University of Northampton lecturer awarded a $10,000 grant for her research on author Katherine Mansfield

Dr Gerri Kimber, Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Northampton has been awarded a prestigious $10,000 grant by the National Library of New Zealand’s Alexander Turnbull Library based in Wellington.

The grant is awarded annually to a prominent scholar who plans to make significant use of the collections of the Alexander Turnbull Library, which houses New Zealand’s national documentary heritage collections. The grant is intended to emphasise the distinctive contribution that a research and heritage library makes to public knowledge. It celebrates the significant role of ongoing research and publication based on the Turnbull Library collections and the knowledge of the staff.

Dr Kimber is currently researching a new biography of Katherine Mansfield, New Zealand’s most iconic author, and the library houses the world’s most important collection of Mansfield manuscripts.

She commented: “I am thrilled with the award. This grant will make an enormous difference to my research, as it allows me to spend a month in New Zealand, conducting the in-depth research needed for this new biography of Mansfield’s early life.”

Dr Kimber will be required to deliver a public lecture on her research whilst in New Zealand and produce an article to be published in the Turnbull Library Record, the peer-reviewed scholarly journal in the humanities, published annually by the Alexander Turnbull Library.