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Feb 02 2023
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Ockham New Zealand Book Awards Longlist Breaks All Records

By Media Releases, News

Highly personal memoir, probing political treatise and gut-punching poetry collections sit alongside trailblazing fiction and books exploring our whenua, moana, artists and entertainers in the longlists for the 2023 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.

Today’s longlist announcement is the largest and widest ranging in the recent history of the awards, with a record number of 44 poetry, prose, general and illustrated non-fiction titles.

The increase from 40 longlisted titles in previous years is due to the General Non-Fiction judges accepting an invitation from the New Zealand Book Awards Trust Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa to select up to 14 titles, rather than the standard 10 in their category. The General Non-Fiction shortlist will still be four, in line with the other categories.

Trust chair Nicola Legat says that the discretionary increase reflects the volume of submissions for the General Non-Fiction award, the number and range of which well exceeds the other three categories.

“This gives the judges more opportunity to honour more books, and more types of books. This category longlist certainly reflects the terrific depth and breadth of non-fiction publishing in New Zealand and is a credit to its authors and publishers.”

There were 191 award entries this year – more than ever before, and an increase of 20 percent compared to 2022. Almost a third (14) of longlistees are first-time authors – an increase from 10 debutants on the 40-strong list last year. With 19 publishers represented across all categories, the longlist’s wide distribution is a reflection of Aotearoa’s vibrant literary industry.

“The New Zealand Book Awards Trust was thrilled by the record number of entries to the awards this year. It’s very heartening to see the longlist shared among so many publishing houses, both big and small,” says Nicola Legat. “When you consider that many of these books were produced and went to print during the stressful Covid restrictions of late 2021, it’s even more of an achievement. We congratulate all concerned.”

The 2023 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards longlisted titles are:

*represents debut authors.

Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction

Better the Blood by Michael Bennett (Simon & Schuster)

Chevalier & Gawayn: The Ballad of the Dreamer by Phillip Mann (Quentin Wilson Publishing)

Down from Upland by Murdoch Stephens (Lawrence & Gibson)

Home Theatre by Anthony Lapwood (Te Herenga Waka University Press)*

How to Loiter in a Turf War by Coco Solid (Penguin, Penguin Random House)*

Kāwai: For Such a Time as This by Monty Soutar (Bateman Books)

Mary’s Boy, Jean-Jacques and other stories by Vincent O’Sullivan (Te Herenga Waka University Press)

Mrs Jewell and the Wreck of the General Grant by Cristina Sanders (The Cuba Press)

The Axeman’s Carnival by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press)

The Fish by Lloyd Jones (Penguin, Penguin Random House)

 

Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry

Always Italicise: How to Write While Colonised by Alice Te Punga Somerville (Auckland University Press)

Echidna by Essa May Ranapiri (Te Herenga Waka University Press)

Meat Lovers by Rebecca Hawkes (Auckland University Press)*

Night School by Michael Steven (Otago University Press)

People Person by Joanna Cho (Te Herenga Waka University Press)*

Sedition by Anahera Maire Gildea (Taraheke | Bush Lawyer)*

Super Model Minority by Chris Tse (Auckland University Press)

Surrender by Michaela Keeble (Taraheke | Bush Lawyer)*

The Pistils by Janet Charman (Otago University Press)

We’re All Made of Lightning by Khadro Mohamed (We Are Babies Press, Tender Press)*

 

Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction

I am Autistic by Chanelle Moriah (Allen & Unwin)*

Jumping Sundays: The Rise and Fall of the Counterculture in Aotearoa New Zealand by Nick Bollinger (Auckland University Press)

Kai: Food Stories and Recipes from my Family Table by Christall Lowe (Bateman Books)*

Nature Boy: The Photography of Olaf Petersen edited by Catherine Hammond and Shaun Higgins (Auckland University Press)

Paradise Camp by Yuki Kihara, edited by Natalie King (Thames & Hudson Australia)

Robin White: Something is Happening Here edited by Sarah Farrar, Jill Trevelyan and Nina Tonga (Te Papa Press and Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki)

Secrets of the Sea: The Story of New Zealand’s Native Sea Creatures by Robert Vennell (HarperCollins)

Tāngata Ngāi Tahu | People of Ngāi Tahu Volume Two edited by Helen Brown and Michael J Stevens (Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu and Bridget Williams Books)

Te Motunui Epa by Rachel Buchanan (Bridget Williams Books)

Toi Tū Toi Ora: Contemporary Māori Art edited by Nigel Borell (Penguin Random House New Zealand in association with Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki)

 

General Non-Fiction Award

A Fire in the Belly of Hineāmaru: A Collection of Narratives about Te Tai Tokerau Tūpuna by Melinda Webber and Te Kapua O’Connor (Auckland University Press)

A History of New Zealand in 100 Objects by Jock Phillips (Penguin, Penguin Random House)

Democracy in Aotearoa New Zealand: A Survival Guide by Geoffrey Palmer and Gwen Palmer Steeds (Te Herenga Waka University Press)

Downfall: The Destruction of Charles Mackay by Paul Diamond (Massey University Press)

Empire City: Wellington Becomes the Capital of New Zealand by John E Martin (Te Herenga Waka University Press)

Every Sign of Life: On Family Ground by Nicholas Lyon Gresson (Quentin Wilson Publishing)

Gaylene’s Take: Her Life in New Zealand Film by Gaylene Preston (Te Herenga Waka University Press)*

Grand: Becoming my Mother’s Daughter by Noelle McCarthy (Penguin, Penguin Random House)*

