By 1940, more than forty of Sargeson's short stories had been published and he had established a significant reputation in New Zealand as a writer. That year, his story "The Making of a New Zealander" won first-equal prize in a competition held to mark New Zealand's centennial, and his second short story collection, "A Man and His Wife", was published by Caxton Press. He was also receiving international attention, with his work appearing in journals in Australia, the UK and the USA, in John Lehmann's anthologies and periodicals such as "Penguin New Writing". "The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature" (2006) said that Sargeson "dominated" New Zealand short fiction at this time, with his "wry sketches or ostensible yarns about apparently undistinguished characters and minor occurrences", in which "the characters are depicted as itinerant labourers or unemployed men, seldom happily married and frequently without any apparent family connection".