Christchurch City Libraries lists literary prize winners and links to catalogue searches, but we may not hold copies of all titles mentioned.
The competition encourages writers to think aloud about New Zealand culture, and aims to sustain the tradition of vivid, contentious and creative essay writing that has appeared in Landfall's pages. The prize is $3000, a year's subscription to Landfall and the winning essay will appear in Landfall.
Strong words is a compilation of Landfall essay competition entries.
email: landfall@otago.ac.nz
Web: Landfall Essay Competition
See more literary prize winners.
2024
Joint-winners: Franchesca Walker for Unsteady ground and Hannah August for Response to a restructure published in Landfall 248
2023
Siobhan Harvey for A Jigsaw of Broken Things published in Landfall 246
2022
Tina Makereti for Lumpectomy published in Landfall 244
2021
Andrew Dean for The New Man published in Landfall 242
2020
A.M. McKinnon published for Canterbury Gothic in Landfall 240
2019
Joint winners:
- Tobias Buck for Exit. Stage Left.
- Nina Mingya Powles for Tender Gardens
Both essays published in Landfall 238
2018
Alice Miller for The Great Ending published in Landfall 236
2017
Joint winners:
- Alie Benge for Shitfight
- Laurence Fearnley for Perfume Counter
Both essays were published in Landfall 234
2016
Airini Beautrais for Umlaut published in Landfall 232
2015
Tracey Slaughter for Ashdown Place published in Landfall 230
2014
Diana Bridge for An attachment to China published in Landfall 228
2013
Tim Corballis for Winter published in Landfall 226
2012
Elizabeth Smither for Reading a Bad Book Is Like Getting Food Poisoning published in Landfall 224
2011
Philip Armstrong for On Tenuous Grounds published in Landfall 222
2010
Ian Wedde for The Grass-Catcher published in Landfall 220
2009
Ashleigh Young, for Wolf Man published in Landfall 218
2008
Alice Miller and Kirsten Warner, published in Landfall 216
2006
Anna Sanderson, published in Landfall 212
2004
Tze Ming Mok and Martin Edmond, published in Landfall 208
2002
Patrick Evans and Kapka Kassabova - published in Landfall 203
1999
C.K. Stead and Peter Wells - published in Landfall 198
1997
Gregory O'Brien - published in Landfall 194