Brannavan Gnanalingam, a guest of the upcoming Queenstown Writers Festival, has won a major New Zealand literary award. His book Sprigs has won the prize for Best Novel at the 2021 Ngaio Marsh Awards for crime writing.
Brannavan tells us he was surprised to win the award, given that Sprigs is not a traditional crime novel. However, he is pleased to be recognised by his peers.
Sprigs is the story of 15-year-old school girl Priya who is gang raped by members of a private school rugby team during an after-match party.
In the novel Brannavan explores the motivations and reactions of many characters and how collectively they contribute to a system that has failed so many victims.
It is an uncomfortable book to read and Brannavan, himself a survivor of sexual assault, says it was difficult to write. “There were a few things I needed to work through in my own head. It was coming from a place of fury and anger and wanting to keep the narrative in a way that did it justice.”
The book comes with a warning that it includes discussions of sexual violence, suicide, misogyny and racism and he wants attendees at the Queenstown Writers Festival to be aware of the sensitive subject matter. “There’s no sense of obligation to stick around for all parts of it.”
Sprigs is Brannavan’s sixth book and his most commercially successful. At QWF he will be interviewed by national English educator Amanda Robinson at the Sherwood, at 2pm on Sunday, November 14. He will also be speaking about the process of being a writer and juggling that with full time employment as a lawyer, a columnist, husband and father.
Go to our Programme page for more.
