day struggle, which he described as 'physically, mentally and financially exhausting'.

Past winners
Past Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellows (from 1997 onwards) include Fiona Samuel, Peter Cox, Karyn Hay, Craig Marriner, Toa Fraser, Debra Daley, Denis Baker, Riemke Ensing, Vivienne Plumb, Chad Taylor, Shonagh Koea, Diane Brown, Catherine Chidgey, Sarah Quigley, Tina Shaw, Kapka Kassabova, Sue Reidy, James Brown, Charlotte Grimshaw.

Earlier Sargeson Trust Fellows include Janet Frame, Alan Duff, Kevin Ireland, Michael King and Marilyn Duckworth.