Creative New Zealand's inaugural 2003 Writers' Fellowship, the largest fellowship available to writers in New Zealand, was recently awarded to South Island writer, Owen Marshall. The Fellowship was offered for the first time this year as a result of an additional NZ$1 million funding boost by the New Zealand Government, which will be made available each year from here on to the literary sector. 'The fellowship is a very substantial one and I'm grateful to the government, which funded it, Creative New Zealand, which awarded it, and to the panel of my peers who were involved in my selection,' said Marshall. The funding was also used to establish three Prime Minister's Literary Awards, worth NZ$60,000 each, awarded in the categories of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. For further information about Creative New Zealand CLICK HERE.