Fulbrighter awarded the Adam Prize in Creative Writing

US Fulbright grantee Josh Greenberg from Michigan has been awarded the 2003 Adam Prize in Creative Writing for his novel The Game of Nods.

L to R: Bill Manhire, Director of Victoria University's MA in Creative Writing; Andy Thomson, Chair of the Victoria University Foundation; Denis Adam and Josh Greenberg

The NZD1,000 prize is an annual award for the best portfolio presented by a student in Victoria University’s Master of Arts in Creative Writing.

The award was announced by Denis Adam of the Adam Foundation. The Adam Foundation was established in 1996 through the Victoria University Foundation by Denis and Verna Adam due to their strong wish to support the development of creative writing in New Zealand.

Director of Victoria’s MA in Creative Writing, Professor Bill Manhire (also a Fulbrighter) said that Mr Greenberg had written an astonishing novel.

“Josh has one of the most inventive minds I have come across. His novel is full of energy and momentum, crammed with characters who are larger-than-life but entirely credible.

“It’s wildly comic, yet also deeply serious in its take on human behaviour and the natural world."

The Game of Nods is set in small-town America, on a cargo ship, and in the New Zealand bush. It tells the story of a thief and an actress who fall in love and come to New Zealand on a ship.

They meet a prophet named Barry Trash, based on Josh’s travelling truckdriver friend Kyle.

“It’s an autobiographical novel, a reflection of Kyle and I travelling. He inspired me to take a different form of life."

The external assessor, novelist Nigel Cox, found himself stumped when trying to find superlatives. “The extended ‘in the bush’ sequence is a major triumph in a book that seems to consist entirely of triumphs," he wrote in his report.

Josh carried out research for his novel on a 26 day freight boat journey from the US to New Zealand. He also conducted research in the Kuhurangi National Park on the West Coast of the South Island for part of the novel which deals with conservation, island biogeography and New Zealand’s endemic bird species.

While he was attending Victoria’s MA workshop, Josh lived in the Wairarapa countryside and commuted to class.

He used to write short stories but writing his first novel, which took one year, was much harder. The final draft was the result of nine attempts. “The main character of the novel wishes to travel as far away from human civilisation as possible so I find the ‘wilderness area’ fascinating and important. The Kuhurangi National Park is one of a few areas in New Zealand that supports large numbers of endemic birds," said Josh.

“The specifics of this location ­ from weather to birds to people who have been born and raised in this area - form part of the novel.

“I also stayed with a possum-hunter whose opinions of 1080 poison and other New Zealand governmental environmental procedures form the crux of discussions in the text."

Bill Manhire said he thought Josh Greenberg would become a major contemporary novelist.

“Back in 19th Century America, Emerson wrote to the poet Walt Whitman, saying, ‘I greet you at the beginning of a great career.’ I think we can say exactly the same to Josh."

Josh returned to Michigan in January.

Earlier winners of the Adam Prize have gone on to highly successful writing careers including inaugural winner Catherine Chidgey in 1998 and Cliff Fell last year.