Media Releases

We are excited to announce the successful recipients in this year’s round of Contestable Fund Grants, with a total of $75,000 granted. Applications were invited for projects that had clearly defined and measurable outcomes that align with the Copyright Licensing New Zealand (CLNZ) Cultural Fund’s objectives.

The Contestable Fund is part of CLNZ’s Cultural Fund, which derives revenue from CLNZ’s licensing activity in New Zealand. The Cultural Fund supports people and projects that encourage the development of current and future writers, publishers and educators, to help grow the sector.

The diverse range of applications this year demonstrates the current breadth of publishing and writing projects from communities all over Aotearoa.

There were a total of 59 applications received, covering a wide range of topics and subjects, with funding contributions made towards the following 15 projects, totalling $75,000.
Congratulations to the following recipients:

• Moa Press
  Publishing project: Airana Ngarewa short story collection (title TBC) – granted $3500
• Anne Bennett-Eustace
  Writing project: Arthurs Memoirs and Legacy – granted $6000
• Drama NZ Mahi Whakaari o Aotearoa
  Writing and publishing project: Resources for drama in education – granted $8000
• New Zealand Railway & Locomotive Society Incorporated
  Writing and publishing project: New Zealand Railways at Night – granted $5,000
• One Tree House Limited
  Publishing project: Hongi’s Hīkoi: A Trio of Travellers – two graphic novels – granted $10,000
• Forest & Bird
  Writing project: Bird of the Year: New Zealand’s love affair with native birds – granted $5000
• Small Press Fest
  Literacy Festival: Small Press Fest – granted $2500
• Mairātea Mohi, Craccum Magazine
  Writing and publishing project: Craccum Magazine – granted $5000
• Mani Malaeulu, Empowerment Training Ltd
  Writing and publishing project: Dear Uso – granted $7000
• Pacific Islanders in Publishing
  Publishing project: Pacific Islanders in Publishing – granted $4000
• Akaroa Community Arts Council (ACAC)
  Writing and publishing project: Readers and Writers Akaroa fellowships – granted $5000
• Oratia Media
  Publishing project: New Zealand Place Names book and online collaboration – granted $4500
• Dunedin Writers and Readers Festival
  Literacy Festival: Dunedin Writers & Readers Festival podcasts (2023) – granted $2490
• Shana Chandra
  Writing and Publishing project: Banjara – granted $2000
• Beyond Reality Media

Writing and Publishing project:  The Irrepressible Duncans Universe – granted $5000

Special thanks to our selection panel of Tony Fisk, Abby Aitcheson, Anne de Latour and Kim Harris who made the following comments about this year’s diverse range of applications:

“It was exciting for the panel to see the high level of creativity and talent, which was certainly an added challenge for our decision making process.” – Anne de Latour

“I was particularly pleased to see so many initiatives that sit decidedly outside of traditional, mainstream publishing – there’s room in this industry for more alternative, innovative ideas that uplift, empower, and amplify. It is a privilege to be on this panel and to gain some insight into the way Aotearoa publishing continues to evolve.” – Abby Aitcheson

“I was humbled to be asked to serve on this year’s panel but it was not an easy feat trying to narrow down a field of applications that represented peoples passions, dreams and taonga. Everyone’s kaupapa was beautiful, and I thank each creative for sharing their treasure with us.” – Kim Harris

“This year’s applicants were really creative, diverse and of a very high standard which made the judging really challenging and enjoyable.” – Tony Fisk

For more information about the successful recipient’s projects visit our website at: https://www.copyright.co.nz/about/news-and-blog/successful-recipients-of-the-2023-contestable-fund-grants-announced

Lamplight Books, a recently established bookstore in the Auckland suburb of Parnell, has been named Bookshop of the Year at the Aotearoa Book Trade Industry Awards, held on Saturday night in Rotorua.

Organised jointly by Booksellers Aotearoa NZ and the PANZ, the awards celebrate the outstanding booksellers and publishers in Aotearoa’s vibrant book industry. This includes naming the hotly contested Nielsen BookData New Zealand Publisher of the Year.

The judges described Lamplight Books as a “beautiful, browsable space filled to the ceiling with books”. The store opened in June 2021 amid pandemic restrictions, but has flourished despite the difficult trading conditions.

The Nielsen BookData Publisher of the Year was presented to Allen & Unwin New Zealand. The judges praised the breadth of Allen & Unwin’s achievement across all aspects of their business, calling them “deserving and stand-out winners”.