Lāuga: Understanding Samoan Oratory by Sadat Muaiava (Te Papa Press)*

So Far, For Now: On Journeys, Widowhood and Stories that are Never Over by Fiona Kidman (Vintage, Penguin Random House)

The English Text of the Treaty of Waitangi by Ned Fletcher (Bridget Williams Books)*

The Road to Gondwana: In Search of the Lost Supercontinent by Bill Morris (Exisle Publishing)*

Thief, Convict, Pirate, Wife: The Many Histories of Charlotte Badger by Jennifer Ashton (Auckland University Press)

You Probably Think This Song is About You by Kate Camp (Te Herenga Waka University Press)

The 2023 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards shortlist of 16 titles will be announced on 8 March. The winners, including four Best First Book Awards recipients, will be announced at a public ceremony on 17 May during the 2023 Auckland Writers Festival.

The winner of the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction will receive $64,000 in 2023 and each of the other main category prizes will earn their winners $12,000 (up from $10,000 in recent years). Each of the Best First Book winners, for fiction, poetry, general non-fiction and illustrated non-fiction, will be awarded $3000 (up from $2500).

The Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction will be judged by bestselling author, critic and creative writing teacher Stephanie Johnson (convenor); editor and literature assessor John Huria (Ngāi Tahu, Muaūpoko, Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō, Ngāti Rangi); and Rotorua bookseller Jemma Morrison. They will be joined in deciding the ultimate winner from their shortlist of four by an international judge.

Judging the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry will be Dunedin poet, author and creative writing tutor Diane Brown (convenor); poet and kaiako Serie Barford; and Wellington poet and Grimshaw-Sargeson Fellow Gregory Kan.

The Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction will be judged by award-winning writer, historian and archivist Jared Davidson (convenor); writer and curator Dr Anna-Marie White (Te Ātiawa); and veteran television producer Taualeo’o Stephen Stehlin MNZM.

The General Non-Fiction Award will be judged by writer and award-winning columnist Anna Rawhiti-Connell (convenor); prize-winning author, academic and researcher Alison Jones; and historian Professor Te Maire Tau (Ūpoko of Ngāi Tūāhuriri, a hapu of Ngāi Tahu).

The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are supported by Ockham Residential, Creative New Zealand, Jann Medlicott and the Acorn Foundation, Mary and Peter Biggs CNZM, Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand and the Auckland Writers Festival.

To find out more about the longlisted titles go to https://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards/2023-awards/longlist/

Apr 12 2022
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HELL Launches New Reading Initiative to Boost NZ Reading Rates

By Media Releases

New Zealand’s rich landscape, its people and the authors who write about it are taking centre stage in a new reading initiative being rolled out by HELL to help lift declining reading rates.

Building on eight successful years, The Great NZ Book Trip is a brand-new addition to the 2022 HELL Reading Challenge and is designed to take children on a virtual book trip -or relive their own road trips – around Aotearoa, New Zealand.

Celebrating Kiwi authors and their stories about NZ, it features comprehensive unit plans created alongside the New Zealand curriculum for teachers to use in classroom learning, live readings by award-winning authors, and an interactive map to help children chart their own journeys. The Great NZ Book Trip is available to all schools and libraries participating in the 2022 Reading Challenge.

Siang Tay, Marketing Manager for HELL, says that the Book Trip is a fun way to get tamariki interested in reading and learning more about the places they may have visited since Covid closed borders.

“Reading needs to be fun, and the Reading Challenge has always been about encouraging children to read more. Classroom learning has been significantly disrupted since the pandemic began. In launching this we want to make it even easier for teachers and schools to integrate the Challenge into everyday learning. We also want to encourage children to discover and learn more about New Zealand’s incredible authors,” he says.

The Reading Challenge has gone from strength to strength since launching in 2014 and is one of New Zealand’s most successful national reading initiatives – with more than two million books being read by children since its inception. Students taking part in the Challenge need to read seven books to complete their pizza wheel, which they can then redeem for a free kids’ pizza at HELL.

The New Zealand Book Awards Trust administers the Reading Challenge alongside the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. NZ Book Awards Chair Nicola Legat says they’re laser-focused on encouraging more children to read.

“What better way to do this than with an initiative that celebrates our homegrown authors and their wonderful books, many of which have featured in our annual book awards. We salute HELL for funding this additional layer of engagement that will complement the 2022 Reading Challenge and awards, as well as our Books Alive author event programmes.”

Authors Tania Roxborogh and Kate Parker – both double-winners at the 2021 NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults – will host two of the first live author readings in May and June. Children will also have the opportunity to interact and ask questions of the authors when their classes tune in.

Siang Tay says Aotearoa has many stories to tell and hopes travelling around the motu by book will inspire a generation of avid readers.

“We’ve all been exploring our backyards more due to Covid. We want to connect tamariki with their journeys through the eyes of our award-winning authors, too, unlocking destinations and adventures that every child can experience while establishing a lifelong love of reading.”

About HELL:

Established in Wellington in 1996, HELL Pizza has grown to become one of New Zealand’s most infamous and well-known brands. With 74 franchises throughout New Zealand and more than 1100 staff, it produces more than 75,000 free-range pizzas every week. With a focus on quality, it offers Kiwi consumers an ethical option in convenience foods. HELL supports a range of causes, including the New Zealand Book Awards and IHC’s Project Active, and is an active member of the communities in which it operates.

