A novelist, short story and non-fiction writer who lives in Dunedin, Laurence’s work has a strong sense of place and the South Island landscape. Novels include The Hut Builder, Reach, Edwin and Matilda, and Room. Laurence says: “When I was a child, I used to write stories a lot ... And I liked school projects that related to history, English and all those sorts of things. But I think the big impact on terms of becoming a writer came about when I was working as a curator at the Dowse Art Museum in Lower Hutt. I used to go and visit people who were working full time as artists. And even though they weren't making much money, they all seemed to have a real sense of purpose and real meaning in their life, because they were committed to their art. I realised that I didn’t want to be the person writing about artists, I wanted to be the artist.” Laurence is working on a series of novels on the five senses. Her first novel in this series is on scent and she wonders if “New Zealand has a scent identity of its own? And what would it mean to different people? Would it be the smell of the sea? Or native bush? Or could it be the smell of hay or freshly mowed lawns, or perhaps flax and cabbage trees?” She plans to use her Laureate Award to help cover travel and research for her new novels.
