New Zealand writer David Beach has won the biennial Prize in Modern Letters and a $65,000 cheque.

"That a book of poems can win a $65,000 prize makes me feel as if I've stumbled into a parallel universe where poetry is considered important," said Mr Beach.

IIML director Bill Manhire said there was a very strong set of entries this year.

"It's great to see poetry come through in a field of such remarkable books."New Zealand writer David Beach has won the biennial Prize in Modern Letters and a $65,000 cheque.

"That a book of poems can win a $65,000 prize makes me feel as if I've stumbled into a parallel universe where poetry is considered important," said Mr Beach.

IIML director Bill Manhire said there was a very strong set of entries this year.

"It's great to see poetry come through in a field of such remarkable books."New Zealand's largest literary award, the Prize in Modern Letters, is sponsored by United States businessman and arts philanthropist Glenn Schaeffer and administered by Victoria University's International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML). Eligible writers must have published no more than two books.

In a 2006 New Zealand Listener issue, Hugh Roberts praised Mr Beach's book of poetry, Abandoned Novel. He wrote: " - collectively, the poems in the volume stake out new territory in contemporary New Zealand poetry and make a powerful case for further exploration."

Mr Beach was born in 1959 and grew up mainly in Wellington, going to Onslow College and Victoria University. In 1986 he moved to Sydney where he worked as a mail sorter for Australia Post. He began writing poems in Australia and these have been published in various newspapers and magazines.

In 2002 he returned to Wellington and worked as a mail sorter for New Zealand Post. Abandoned Novel is his first book of poems.

New York literary editor and prize judge Brigid Hughes (The Paris Review, A Public Space)presented the prize.

Previous winners of the award are novelists Catherine Chidgey and Carl Shuker, and poet Glenn Colquhoun.

16/03/08