 

About the HELL Reading Challenge:

Now in its ninth year, The HELL Reading Challenge rewards students with a free 333 kids’ pizza once they have read seven books and had their achievement approved by a local librarian or teacher. In 2021, more than 720 schools and public libraries around New Zealand took part and over 250,000 pizza wheels were distributed. Funded by HELL, the programme is administered by the New Zealand Book Awards Trust, which also governs the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, and Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day. To learn more, visit HELL Reading Challenge.

 

Feb 01 2022
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Ockham Book Awards logo

Longlists for New Zealand’s Premier Literary Awards Revealed

By Media Releases

Ockham Book Awards logo

Books exploring politics, fashion, social change, war, contested histories and family relationships sit alongside works celebrating our natural world and the enduring legacies of our activists and artists in the longlists for the 2022 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.

Forty poetry, prose and non-fiction titles make up the longlists announced today. Selected from an impressive and highly competitive field of 160 entries, works range from deftly crafted intimate worlds to full-colour books that soar in scope and scale. Ten of the longlisted works are by first-time authors.

New Zealand Book Awards Trust spokesperson Dr Paula Morris says that each of the four longlists speak to the diversity and excellence of books published last year, with both experienced and debut writers represented.

“The range of publishers reflects the ingenuity and high quality across the industry, including the smallest of independents, and the imagination and expertise informing every aspect of our local publishing landscape.”

The 2022 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards longlisted works are:

*represents debut authors.

 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction

A Good Winter by Gigi Fenster (Text Publishing)

Aljce in Therapy Land by Alice Tawhai (Lawrence & Gibson)

Entanglement by Bryan Walpert (Mākaro Press)

Everything Changes by Stephanie Johnson (Vintage, Penguin Random House)

Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly (Te Herenga Waka University Press)*

Kurangaituku by Whiti Hereaka (Huia Publishers)

Loop Tracks by Sue Orr (Te Herenga Waka University Press)

She’s a Killer by Kirsten McDougall (Te Herenga Waka University Press)

The Pink Jumpsuit: Short Fictions, Tall Truths by Emma Neale (Quentin Wilson Publishing)

Unsheltered by Clare Moleta (Scribner Australia, Simon & Schuster)*

 

Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry

Bird Collector by Alison Glenny (Compound Press)

Ghosts by Siobhan Harvey (Otago University Press)

Party Legend by Sam Duckor-Jones (Te Herenga Waka University Press)

Rangikura by Tayi Tibble (Te Herenga Waka University Press)

Sea-light by Dinah Hawken (Te Herenga Waka University Press)

Sleeping with Stones by Serie Barford (Anahera Press)

The Sea Walks into a Wall by Anne Kennedy (Auckland University Press)

Tōku Pāpā by Ruby Solly (Te Herenga Waka University Press)*

Tumble by Joanna Preston (Otago University Press)

Whai by Nicole Titihuia Hawkins (We Are Babies Press)*

 

Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction

Bill Hammond: Across the Evening Sky by Peter Vangioni with Tony de Lautour, Rachael King, Nic Low, Paul Scofield and Ariana Tikao (Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū)

Conversātiō: In the Company of Bees by Anne Noble with Zara Stanhope and Anna Brown (Massey University Press)

Dressed: Fashionable Dress in Aotearoa New Zealand 1840 to 1910 by Claire Regnault (Te Papa Press)

He Ringatoi o ngā Tūpuna: Isaac Coates and his Māori Portraits by Hilary and John Mitchell (Potton & Burton)

Hei Taonga mā ngā Uri Whakatipu | Treasures for the Rising Generation: The Dominion Museum Ethnological Expeditions 1919–1923 edited by Wayne Ngata, Anne Salmond, Natalie Robertson, Amiria Salmond, Monty Soutar, Billie Lythberg, James Schuster and Conal McCarthy et al (Te Papa Press)

Joanna Margaret Paul: Imagined in the Context of a Room by Lauren Gutsell, Lucy Hammonds and Greg Donson (Dunedin Public Art Gallery)

NUKU: Stories of 100 Indigenous Women by Qiane Matata-Sipu (QIANE+co)*

Shifting Grounds: Deep Histories of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland by Lucy Mackintosh (Bridget Williams Books)*

Te Puna Waiora: The Distinguished Weavers of Te Kāhui Whiritoi by Ngāhuia Te Awekōtuku, Donna Campbell, Awhina Tamarapa and Nathan Pōhio (Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū)

The Architect and the Artists: Hackshaw, McCahon, Dibble by Bridget Hackshaw (Massey University Press)*

 

General Non-Fiction Award

After Dark: Walking into the Nights of Aotearoa by Annette Lees (Potton & Burton)

Bloody Woman by Lana Lopesi (Bridget Williams Books)

Come Back to Mona Vale: Life and Death in a Christchurch Mansion by Alexander McKinnon (Otago University Press)*

Enough Horizon: The Life and Work of Blanche Baughan by Carol Markwell (The Cuba Press)

From the Centre: A Writer’s Life by Patricia Grace (Penguin, Penguin Random House)

He Kupu Taurangi: Treaty Settlements and the Future of Aotearoa New Zealand by Christopher Finlayson and James Christmas (Huia Publishers)*

Helen Kelly: Her Life by Rebecca Macfie (Awa Press)

The Alarmist: Fifty Years Measuring Climate Change by Dave Lowe (Te Herenga Waka University Press)*

The Mirror Book by Charlotte Grimshaw (Vintage, Penguin Random House)

Voices from the New Zealand Wars | He Reo nō ngā Pakanga o Aotearoa by Vincent O’Malley (Bridget Williams Books)

The 2022 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards shortlist of 16 titles will be announced on 2 March.

