Stead is one of New Zealand’s most prominent writers and critics, as well as a recipient of New Zealand’shighest honour (the Order of New Zealand), and the 2009 Montana Book Award for his Collected Poems, among numerous other awards.

Accepting the award Stead said: “One is always delighted to win a literary prize”, he says, “but this a very special one because Sarah Broom was a special person. I admired her poetry hugely and I wish I had met her personally. I understand there was a strong field, so it’s reassuring at my age to be told that you are still in business. I am delighted to have won, and I hope that the award continues and that it keeps, along with the poetry itself, the name of Sarah Broom alive to us all.”