Karyn Hay

Publishing her first novel in 2000 was a major milestone for well-known broadcaster Karyn Hay.

Karyn Hay hails originally from Waitoa but has spent the past 18 years moving between New Zealand and the UK working as a TV producer and director. She started her writing career as a trainee copywriter with Radio 1ZH in Hamilton but always intended to write literary fiction.

Her highly acclaimed novel Emerald Budgies won Hubert Church Best First Book for Fiction (Montana Book Awards) in 2001. The somewhat dark novel is a comic tale of disintegration, betrayal and revenge.

Karyn took up the fellowship in February and plans to complete her second novel during her stay.

She says of the Fellowship: "Somehow I have to find a way to write - I see little point in any other pursuits. Receiving the Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship will allow me to finish my second book without feeling that I must 'accept my responsibilities' and find a real job".

Karyn is currently preparing for her trip to East Timor in July for the new series of "Intrepid Journeys".

She is married to musician Andrew Fagan and has two sons Seth and Fabian.

Reviews of Emerald Budgies (Random House New Zealand 2000/Diva UK 2000):

Emerald Budgies is a darkly comic book about Ruth, a difficult, funny anti-heroine … trying to sort herself out but running from too many things. Hay's prose pulls no punches. It is energetic and visceral, and if there are moments that make you suck your teeth in discomfort, it's your problem."
Emily Perkins, Pavement Magazine, Month 2000

"A relentlessly bleak - if extremely funny - vision of modern life with no redemption whatsoever for anyone anywhere … There are times when Emerald Budgies makes Trainspotting look like Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm."
Denis Welch, Listener, 28 October 2000

"It is a raw, thoughtful and very funny novel … a debut to be proud of."
Kate Camp, Listener, 4 November 2000

"It's sometimes hilarious in a way that might make you feel guilty about laughing and it's certainly not recommended for the faint of heart and the tight of morals. But it has a shocking sort of verve about it - and its appalling cast of characters, each of them wearing their own dirty habits like medals."
Colin Hogg, New Zealand Herald, 16 December 2000