The Awards welcomed The Crystal Arts Trust as the new sponsor for the Best First Book Awards in November last year. The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards winners, including the four Crystal Arts Trust Best First Book Awards recipients, will be announced at a public ceremony on 11 May during the 2022 Auckland Writers Festival.

To find out more about the longlisted titles go to https://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards/2022-awards/longlist/

The Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction, which offers $60,000 to the winner in 2022, is judged by Otago Daily Times journalist and books editor Rob Kidd; Booksellers Aotearoa’s programme coordinator and avid reader Gemma Browne; and award-winning writer and freelance oral historian/researcher Kelly Ana Morey (Ngāti Kurī, Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri). They will be joined by an international writer in deciding the ultimate winner from their shortlist of four.

The Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry is judged by author, poet, reviewer and teacher Saradha Koirala; internationally published and award-winning poet, playwright, short story writer and novelist Apirana Taylor (Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau ā Apanui, Ngāti Ruanui and Te Āti Awa); and writer, editor and bookseller Jane Arthur.

The Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction is judged by museum curator Chanel Clarke (Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Porou, Waikato Tainui); photographer, author and urbanist Patrick Reynolds; and former publisher and co-founder of Godwit Press Jane Connor.

The General Non-Fiction Award is judged by poet and non-fiction author, book reviewer and blogger Nicholas Reid, award-winning journalist and photographer Aaron Smale (Ngāti Porou); and poet, historian, former diplomat and Fulbright alumna Leilani Tamu.

The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are supported by Ockham Residential, Creative New Zealand, Jann Medlicott and the Acorn Foundation, Mary and Peter Biggs CNZM, The Crystal Arts Trust, Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand and the Auckland Writers Festival.

Sep 30 2021
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Wellington independent wins Publisher of the Year

By Media Releases

Last night, booksellers and publishers gathered online in anticipation of the 2021 Aotearoa Book Trade Industry Awards, hosted by PANZ Te Rau o Tākupu and Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand.

One of the most sought-after awards of the night is the Nielsen Book Publisher of the Year award. It is always an exceptional category with a high calibre of entries and this year was no different.

The last year has been a good time for NZ publishing, an amazing achievement when looking through a Covid lens.

The judges commented that the winning publisher nurtured to life an extraordinary work that became a cultural phenomenon, brought an unknown Māori author into the stratospheric heights of Once Were Warriors and Mr Pip.

“They now appear to have a mortgage on the MitoQ Best First Book of Fiction Award too! Becky Manawatu’s Auē has elevated this year’s winner exponentially, and the judges felt it was the culmination of authorial support, editorial intelligence, cultural sensitivity, deep relationships with booksellers and the undefinable eye for talent that made this award both richly deserved, and one we believed was likely inevitable.

“The winner is a publisher that took their expertise and an appetite for risk and made outstanding contributions to NZ literature. The 2021 Nielsen Book Publisher of the Year is Mākaro Press.

Mākaro Press Publishers Mary McCallum & Paul Stewart were thrilled with the win. Mary made special thanks to New Zealand’s booksellers – “one of the great professions”. She said, “Every day I am amazed and moved by your commitment to New Zealand books, stories and publishers.”

The Director of the Publishers Association New Zealand Catriona Ferguson said: “Despite the turmoil of the past eighteen months it’s heartening to see the range and depth of publishing in Aotearoa. And it’s especially exciting to witness the growth of newer publishers like Mākaro Press who are taking fresh and original voices to readers in Aotearoa and the world. Many hearty congratulations to Mary and the team for their fantastic achievement that the work Mākaro Press publishing in NZ fiction is noteworthy.”

Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Chief Executive Dan Slevin says, ‘Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand congratulates all those publishers that entered, the standard of local New Zealand publishing is phenomenal, and the quality of the work being produced makes these books a pleasure for our members to sell.’

The Book Trade Industry Awards have been recognising the best New Zealand publishers, booksellers and industry stalwarts for over 20 years. They are a chance for the book trade to celebrate the best and brightest, successes and innovations, and to acknowledge the excellent work being done in the New Zealand book trade.

The Book Industry Awards are organised by Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand and PANZ Te Rau o Tākupu (the Publishers Association of NZ) and sponsored by Nielsen Book, providers of data and statistical insight to the whole industry.

Other categories on the night awarded were:

  • Emerging NZ Publisher of the Year – Rachel Eadie, Penguin Random House New Zealand
  • Emerging NZ Bookseller of the Year – Rafael Moreira, of McLeods Booksellers (Rotorua)
  • Bestseller Award (for top seller buy volume and value between April 2020 and March 2021) –Supergood by Chelsea Winter
  • Marketing and Publicity Strategy of the Year – HarperCollins NZ for Impossible: My Story byStan Walker, campaign manager Rebecca Thorne
  • Aotearoa Booksellers’ Choice Award – Shared between Auē by Becky Manawatu (published by Mākaro Press) and Imagining Decolonisation by Rebecca Kiddle & Bianca Elkington & Moana Jackson & Ocean Mercier & Mike Ross & Jennie Smeaton & Amanda Thomas (published by BWB)
  • NZ Salesperson of the Year – Jessica Rice, Penguin Random House New Zealand
  • NZ Book Industry Innovation Award – Allen & Unwin
  • Nielsen Book NZ Bookshop of the Year – Schrödinger’s Bookshop (Petone)
  • Lifetime Achievement Award – Bridget Williams of BWB

Judges:

Robbie Egan
Robbie Egan is the CEO of the Australian Booksellers’ Association. Egan came to his current role from being group operations manager at Melbourne independent book chain Readings, and has had a long career in bookselling.

