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$60,000 Prize Awarded for Poem Imagining the Killing of Early European Explorer

The governing ACT Party has threatened to cut funding to the arts if such works continue receiving support.
$60,000 Prize Awarded for Poem Imagining the Killing of Early European Explorer
A statue of Captain James Cook stands in Sydney's Hyde Park on August 25, 2017. WILLIAM WEST/Getty Images
Rex Widerstrom
Rex Widerstrom
12/21/2023|Updated: 12/21/2023
0:00

New Zealand’s governing ACT Party has criticised a decision by Creative NZ to award a poet a NZ$60,000 literary prize for a poem that imagines a violent attack on early explorer Captain James Cook.

The Christchurch-based Tusiata Avia published the poem in 2020 to mark the 250th anniversary of Cook’s arrival in New Zealand.

Rex Widerstrom
Rex Widerstrom
Author
Rex Widerstrom is a New Zealand-based reporter with over 40 years of experience in media, including radio and print. He is currently a presenter for Hutt Radio.
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New Zealand
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