As the Earth Turns Silver

2009

Central PR9642 W659 A8

North Shore, New Zealand: Penguin; with kind permission

Robert Burns Fellow 2002: Alison Wong (b. 1960)

Alison Wong remembers her Burns tenure:
‘I loved my year as Burns Fellow. The Fellowship gave financial support but also encouragement and recognition at a time when I had yet to publish a book. Dunedin and Otago/Southland entered into the novel I was writing (“As the Earth Turns Silver”, above) and into poems published in my collection, “Cup” (2006). I am grateful to the many people who helped in my research whether academics or other experts in their fields, and thankful for the warmth of the welcome and enduring friendships. I have a deep affection for this intimate and beautiful city.’
Wong’s novel, As the Earth Turns Silver, won the Fiction Award at the New Zealand Post Book Awards in 2010.