Anahera Morehu
Anahera is currently the Kaiārahi at the University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau (UoA) Faculty of Business and Economics. Prior to that she was the Kaiwhakahaere Toi Aronui me Māori me Moananui-a-Kiwa at Te Tumu Herenga, University of Auckland. She is currently the Tumuaki Tuakana (Immediate Past President) of Te Rau Herenga o Aotearoa (LIANZA). She is a member of LIANZA Professional Registration Board and Māori Subject Headings Governing Group. She also sits on Ngā Kaiwhakahau, Executive for Te Rōpū Whakahau.

She is the convenor of judges for the Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Award for Te Reo Māori at the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.

Peter Vial
Peter is the New Zealand Head of CA NZ, the professional body for chartered accountants. He is a member of the Board of Read NZ Te Pou Muramura and a trustee of the Mātātuhi Foundation, which was set up by the Auckland Writers Festival to support development of New Zealand’s literary landscape. In his spare time he is an avid reader and bookshop browser.

Sep 30 2021
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Call for judges of the 2022 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults

By Media Releases

The organisers of the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults are inviting expressions of interest from members and followers of the children’s literature community who would like to be considered as judges of the 2022 awards.

The New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults are made in six categories: Picture Book, Junior Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, Non-Fiction, Illustration and te reo Māori (Te Kura Pounamu Award). A total of five judges will be appointed for the English language categories. Te Kura Pounamu Award is judged by a separate panel appointed by Te Rōpū Whakahau, the national body representing Māori within the Library and Information profession in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Applications to judge are now open to all those with suitable qualifications and experience, and will close on 29 October. Entries for the 2022 awards will open on 17 November and the judges will begin their reading in mid-December.

Anne Morgan of the New Zealand Book Awards Trust, which governs the awards, says applications are welcomed from both the children’s literature community and members of the public with relevant experience. The organisers particularly welcome expressions of interest from applicants with a deep knowledge of te ao Māori and te reo Māori.

“Our past panels have included librarians, teachers, authors, publishers, academics, reviewers and bloggers. There’s no denying the magnitude of the commitment, but the reward outweighs it – what could be more satisfying than immersing yourself in assessing the best New Zealand books of the year for young readers and celebrating the importance of books and reading?” she says.

Convenor of the 2021 judges, school librarian Alan Dingley, says it was an amazing experience. “Being able to spend a year involved in reading, judging, and collaborating with some of the sharpest minds connected to children’s literature refreshed my passion for books, and honed my radar for what I want to share with young readers. This was no quiet amble across the New Zealand literacy field, it was a joyous gallop through the pages of over 150 books, leaving me looking at the landscape of books for children and young people in Aotearoa with new eyes … and gosh it’s looking good.”

The English language judges will deliberate over what is expected to be at least 150 entries in five categories. They will select up to five finalists in each, and also up to five Best First Book finalists, then a winner in each category.

The call for entries in the 2022 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults will go out to publishers on 17 November 2021. Finalists will be announced in early June 2022, and the awards ceremony is planned for early to mid-August in Wellington.

Expressions of interest forms and background information on the judging process and judges’ responsibilities can be downloaded from the New Zealand Book Awards Trust website or supplied on request by emailing childrensawards@nzbookawards.org.nz. Applications must be submitted by 5pm on Friday 29 October, and should include a brief resume demonstrating the applicant’s experience for the judging role.

The judging panel will be selected by the New Zealand Book Awards Trust, which includes representatives from the Publishers Association of New Zealand; the New Zealand Society of Authors;  LIANZA, the association for library and information professionals in New Zealand; and Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand.

The New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults are made possible through the generosity, commitment and vision of funders and sponsors Creative New Zealand, HELL Pizza, Wright Family Foundation, LIANZA, Wellington City Council and Nielsen Book.

ENDS

 

Link to more information on NZ Book Awards Trust website:

http://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards-for-children-and-young-adults/news/

Jul 26 2021
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Irish writer captures Kiwi readers’ hearts and minds

By Media Releases

Celebrating 26 years of asking Kiwi readers to vote for their favourite books, Irish actor turned writer Lucinda Riley is newly crowned at number one with her series The Seven Sisters in the 2021 Whitcoulls Top 100 Books List, announced today (Monday 26 July.)

This is a real vote of confidence for Riley’s hugely popular adventure legends and the first time in three years that J. K. Rowling’s phenomenal Harry Potter Series (#2) has been ousted from the number one spot. In fact, Harry has been a consistent favourite with Kiwi readers for close to 20 years.
Twenty percent of the books on the list are serial novels, which suggests Kiwi readers are voraciously reading books in the same way they ‘binge watch’ Netflix series. In fact, there is a strong correlation between Kiwis streaming films/TV series and reading serial novels, so to see Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton Series (#19) rank high on the List was not a huge surprise.

The line-up is also significantly different to previous years, with a whopping 40 new books making the cut. Whitcoulls Book Manager Joan Mackenzie puts the number of newcomers on the List down to the fact that readers have found comfort in books and had more time to read since the global pandemic struck.

“We’re always keen to see which recently published titles will turn up on the List – every year there’s a great selection of books which have captured peoples’ imaginations – and they’re joined by many which have featured for several years, in some cases becoming modern classics,” says Mackenzie.
There are 13 New Zealand books on the List, including: Dr Hinemoa Elder’s runaway bestseller Aroha (#20); Rose Carlyle’s extraordinary debut thriller The Girl in the Mirror (#22), for which Hollywood immediately snapped up the rights; and Becky Manawatu’s award-winning bestseller Auē (#27).