“The team at Allen & Unwin prides itself on publishing strong, important, commercially successful books and this past year was their best yet.”

Allen & Unwin also received the Marketing and Publicity Strategy of the Year award, acknowledging their outstanding campaign for The Bookseller at the End of the World by Ruth Shaw. While another of their books, Straight Up by Ruby Tui, was recognised as the best-selling New Zealand title published between April 2022 and March 2023.

The judges were particularly thrilled to name Dahlia Malaeulu, owner of Mila’s Books, the first all Pasifika publishing company in the world, the Emerging NZ Publisher of the Year.

“In four years Mila’s Books has solidified a reputation for producing culturally rich, accessible and quality stories and resources that reflect Pasifika values, languages, cultures and most importantly, our tamaiti. Through the various Mila’s Books projects, the stories of over 90 first time Pasifika authors (children, students, educators, parents) across Aotearoa have been shared with the world advancing Pasifika storytelling, with Pasifika, by Pasifika, for all of us.”

The full list of 2023 Aotearoa Book Trade Industry Award winners:

• Nielsen BookData New Zealand Bookshop of the Year: Lamplight Books
• Nielsen BookData New Zealand Publisher of the Year: Allen & Unwin New Zealand
• Emerging NZ Publisher of the Year: Dahlia Malaeulu, Director/Publisher of Mila’s Books
• The Books and Publishing award for Emerging Bookseller of the Year: Anna Hoek-Sims, University Book Shop (Otago)
• The Nielsen Bookdata New Zealand Bestseller Award (the best-selling NZ published title between April 2022 and March 2023): Straight Up, Ruby Tui (Allen & Unwin)
• The Nielsen Bookdata International Bestseller Award (the best-selling international title between April 2022 and March 2023): No Plan B, Andrew and Lee Child (Penguin Random House)
• Marketing and Publicity Strategy of the Year: Allen & Unwin NZ for The Bookseller at the End of the World, Ruth Shaw
• The Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand award for Book of the Year: Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Gamus (Penguin Random House)
• Sales Professional of the Year: Matthew Simpson, Client Services Manager Arotahi Agency
• Mana Māori Award: Penguin Random House NZ, Māori Language Week Campaign 2022
• The TitlePage Innovation Award: Coalition for Books Māori and Pasifika books campaign 2023
• The Publisher’s Association of New Zealand Lifetime Achievement Award: Ann Mallinson. Ann receives the lifetime achievement in recognition of her significant contribution to publishing in Aotearoa New Zealand. In 1980 Ann and her husband David Rendel founded Mallinson Rendel a trailblazer in New Zealand children’s publishing. Mallinson Rendel is the original publisher of Lynley Dodd’s world-famous Hairy Maclary series and describes her career highlight as the day when Lynely entered her office and read to her from the manuscript of Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy.

A 16-year-old Kāpiti Coast student is among the writers and illustrators announced today as finalists in the 2023 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, the preeminent celebration of books for Aotearoa’s young readers.

Arlo Kelly, one of the Awards’ youngest ever finalists, is vying for the NZSA Best First Book Award with his debut novel Echo. The teenager is in fine company. A wealth of talent has been recognised by this year’s shortlist, including established names like Witi Ihimaera, Donovan Bixley and Kate De Goldi alongside familiar faces like Jason Gunn and Fifi Colston.

The finalist books deal with big topics, including death, identity and climate change, but there is plenty of lightness, too, with fun and frivolity guaranteed to bring a smile to young readers of all ages.

“This year’s entries reflect the changing nature of who we are as New Zealanders, with good helpings of humour and fantasy thrown in,” says convenor of judges Nicola Daly, an Associate Professor at the University of Waikato, where she is codirector of the Waikato Picturebook Research Unit and teaches courses in children’s literature.

“New Zealand children have many opportunities to read titles published around the world in our wonderful libraries and bookshops, but the importance of them seeing themselves and the communities around them in books cannot be underestimated,” she says.

The awards organisers and the judging panel wanted to have children more involved in the assessment process, so this year 15 primary, intermediate and secondary schools from across the motu were recruited to offer feedback.  Each school was sent a selection of entries from relevant categories, together with review forms and judging guidelines to encourage critical thinking about the books. Their feedback was then shared with the judges.

“We really appreciated the input from tamariki and rangatahi, which allowed us to see the books from their perspective. It was an important contribution to our decision-making process,” says Nicola Daly.

The end result is 29 finalists, who offer Aotearoa’s young readers an educative, engaging and engrossing selection of books with a uniquely local flavour.

