Albert Wendt Wins Regional Commonwealth Writers Prize

Leading New Zealand author Albert Wendt has won the prestigious regional Commonwealth Writers' prize for 2010 for his novel in verse The Adventures of Vela. Wendt won the award for best book in a competition which recognizes the best of Commonwealth fiction written in English. He now goes on to compete for the international Commonwealth Writers' Prize against three other regional winners. The overall winner will receive £10,000 and will be announced on 12 April 2010 in Delhi, India.

Samoan born Wendt, 70, is author of some 20 books. He scooped the South East Asia and Pacific region prize from 5 other strong finalists from across Australasia including New Zealand writer Charlotte Grimshaw. The judges described his epic verse novel The Adventures of Vela as "an exhilarating read". Blending traditional storytelling and song with contempory rock music and hip-hop the novel follows the journeys of Vela as he chronicles the life of the Samoan goddess of war.

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Other shortlisted books for the Commonwealth Writers' regional prize for best book were:

Peter Carey - Parrot and Olivier in America
J.M. Coetzee - Summertime
Thomas Keneally The People's Train
Nada Awar Jarrar A Good Land
Charlotte Grimshaw - Singularity

Finalists for The Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book are:

From Africa: The Double Crown by Marié Heese.
From the Caribbean and Canada: Galore by Michael Crummey.
From South Asia & Europe: Solo by Rana Dasgupta.
From South East Asia and Pacific: The Adventures of Vela by Albert Wendt.