Books offering inspiration and guidance are a growing feature of the Top 100 and many are newcomers to the List, including: Aroha (#20) and Think Like a Monk (#48), as are those featured on new social media platform Booktok (an offshoot of TikTok). Books on this platform have often gone
viral and some authors have reported a huge upswing in sales for their books, even if they are not new releases. These include newcomers to the list, such as The Song of Achilles (#25).

As ever, Young Adult book series make a regular appearance. The huge appeal of Sarah J. Maas’ award-winning fantasy novels has propelled her Throne of Glass Series into the List at #14. Similarly, Israeli-American fantasy author Leigh Bardugo (another newcomer to the list), whose phenomenally successful Grishaverse novels claimed the #10 spot and demonstrated the influence of TV on reading tastes.

Whitcoulls are grateful to readers who again took the time to vote for their favourite books and appreciate the ongoing groundswell of support for the Top 100, which they say gives a snapshot of what people are interested in reading. They hope the List will inspire many others to pick up a good book. The past year has demonstrated that reading is alive and well, and great books continue to be published.

Whitcoulls have been asking Kiwi readers to vote for their favourite books for more than a quarter of a century and the Top 100 List captures a broad range of reading interests. The Top 100 books are available at Whitcoulls stores nationwide and online here.

Mar 02 2021
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Ockham New Zealand Book Awards Finalists Reveal a Shift in New Zealand Writing and Publishing

By Media Releases

Ockham Book Awards logoThe shortlist for the 2021 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, released today, is a dazzling reflection of the robust, innovative literature scene of Aotearoa New Zealand, revealing a deeper engagement with our culturally diverse society.

In the Fiction category, two past winners are vying for the same award. Catherine Chidgey and Pip Adam are both contenders for the $57,000 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction, alongside Brannavan Gnanalingam, a previous nominee, and the critically acclaimed story writer Airini Beautrais.

The works on the Fiction shortlist explore the range of human experience, from the ‘wilful blindness’ of Nazi-occupied Germany demonstrated in Remote Sympathy (Chidgey) and an exhilarating take on surveillance, identity, gender and people living on the margins in Nothing to See (Adams), to violence, racism and toxic masculinity played out in Sprigs (Gnanalingam) and short stories which explore the weird, the eerie and the mordantly funny in Bug Week (Beautrais).

These four highly accomplished works couldn’t be more different but all pack an immense literary punch, says Fiction category convenor of judges Kiran Dass.

“Craft, nuance, urgent storytelling, rage against injustice, and new perspectives are at the forefront of these four impressive books,” says Ms Dass.

Award-winning American novelist Tommy Orange will assist the three New Zealand judges to select this year’s Fiction winner.

In each category – fiction, poetry, illustrated non-fiction and general non-fiction – four finalists were selected by discrete panels of three specialist judges, narrowing down from a longlist of ten. The total number of entries this year was 179 – a 16 percent increase in submissions on the last two years.

The finalists in the 2021 Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry are: Funkhaus by Hinemoana Baker; Magnolia 木蘭 by Nina Mingya Powles; National Anthem by Mohamed Hassan; and The Savage Coloniser Book by Tusiata Avia.

“Poetry collections published in Aotearoa in 2020 show a wealth of exceptional and original work.  It’s an exciting situation for New Zealand poetry. The four shortlisted collections are striking, all exhibiting an acute global consciousness in difficult times,” says Poetry category convenor of judges Dr Briar Wood.

The 2021 Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction finalists are: An Exquisite Legacy: The Life and Work of New Zealand Naturalist G.V. Hudson by George Gibbs; Hiakai: Modern Māori Cuisine by Monique Fiso; Marti Friedlander: Portraits of the Artists by Leonard Bell; and Nature — Stilled by Jane Ussher.

“The four finalists are standout examples of a dazzlingly broad range of passions, from the arts and sciences to food, adventure and the outdoors, distilled into beautiful and engaging works,” says category convenor Dale Cousens.

The 2021 General Non-Fiction category finalists are:  Specimen: Personal Essays by Madison Hamill; Te Hāhi Mihinare |The Māori Anglican Church by Hirini Kaa; The Dark is Light Enough: Ralph Hotere A Biographical Portrait by Vincent O’Sullivan; and This Pākehā Life: An Unsettled Memoir by Alison Jones.

General Non-Fiction category convenor of judges Sarah Shieff says the finalists’ books are alive with the flows of history and power that shape all of our lives.

“These four books, each in its own way an extraordinary achievement in the category’s defining parameters of story-telling, research and memory work, will enrich the conversations we have about ourselves and this place for years to come,” says Dr Shieff.

New Zealand Book Awards Trust spokesperson Paula Morris says “I’m delighted to see such rich variety and high quality in every category, exploring so many aspects of our society, history and creativity.

“This year’s finalists also reveal a shift in New Zealand writing and publishing, a deeper engagement with multicultural New Zealand. The poetry list alone includes work by Māori, Pasifika, Asian and Egyptian-born writers. There’s so much to celebrate here, and so much to discover.”

The winners of the 2021 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, including the four MitoQ Best First Book award winners, will be announced at a ceremony on 12 May as a public event during the 2021 Auckland Writers Festival.