The winners of each of the six main categories – Picture Book, Junior Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, Non-Fiction, Illustration and te reo Māori – take home $7,500 and are then in the running to be named the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year, with a further $7,500 prize money. In addition, the judges will award a Best First Book prize of $2,500 to a previously unpublished author or illustrator.

The ceremony to announce the winners will take place in Wellington on the evening of Thursday 10 August.

The 2023 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults finalists are:

Picture Book Award Finalists

The judges praised the high production standards of this year’s Picture Book Award finalists, which all show an appreciation and mastery of the format. The shortlisted picture books vary greatly in story theme and illustration style, and contemporary issues are dealt with subtly and in tandem with the pictures.

Duck Goes Meow, Juliette MacIver, illustrated by Carla Martell (Scholastic New Zealand)
Farewell, Anahera, Vanessa Hatley-Owen, illustrated by Scott Irvine, translated by Kanapu Rangitauira (David Ling Publishing)
How My Koro Became a Star, Brianne Te Paa, illustrated by Story Hemi-Morehouse (Huia Publishers)
Roo and Vladimir: An Unlikely Friendship, Minky Stapleton (Scholastic New Zealand)
The Lighthouse Princess, Susan Wardell, illustrated by Rose Northey (Penguin Random House NZ)

Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Junior Fiction Award Finalists

The titles shortlisted for the Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Junior Fiction Award run the gamut from gripping disaster and adventure to exuberant, irresistible comedy. Whether contemporary or historical, serious or playful, rooted in te ao Māori or in te ao Pākehā, these satisfying stories have something to teach readers about life in Aotearoa New Zealand and the power rangatahi have to effect change in a complicated world.

Below, David Hill (Penguin Random House NZ)
Children of the Rush, James Russell (Dragon Brothers Books)
Jason Mason and the World’s Most Powerful Itching Powder, Jason Gunn and Andrew Gunn (Bateman Books)
Masher, Fifi Colston (Penguin Random House NZ)
Pipi and Pou and the Raging Mountain, Tim Tipene, illustrated by Isobel Te Aho-White (OneTree House)

Young Adult Fiction Award Finalists

In subject, setting, form, and use of language, the field of entries in this year’s Young Adult Fiction Award is wildly creative while still being authentic and realistic. The judges found this category packed with well-crafted tales that hook the reader in with engaging plots and satisfying story arcs.

Andromeda Bond in Trouble Deep, Brian Falkner (Red Button Press)
Eddy, Eddy, Kate De Goldi (Allen & Unwin)
Indigo Moon, Eileen Merriman (Penguin Random House NZ)
Iris and Me, Philippa Werry (The Cuba Press)
Miracle, Jennifer Lane (Cloud Ink Press)

Elsie Locke Award for Non-Fiction Finalists

From biography and pūrākau to understanding more about climate and weather, the finalist titles in this year’s Elsie Locke Award for Non-Fiction introduce readers to a range of new ideas and experiences, both inspirational and educational. The judges were particularly impressed by the quality of visual design in this category.

A New Dawn, Emeli Sione, illustrated by Darcy Solia (Mila’s Books)
Freestyle: The Israel Adesanya Story, David Riley, illustrated by Ant Sang (Reading Warrior)
Sylvia and the Birds, Johanna Emeney, illustrated by Sarah Laing (Massey University Press)
Te Wehenga: The Separation of Ranginui and Papatūānuku, Mat Tait (Allen & Unwin)
Weather and Climate New Zealand, Sandra Carrod (Oratia Books)

Russell Clark Award for Illustration Finalists

Frightening to cute, places of dark to beacons of light, and Aotearoa to Italy and the Himalayas, the books up for the Russell Clark Award for Illustration cover a broad range of topics, perfectly showcasing the diverse talents of their illustrators. The shortlisted titles demonstrate the illustrators’ cohesiveness, originality, skill, confidence and energy.

