The latest announcement that the Government is injecting more funds into the literary sector has got to be good news for NZ authors and for our own literary heritage.

Image: Michael King - prolific writer of numerous very good reads on NZ history and people. The latest announcement that the Government is injecting more funds into the literary sector has got to be good news for NZ authors and for our own literary heritage.

Image: Michael King - prolific writer of numerous very good reads on NZ history and people. The additional funding of around $1 million per year will supplement the New Zealand Authors' Fund that compensates New Zealand writers through royalties when their books are borrowed from public libraries to an increase of around $500,000 on the previous year's payment.

The remaining funding will be used to establish three Prime Minister's Literary Awards, each worth $60,000 and awarded annually in the categories of fiction (including scriptwriting), non-fiction and poetry. A multi-year fellowship, available annually and valued at $100,000, will also be established.

Michael King who has struggled for years writing up his brilliant voluminous tomes on NZ history was part of the consultative team: He writes,

"The establishment of a multi-year fellowship is especially good news for biographers and historians," he said. "It raises for the first time the possibility that major books of this kind can be funded from a single source. Some books that previously could not have been completed without strong funding support will now be written.

"It also means that such books will have the coherence that only continuity of funding and sustained writing over several years can provide."

Prime Minister Helen Clark said New Zealand authors had long played an important role in expressing and projecting what was unique about this country.

"We are delighted that the additional government funding will broaden the range of opportunities offered to New Zealand writers as well as significantly increase the resources available to the Authors' Fund," she said.

Peter Biggs, Chair of Creative New Zealand, welcomed the Government's commitment to supporting the literary sector.

"What writers most need is a sustained period of time to research and write new work. That's what these awards and the fellowship will provide," Mr Biggs said. "I look forward to reading the results of this additional funding in the years ahead."

Speaking for the New Zealand Society of Authors, Executive Director Liz Allen said additional funding recognised the need for extra support so that writers could continue to build a strong literary heritage.

"The money set aside for audience and market development will be a valuable contribution to creating a more viable industry for both writers and publishers in New Zealand," she said.