The 2021 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards shortlisted titles are:

 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction

Bug Week & Other Stories by Airini Beautrais (Victoria University Press)

Nothing to See by Pip Adam (Victoria University Press)

Remote Sympathy by Catherine Chidgey (Victoria University Press)

Sprigs by Brannavan Gnanalingam (Lawrence & Gibson)

 

Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry

Funkhaus by Hinemoana Baker (Victoria University Press)

Magnolia 木蘭 by Nina Mingya Powles (Seraph Press)

National Anthem by Mohamed Hassan (Dead Bird Books)

The Savage Coloniser Book by Tusiata Avia (Victoria University Press)

 

Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction

An Exquisite Legacy: The Life and Work of New Zealand Naturalist G.V. Hudson by George Gibbs (Potton & Burton)

Hiakai: Modern Māori Cuisine by Monique Fiso (Godwit, Penguin Random House)

Marti Friedlander: Portraits of the Artists by Leonard Bell (Auckland University Press)

Nature — Stilled by Jane Ussher (Te Papa Press)

 

General Non-Fiction Award

Specimen: Personal Essays by Madison Hamill (Victoria University Press)

Te Hāhi Mihinare |The Māori Anglican Church by Hirini Kaa (Bridget Williams Books)

The Dark is Light Enough: Ralph Hotere A Biographical Portrait by Vincent O’Sullivan (Penguin, Penguin Random House)

This Pākehā Life: An Unsettled Memoir by Alison Jones (Bridget Williams Books)

The General Non-Fiction, Poetry and Illustrated Non-Fiction category winners will each receive a $10,000 prize. The winners of the four MitoQ Best First Book awards will each receive $2,500.

The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are supported by Ockham Residential, Creative New Zealand, Jann Medlicott and the Acorn Foundation, Mary and Peter Biggs CNZM, MitoQ, Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand and the Auckland Writers Festival.

Feb 02 2021
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Ockham Book Awards logo

Youth, Diversity and Vitality Reflected in Ockhams Longlist

By Media Releases

Ockham Book Awards logoBooks that explore issues of identity, domestic life, war, food, our natural world and our people are among the 40 works of poetry, prose and non-fiction longlisted for the 2021 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards announced today.

The works, selected from 179 entries, range from intimate to global in scale and traverse cultural, historic, artistic and imagined landscapes.

There are 13 first-time authors among the longlistees, a testament to the vibrancy of our country’s literature says New Zealand Book Awards trustee Jenna Todd.

“There is such vitality in this year’s longlist, demonstrated by a diverse group, and including young and first-time authors. Half of this year’s Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction longlistees are debut novelists, which is extraordinary. They sit alongside some of our greatest living writers.

“There’s a year’s worth of reading here for those seeking considered perspectives on our modern zeitgeist, for readers wanting to be wowed by the beauty of art and nature, or for those wanting to escape into imagined realities.

“With writing and publishing of this calibre, it’s no surprise that New Zealand’s book boom continues.”

Revenue from sales of New Zealand-published adult books captured by Nielsen BookScan in 2020 was up 12.5 percent on the year before, despite the challenges of the pandemic. Submissions to the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards have increased by 16 percent over the last two years.

The Awards also attracted a new sponsor this year. Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand has secured naming rights to the Illustrated Non-Fiction category for the next five years.

Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand chair Juliet Blyth says the association – which celebrates its centenary this year – is beyond delighted to support the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, and the authors and illustrators who contribute so much to our cultural life. “Booksellers around the country hold these awards in high esteem, and the impact the awards have on sales of New Zealand books is immediate.

“Throughout 2020, booksellers around the country enjoyed the support of many New Zealanders reading more and buying locally. We wanted to demonstrate our appreciation, on behalf of our members, by giving back to the industry, the writers, the illustrators and the publishers who have created so many wonderful stories for booksellers to put on their shelves,” says Ms Blyth.

The 2021 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards longlisted works are:
 

Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction

Nothing to See by Pip Adam (Victoria University Press)

Bug Week by Airini Beautrais (Victoria University Press)

Remote Sympathy by Catherine Chidgey (Victoria University Press)

Sprigs by Brannavan Gnanalingam (Lawrence & Gibson)

Victory Park by Rachel Kerr (Mākaro Press)

The Swimmers by Chloe Lane (Victoria University Press)

Fake Baby by Amy McDaid (Penguin, Penguin Random House)

2000ft Above Worry Level by Eamonn Marra (Victoria University Press)

Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason (Fourth Estate, HarperCollins)

Toto Among the Murderers by Sally J. Morgan (John Murray Press, Hachette)

Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry

The Savage Coloniser Book by Tusiata Avia (Victoria University Press)

Funkhaus by Hinemoana Baker (Victoria University Press)

Far-Flung by Rhian Gallagher (Auckland University Press)

National Anthem by Mohamed Hassan (Dead Bird Books)

Wow by Bill Manhire (Victoria University Press)

Goddess Muscle by Karlo Mila (Huia Publishers)

Pins by Natalie Morrison (Victoria University Press)

This is Your Real Name by Elizabeth Morton (Otago University Press)

I Am a Human Being by Jackson Nieuwland (Compound Press)

Magnolia by Nina Mingya Powles (Seraph Press)

 

Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction

Marti Friedlander: Portraits of the Artists by Leonard Bell (Auckland University Press)

Hiakai: Modern Māori Cuisine by Monique Fiso (Godwit, Penguin Random House)

An Exquisite Legacy: The Life and Work of New Zealand Naturalist G.V. Hudson by George Gibbs (Potton & Burton)

