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.
