Crime reporter Kelly Dennett is the winner of the inaugural Surrey Hotel Steve Braunias Memorial Writer's Residency in Association with The Spinoff Award.
Dennett is a journalist at the Sunday Star-Times, and will use the residency to work on her book about the disappearance and murder of Jane Furlong.
The idea for the award came from author and journalist Steve Braunias, who stayed at the Surrey last year and wrote part of his best-selling book, The Scene of the Crime.
Denise King, general manager at The Surrey Hotel, will welcome the winning applicant, and then leave them to get on with their writing.
The winner will take up their room on a Sunday, and have a free roast dinner on arrival. Breakfast is also gratis during their stay, and there are two free dinners, and complementary wifi. Before they check out the following Sunday, they can sit down and have a farewell free roast.
“We applaud the Surrey and were happy to award $500 to further assist the successful applicant,” said Spinoff publisher Duncan Greive. The Spinoff will also provide funding for a single value menu Domino’s pizza every night except on Sundays when there is a roast.
Two runners-up have also won residencies at the Surrey Hotel - in second place, Antony Millen of Taumaranui, who writes novels for young adults, with third place going to Wellington poet Ashleigh Young.
The Spinoff’s Grieve told Ponsonby News, “I always got a kick out of the idea of extraordinary writer Braunias doing his work at The Surrey. Writers' work is so often romanticised, but you can do it anywhere you have peace and quiet - The Surrey is as good as anywhere in the world, we thought. We also thought we'd get a different type of applicant than normally goes for the more serious literary residencies.
“We were thrilled with the response, and I think the winner's work has an opportunity to be a landmark investigation into a deeply troubling case. To think of it happening at The Surrey, with us facilitating, fills my heart with joy.”
THE SURREY HOTEL www.thesurreyhotel.co.nz
THE SPINOFF www.thespinoff.co.nz