Observations of a Rural Nurse by Sara McIntyre (Massey University Press)

Shining Land: Looking for Robin Hyde by Paula Morris and Haru Sameshima (Massey University Press)

Off the Beaten Track: Hunting Tales from the New Zealand Back Country by Dave Shaw (Bateman Books)

Colin McCahon: Is this the Promised Land? Vol. 2 1960-1987 by Peter Simpson (Auckland University Press)

Nature — Stilled by Jane Ussher (Te Papa Press)

Karl Maughan edited by Hannah Valentine and Gabriella Stead (Auckland University Press and Gow Langsford Gallery)

Endless Sea: Stories Told Through the Taonga of the New Zealand Maritime Museum Hui te Ananui a Tangaroa by Frances Walsh and Jane Ussher (Massey University Press)

 

General Non-Fiction Award

The Mirror Steamed Over: Love and Pop in London, 1962 by Anthony Byrt (Auckland University Press)

Crossing the Lines: The Story of Three Homosexual New Zealand Soldiers in World War II by Brent Coutts (Otago University Press)

Not in Narrow Seas: The Economic History of Aotearoa New Zealand by Brian Easton (Victoria University Press)

Bus Stops on the Moon: Red Mole Days 1974-1980 by Martin Edmond (Otago University Press)

Specimen: Personal Essays by Madison Hamill (Victoria University Press)

This Pākehā Life: An Unsettled Memoir by Alison Jones (Bridget Williams Books)

Te Hāhi Mihinare |The Māori Anglican Church by Hirini Kaa (Bridget Williams Books)

The Dark is Light Enough: Ralph Hotere a Biographical Portrait by Vincent O’Sullivan (Penguin, Penguin Random House)

You Have A Lot to Lose: A Memoir 1956-1986 by C.K. Stead (Auckland University Press)

Towards Compostela: Walking the Camino de Santiago by Catharina van Bohemen (The Cuba Press).

 

The 2021 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards shortlist of 16 titles will be announced on 3 March 2021. The winners, including the four MitoQ Best First Book awards, will be announced at a public ceremony on 12 May during the 2021 Auckland Writers Festival.

To find out more about the longlisted titles go to http://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards/2021-awards/longlist/

The Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction, which offers $57,000 to the winner in 2021, will be judged by writer and reviewer Kiran Dass; books editor and award-winning feature writer Paul Little; and writer Claire Finlayson, former Programme Director of the Dunedin Writers & Readers Festival. They will be joined by an international judge, whose identity will be revealed in March 2021, to decide the ultimate winner from their shortlist of four.

Finalists and the ultimate winner in the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry will be selected by writer, poet, academic and 2018 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards finalist Briar Wood (Te Hikutu ki Hokianga, Ngāpuhi Nui); teacher and award-winning poet and novelist Anne Kennedy; and professor of English at the University of Otago Jacob Edmond.

The Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction will be judged by Dale Cousens (Ngāruahine) of the National Library of New Zealand; bookseller and former publisher Brian Phillips; and writer, multi-award-winning graphic designer and magazine art director Jenny Nicholls.

The General Non-Fiction Award will be judged by editor and associate professor of English at the University of Waikato Sarah Shieff; filmmaker and lecturer in Māori history at Victoria University Wellington Arini Loader (Ngāti Raukawa, Te Whānau-a-Apanui, Ngāti Whakaue); and Dunedin bookseller Michael Yeomans.

The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are supported by Ockham Residential, Creative New Zealand, Jann Medlicott and the Acorn Foundation, Mary and Peter Biggs CNZM, MitoQ, Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand and the Auckland Writers Festival.

ENDS

To download longlisted book covers: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/s7smexnx6lwfqso/AACd5dvlXtw6RY8t7BQXH40ea?dl=0

 To download collated category images: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/6hxaoyz2x3x9ykn/AABbFYrde36WpkcH9lVJ6v9Ta?dl=0

 

Nov 18 2020
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Submissions open for 2021 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults

By Media Releases

The New Zealand Book Awards Trust is now inviting submissions for the 2021 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. These annual awards recognise and celebrate the best books for young readers published in New Zealand. Titles with release dates between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2021 will be considered for the 2021 awards.

There are two submission dates. Publishers are asked to observe the guidelines for sending entries in two tranches, which are in place for ease of sending to judges.

Submissions for books published between 1 April 2020 and 30 November 2020 are now open and will close at 5pm on Tuesday 15 December 2020. For books published between 1 December 2020 and 31 March 2021, submissions open on 16 December and will close at 5pm on Friday 19 February 2021.

For books in the second tranche, page proofs will be accepted where books are not yet printed. In such cases, finished books must arrive with the Awards Administrator, New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, Attn: Joy Sellen, 72 Te Wharepouri Street, Wellington 6023, by 5pm on Wednesday 24 March 2021.

All entries must be submitted online at www.nzbookawards.nz and fees paid by credit card via the online submission form. A Call for Entries pack with eligibility criteria and other information can be found at http://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards-for-children-and-young-adults/how-to-enter/.

The judges of the 2021 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults will be announced in December, and their shortlist will be made public on 10 June 2021. The awards ceremony is planned for mid-August 2021 in Wellington.

The New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults are supported by Creative New Zealand, HELL Pizza, the Wright Family Foundation, LIANZA, Wellington City Council and Nielsen Book, and are administered by the New Zealand Book Awards Trust.

Any queries about the Awards should be directed to the Awards Administrator at childrensawards@nzbookawards.org.nz.