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BUDDLE FINDLAY SARGESON FELLOWSHIP

About the Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship

The Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship is a national literary fellowship offered annually in partnership with The Frank Sargeson Trust. The fellowship provides the opportunity each year for an outstanding published New Zealand writer to write full-time in residence (from February to December) at the Sargeson Centre in central Auckland, with an annual stipend of NZ$40,000.

The Frank Sargeson Trust established the fellowship in 1987, to commemorate Frank Sargeson and provide assistance for New Zealand writers. Frank Sargeson was influential not only through his writing, but also as a friend and mentor to other writers.

In 1997 Buddle Findlay became the commercial sponsor of the fellowship, and is proud to support the literary future of New Zealand.

Buddle Findlay National Chairman, Peter Chemis, says the Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship is about giving New Zealand writers the freedom to craft their stories.  “It has given creative space to some of our most notable writers, allowing them time to develop and polish their ideas into works that can become part of our cultural heritage.  “Being a writer is not an easy task.  In many cases it requires purpose and self sacrifice.  Our involvement with the fellowship acknowledges this.”

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".

2009 Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellows

Two award-winning writers have been announced joint winners of this year's Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship.

Steve Braunias and Julian Novitz will each spend 5 months in the Sargeson Centre in Auckland, with Steve Braunias taking up tenure in February, and Julian Novitz in August.

Both writers will also receive a $20,000 grant, allowing them to focus full time on their writing and each will use the Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship to complete projects they already have underway.  Steve Braunias will commence work on a comic novel and Julian Novitz will work on the second draft of a novel, as well as completing several short fiction stories.

Buddle Findlay National Chairman, Peter Chemis, says the 2 writers follow a proud tradition, which has seen many of New Zealand's most distinguished authors occupy the apartment in the centre, which is adjacent to the University of Auckland.

"The Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship, which we have sponsored for the past 11 years, is designed to give writers the financial freedom and personal space they need to contribute to New Zealand's literary tradition, which is such an important element in our cultural identity."

Steve Braunias is a writer, columnist and winner of numerous journalism awards, including the 2006 Qantas Fellowship at the New Zealand Qantas (Print) Media Awards.  His weekly column appears in the Sunday Star-Times and his book of selected columns, Fool's Paradise, won Best First Book of Non-fiction at the 2002 Montana New Zealand Book Awards.

Steve has since written 3 more books; How to watch a bird (2007), Roosters I Have Known (2008) and Fish of the Week: Selected Columns (2008), all published by Awa Press.  He is also a contributor to TV One's Eating Media Lunch and The Unauthorised History of New Zealand.

Julian Novitz is a short fiction and novel writer.  His first book, My Real Life and other stories (Random House, 2004), won the New Zealand Society of Authors Hubert Church Best First Book Award for Fiction at the Montana New Zealand Book Awards in 2005.  His story Three Couples won the 2008 Katherine Mansfield Short Story Award late last year.

Holocaust Tours (Random House, 2006) was Julian's first novel, and his work has also appeared in several editions of The best New Zealand fiction.

Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellows

The inaugural Sargeson Fellow was the distinguished novelist, short story writer and poet Janet Frame, who had a close friendship with Frank Sargeson. The importance of this friendship to Janet Frame's personal and literary life is clear from her account of the time she spent with Frank Sargeson in the second volume of her autobiography, An Angel At My Table.

Janet Frame was succeeded as Sargeson Fellow by the noted New Zealand poet, Kevin Ireland, who was also a close friend of Sargeson. The Sargeson Fellowship was subsequently awarded to writers such as Alan Duff, Elspeth Sandys, Michael King and Marilyn Duckworth.

NBR 2007 Awards for Sponsorship of the Arts

Buddle Findlay was declared Overall Winner at the National Business Review 2007 Awards for Sponsorship of the Arts on Wednesday 16 September 2007.

The award was extra special for the firm, marking 10 years of sponsorship of the Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship and was presented by Prime Minister Rt Hon Helen Clark at a glittering black tie gala evening at the Auckland Town Hall.  Fittingly the event also was a celebration of the 10th year of the NBR Sponsorship of the Arts Awards.