A Portrait of Leonardo, Donovan Bixley (Upstart Press)
Four Yaks and a Yeti, Ant Sang, written by Peter Hillary (Bateman Books)
Roar Squeak Purr, Jenny Cooper, edited by Paula Green (Penguin Random House NZ)
Te Wehenga: The Separation of Ranginui and Papatūānuku, Mat Tait (Allen & Unwin)
The Lighthouse Princess, Rose Northey, written by Susan Wardell (Penguin Random House NZ)

Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Award Finalists

The judges of the Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Award, which is for books written entirely in te reo Māori, found this year’s crop of shortlisted books showed excellent use of reo and displayed strong themes of mātauranga Māori and mātāpono Māori.
He Raru ki Tai, Jane Cooper, illustrated by Story Hemi-Morehouse (Huia Publishers)
Kua Whetūrangitia a Koro, Brianne Te Paa, illustrated by Story Hemi-Morehouse (Huia Publishers)
Te Kōkōrangi: Te Aranga o Matariki, Witi Ihimaera, illustrated by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White, translated by Hēni Jacob (Penguin Random House NZ)

NZSA Best First Book Award Finalist

The judges recognise the “guts and talent” it takes to have your first book published, and the 2023 NZSA Best First Book Award finalists impressed with the range of characters, topics and settings – all presented with skill and much promise for the future.

Echo, Arlo Kelly (Sparrow Press)
Holding the Horse, J L Williams (Ocean Echo Books)
He Raru ki Tai, Jane Cooper, illustrated by Story Hemi-Morehouse (Huia Publishers)
Kidnap at Mystery Island, Carol Garden (Scholastic New Zealand)
The Lighthouse Princess, Susan Wardell, illustrated by Rose Northey (Penguin Random House NZ)

**
As well as acknowledging the best and brightest in books for children and teens, a core aspect of the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults mission is to foster literacy and a love of reading among New Zealand’s tamariki and rangatahi.

This includes administering the ever-popular HELL Reading Challenge, now in its tenth year, which has encouraged children to read close to 16 million books , aided by the bonus of a free pizza for every seven books completed. In addition, libraries and schools will be able to take tamariki on Hell’s Great NZ Book Trip, where they can discover the rich tapestry of New Zealand literature right around the motu and get up close and personal with Aotearoa’s literary talent through a series of virtual author sessions streamed straight into classrooms.

Another popular aspect of the Awards is its programme of Books Alive events, in which finalist authors and illustrators bring the magic of books to life at sessions for school children. Plans are afoot this year for a full schedule of events in both Wellington and Christchurch in the immediate lead up to the Awards ceremony.

The formidable task of narrowing the field to a shortlist of finalists was met by this year’s experienced judging panel: Nicola Daly (convenor) , an Associate Professor at the University of Waikato, where she is codirector of the Waikato Picturebook Research Unit and teaches courses in children’s literature; Daniel Buchanan, who has worked in bookstores in Ōtepoti for 18 years; Feana Tu‘akoi, a Kirikiriroa-based writer; Maia Bennett (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Tūwharetoa), a Wānaka secondary school and public librarian; and Ruth Paul, an award-winning Wellington writer and illustrator of children’s picture books.

They were joined by a separate panel specially appointed to judge te reo Māori entries: Ruki Tobin (convenor) (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Whātua), Kaihautū / Director Ratonga Māori at Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, National Library of New Zealand; Mihi Te Rina Henare (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Porou, Te Whānau-ā-Apanui), the Kaitiaki Pukapuka and Kairangahau Māori at Te Wānanga Takiura o ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori o Aotearoa; and Te Wairere Ngaia (Waikato-Maniapoto, Taranaki, Te Ātiawa, Ngāruahinerangi, Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Rongomai, Ngāti Tarāwhai, Ngāti Whakaue), a Rotorua-based kaiako of te reo Māori, and a qualified translator.

The New Zealand Book Awards for Children & Young Adults are made possible through the generosity, commitment and vision of funders and partners: Creative New Zealand, HELL Pizza, the Wright Family Foundation, LIANZA Te Rau Herenga o Aotearoa, Wellington City Council, New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa, the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, and Nielsen BookData. The Awards are administered by the New Zealand Book Awards Trust Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa.

Celebrated New Zealand writer Catherine Chidgey has won the $64,000 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at the 2023 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards for The Axeman’s Carnival – a page-turning novel of depth, pathos and humanity that skilfully infuses comedy with a building sense of menace, narrated by a precocious magpie called Tama.

Ms Chidgey received the fiction prize ahead of screenwriter and author Michael Bennett (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue) (Better the Blood); historian and novelist Monty Soutar (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, Ngāti Kahungunu) (Kāwai: For Such a Time as This); and sailor and novelist Cristina Sanders (Mrs Jewell and the Wreck of the General Grant).

It is the second time Catherine Chidgey has won the big-ticket fiction prize offered since 2016 thanks to the late Jann Medlicott – the first writer to do so. She won the Acorn Foundation Fiction Prize in 2017 for The Wish Child. Both books are published by Te Herenga Waka University Press.

