Chloe Searle was presented with the 2010 BNZ Novice Writer Award at a ceremony in Wellington last night for her short story Babysitting.
"I'm really pleased and really surprised," the 24-year-old said yesterday.
"The story is about someone who goes babysitting. There's some sort of abuse going on and the babysitter is wondering what to do about it and doesn't make the right call."
Ms Searle also won $1500 prize money.
"I've just bought a house in Oamaru, so I'll probably use the money on the roof," she said.
BNZ Awards judge Emma Neale described Ms Searle as "a writer of enormous promise".
The top short fiction prize for published writers, the $10,000 Katherine Mansfield Award, was won last night by Wellington writer Wes Lee for her story Furniture.
"I don't think my feet will touch the ground all day. I've won overseas awards before but, as a New Zealander and a writer, to win the BNZ Katherine Mansfield Award is very special," Ms Lee said.
Hawkes Bay school pupil Brittany Rorrison (17) won the young writer award for her story Thirteen Toadstools.
She won $1500 and $2000 for her school, Karamu High School.
The BNZ Literary Awards were established in 1959 and are the country's longest-running short story awards.
