Lord of the Rings producer and scriptwriter Fran Walsh is to be awarded an honorary Doctor of Literature from Victoria University at its May graduation ceremonies.
The Academy Award-winner graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the university in 1981 and has supported the university's scriptwriting programme by making scripts
from her movies available to students, the university said in a statement.
She also supported the launch of the scriptwriting major in the Master of Arts in Creative Writing at the university.
Ms Walsh was awarded three Oscars - as a producer of the Best Film, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, for script writing and for co-writing the best original song - at the 76th Academy Awards ceremony held in Los Angeles.
- NZPA