The Fiction category’s convenor of judges, Stephanie Johnson, says The Axeman’s Carnival is a novel that has been clasped to New Zealanders’ hearts.

“The unforgettable Tama – taken in and raised by Marnie on the Te Waipounamu high country farm she shares with champion axeman husband Rob – constantly entertains with his take on the foibles and dramas of his human companions. Catherine Chidgey’s writing is masterful, and the underlying sense of dread as the story unfolds is shot through with humour and humanity.

“The Axeman’s Carnival is unique: poetic, profound and a powerfully compelling read from start to finish.” 

Scholar, poet and irredentist Alice Te Punga Somerville (Te Āti Awa, Taranaki) has won the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry for Always Italicise: How to Write While Colonised (Auckland University Press). 

Poetry category convenor Diane Brown says Ms Te Punga Somerville’s collection voyages out like a waka seeking new ground.

“Readers are challenged but crucially invited in to accept that challenge and reach a new understanding of what it is to be a Māori woman scholar, mother and wife in 2022 encountering and navigating uncomfortable and hostile spaces.

“Always Italicise stood out amongst a very strong field for its finely crafted, poetically fluent and witty explorations of racism, colonisation, class, language and relationships. It’s a fine collection, establishing and marking a new place to stand.”

Broadcaster, music critic and author Nick Bollinger has won the Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction for Jumping Sundays: The Rise and Fall of the Counterculture in Aotearoa New Zealand (Auckland University Press). 

Category convenor Jared Davidson says Jumping Sundays is a triumph of production and design.

“The cover alone is one of the best of the year and signals the visual excellence that follows: vibrant endpapers, distinctive typography and bountiful images on an appropriately uncoated stock. Yet Jumping Sundays is more than just a well-designed book. Drawing on archival research and rich personal narratives, Nick Bollinger has written a compelling account of an epoch-making period, linking international trends to the local context in a purposeful-yet-playful way.

“A joy to read and to hold, Jumping Sundays is a fantastic example of scholarship, creativity and craft.”

Historian and lawyer Ned Fletcher has won the General Non-Fiction Award for his work, The English Text of the Treaty of Waitangi (Bridget Williams Books).

Category convenor of judges Anna Rawhiti-O’Connell says Fletcher’s book is a meticulously constructed work of scholarship that provides surprising and essential analysis of Te Tiriti.

“The English Text of the Treaty of Waitangi will shift and inform debates about the intentions of those who constructed and signed the Treaty and how we interpret it today. Fletcher’s comprehensive examination sheds new light on the document’s implications and contributes fresh thinking to what remains a very live conversation for all of us that call this country home.”

The Poetry, Illustrated Non-Fiction and General Non-Fiction category award winners each took home a $12,000 prize.

Four Best First Book Awards, supported this year by the Mātātuhi Foundation, were also presented at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards ceremony.

Hubert Church Prize for Fiction

Home Theatre by Anthony Lapwood (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Whakaue, Pākehā) (Te Herenga Waka University Press)

Jessie Mackay Prize for Poetry

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

Judith Binney Prize for Illustrated Non-Fiction

Kai: Food Stories and Recipes from my Family Table by Christall Lowe (Ngāti Kauwhata, Tainui, Ngāti Maniapoto) (Bateman Books)

E.H. McCormick for General Non-Fiction

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

Each Best First Book Award winner received $3,000 and a 12-month membership subscription to the New Zealand Society of Authors.

New Zealand Book Awards Trust Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa spokesperson Jenna Todd (Kāi Tahu) says this year’s winners are a demonstration of the quality and virtuosity of Aotearoa writers today.

“It’s a joy to celebrate these innovative, thought-provoking, conversation-starting books across fiction, poetry, general non-fiction and illustrated non-fiction; each of them singing and fizzing and demanding to be read.

“These titles of excellence are a tribute to the broad range of publishers who produced them, from the boutique to the established and multinational. Publishers are the power houses behind these books and also deserve the recognition.”

The 2023 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards’ judges were:

Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction:  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); Wellington bookseller Jemma Morrison; and British writer, publisher and host of the books podcast Backlisted, John Mitchinson (UK).

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

Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction: 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.

General Non-Fiction Award: 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, the Mātātuhi Foundation, and the Auckland Writers Festival, which hosts the awards ceremony as a marquee event in its annual programme.

To find out more about the winners’ books go to http://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards/2023-awards/winners/

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/