The night included performances by Dame Malvina Major, the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, the New Zealand String Quartet, Southern Symphonic Brass - players from Christchurch Symphony, and an excerpt from Massive Company's acclaimed show 'Up Close. Out Loud'.

Buddle Findlay's award-winning entry consisted of a retrospective of the firm's decade-long commitment to supporting new and emerging New Zealand writers, a relationship described in the words and voices of the Fellows and Trustees themselves in a visual presentation from a DVD "This Magical Solitude" - Download DVD

Extracts from the DVD were played on two giant screens either side of the stage as the Prime Minister announced the Award.

In making the award, the judges said: "This is the 10th anniversary of a major arts partnership in which the name of Buddle Findlay has become synonymous with the Sargeson Fellowship and literary arts in general.

"The law firm is a partnership whose members are personally involved and committed in this very close relationship." 

Buddle Findlay National Chairman Peter Chemis said the Award was a huge acknowledgement of a partnership that has delivered huge dividends for all involved, not only the writers, poets and playwrights who have taken up the Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship, but also the Trustees of the Sargeson Trust, Buddle Findlay partners, staff and clients.

"We are extremely proud, not only of the Award we received last night, but also of the successes our Fellows have enjoyed after the opportunity to live and work at the Sargeson Centre." 

Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship e-newsletter

The Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship e‑newsletters are designed to keep you up-to-date with what's happening with the sponsorship, the Frank Sargeson Trust and past and present Fellows.

Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship update - Two weeks on the road

Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship update - May 2007

Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship update - December 2006

Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship update - Issue 1, June 2006

Sargeson CD

The Frank Sargeson Trust has produced a 3-CD set encapsulating the life and selected works of one of New Zealand's greatest literary innovators and mentors to the literary community, Frank Sargeson. On the CD, selected works include an abridged version of the novella, That Summer and the short story An Affair of the Heart.

The CDs are already in a number of libraries throughout New Zealand.  If you'd like to purchase your own copy or would like further information about the CD, please contact:
Graeme Lay (Secretary, Sargeson Trust)
50 Lake Road, Devonport, Auckland
Tel: 64-9-445 6953

Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship application form

Applications for the 2009 Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship have now closed.

For more information on the Buddle Findlay Sargeson Fellowship, please contact:
Barbara Clarke, National Marketing Manager
telephone 64-4-462 0414 or email barbara.clarke@buddlefindlay.com

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BUDDLE FINDLAY NEGOTIATION COMPETITION

The Buddle Findlay Negotiation Competition is an undergraduate law student competition.  One team of 2 law students, representing a client, negotiates either a transaction or the resolution of a dispute with an opposing team of 2 students. Each team receives a common set of facts and confidential information known only to the participants representing a particular side. They then negotiate an agreement with the other team of students who will have received the same common facts and their own confidential information.

The Buddle Findlay Negotiation Competition takes place during the first semester and will consist of a preliminary round, followed by the semi-finals and finals a day or two later.  The competition will be judged by members of the University Law Faculty, Buddle Findlay lawyers, and/or other experienced negotiation experts.

Dates for 2009

2009 Buddle Findlay Negotiation Competition team winners

Congratulations to all winners of the 2009 Buddle Findlay Negotiation Competition:

  • University of Canterbury: Josh Daniell and Sarah Cockerill
  • Victoria University of Wellington:  Zoe Lawton and Kate Stone

The winning team from each regional competition will be invited to compete at the Australian Law Students’ Association Asia-Pacific Conference (which is being co-hosted by Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and Griffith University (Nathan Campus)) in Brisbane from 13 – 19 July 2009.

The winning team from each regional competition will also compete at the New Zealand Law Students’ Association Conference, which this year will be hosted by Victoria University of Wellington from 1 – 5 September 2009.

How to apply

Application forms for the Buddle Findlay Negotiation Competition are available from your Law Students Association.

For more information on the Buddle Findlay Negotiation Competition, please contact:
Junelle Groves, Human Resources Administrator
telephone 64-9-358 2555 (x7805) or email junelle.groves@buddlefindlay.com

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