2023 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards finalists announced
A total of 44 books!
Commercial and not just literary fiction!
Establishment authors bumped by emerging writers!
And that was just the reaction when, in February, the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards longlist was released.
Now the shortlist is out and anyone who thought the four judging panels would revert to what might be termed more traditional choices was wrong.
As the promotional material says, the 16 shortlisted finalists showcase critical and commercial successes while, once again, a number of our most prominent authors are making way for newer names. The 2023 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards shortlisted titles are (*represents debut authors):
Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction
Better the Blood by Michael Bennett (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue) (Simon & Schuster)
Kete reviewer Greg Fleming: “It’s a moving, timely and powerful thriller that brings to life a crime story deeply embedded in our history. Bennett, like North American crime writers S.A. Cosby and David Heska Wanbli Weiden, articulates the generational impact a history of trauma and injustice can wreak on a people. The result is a riveting thriller, grounded in our national disputes, but one that will echo with readers the world over.”
Kāwai: For Such a Time as This by Monty Soutar (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, Ngāti Kahungunu) (Bateman Books)
Kete reviewer Dan Rabarts: “Just as truth can sometimes be stranger than fiction, Dr Monty Soutar has demonstrated in this impressive first novel that history, likewise, can be more confronting, and more challenging, than fiction.”
Mrs Jewell and the Wreck of the General Grant by Cristina Sanders (The Cuba Press)
Kete reviewer Jessie Neilson: “The story is full of fine detail, perfectly pictured, which stays with the reader… Historical fiction writer Sanders is in her element regaling us with these imaginative tales. For adults and young adults alike, this is superb and poignant reading.”
The Axeman’s Carnival by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press):
Kete reviewer Hannah Tunnicliffe: “I’ll come clean: I love Catherine Chidgey. Her books aren’t just beautifully written, they’re engaging and trot along at a good pace. They’re peppered with deep emotion, humour and descriptions that make you want to grab a highlighter and her narrators are surprising and enlightening. What more could you want?
But The Axeman’s Carnival isn’t just another book in the repertoire of a great author. It is, on its own merits, unique and compelling. It has enough foreboding to keep you on the hook, with enough sweetness and comedy to keep you happy to be on the hook.”
Stephanie Johnson, convenor of judges for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction, says the finalists in this category vividly demonstrate the excellent quality of a wide variety of work produced in the last year.
“Two stellar historical novels rival for their portrayal of lost worlds, one set in eighteenth-century Aotearoa, the other on a nineteenth-century sub-Antarctic island. And in the other two finalists, contemporary New Zealand, urban and rural, is vividly and memorably evoked in tightly written crime and through the eyes of a wild but insightful bird.”
British writer, publisher and host of the books podcast Backlisted, John Mitchinson, will assist the three New Zealand judges to select the fiction winner.
Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry
Always Italicise: How to Write While Colonised by Alice Te Punga Somerville (Te Āti Awa, Taranaki) (Auckland University Press)
People Person by Joanna Cho (Te Herenga Waka University Press)*
Sedition by Anahera Maire Gildea (Ngāti Tukorehe) (Taraheke | Bush Lawyer)*
We’re All Made of Lightning by Khadro Mohamed (We Are Babies Press, Tender Press)*
Diane Brown, convenor of judges for the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry, says the category finalists all portray a precarious world where nothing can be taken for granted.
“The turbulent events of the last few years are reflected in the four finalists’ collections, with poets interrogating language, racism, sexism, climate change and systems. These tensions are often reflected in poetic forms, long lines with fractured spaces dismantling the barrier between prose and poetry. In particular, we were drawn to collections that posited urgent and challenging questions which aroused imagination and engagement, and demanded we listen.”
Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction
Jumping Sundays: The Rise and Fall of the Counterculture in Aotearoa New Zealand by Nick Bollinger (Auckland University Press)
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)
Te Motunui Epa by Rachel Buchanan (Taranaki, Te Ātiawa) (Bridget Williams Books)
Jared Davidson, convenor of judges for the Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction, says the innovative design and compelling storytelling found in this year’s shortlist have redefined what an illustrated non-fiction work can be.
“Zine-like textures on uncoated stock, elegant typography across space and time, treasure-troves of littoral illustrations and taonga tuku iho that give voice to their travels are signs of a confident moment in book production. Nothing here is pretty-for-pretty’s sake: visual excellence amplifies the immensely relevant and engaging content of these original books.”
General Non-Fiction Award
A Fire in the Belly of Hineāmaru: A Collection of Narratives about Te Tai Tokerau Tūpuna by Melinda Webber (Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Hau, Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whakaue) and Te Kapua O’Connor (Ngāti Kurī, Pohūtiare) (Auckland University Press)
Downfall: The Destruction of Charles Mackay by Paul Diamond (Ngāti Hauā, Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi)
(Massey University Press)
Grand: Becoming my Mother’s Daughter by Noelle McCarthy (Penguin, Penguin Random House)*
The English Text of the Treaty of Waitangi by Ned Fletcher (Bridget Williams Books)*
Anna Rawhiti-Connell, convenor of judges for the General Non-Fiction Award, says the diversity of form in the shortlist showcases the breadth of non-fiction writing in New Zealand, and a mastery of craft.
“Each finalist offers an evolution and an innovation – whether it be in form and style, command of language and story-telling or in what they contribute to our shared knowledge and understanding of ourselves and each other. They are all books people should read, and importantly, they are books that fulfil the promise of reward for doing so.”
The 2023 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards’ winners, including four Best First Book Awards recipients which are this year supported by the Mātātuhi Foundation, 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 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.
Who are the judges?
This year’s Ockham New Zealand Book Awards judges are: 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 (Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction); Dunedin poet, author and creative writing tutor Diane Brown (convenor); poet and kaiako Serie Barford; and Wellington poet and Grimshaw-Sargeson Fellow Gregory Kan (Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry); 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 (Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction); 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) (General Non-Fiction Award).
International Fiction judge John Mitchinson (UK) is a writer and publisher, the co-founder of Unbound, the crowdfunding platform dedicated to books, and co-host of Backlisted, one of the world’s most popular book podcasts. Before that he helped create the BBC TV show QI. He grew up in New Zealand and has keen interest in its arts and culture.
What are the awards for?
The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are the country’s premier literary honours for books written by New Zealanders. First established in 1968 as the Wattie Book Awards (later the Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards), they have also been known as the Montana New Zealand Book Awards and the New Zealand Post Book Awards. Awards are given for Fiction (the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction), Poetry (the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry) Illustrated Non-Fiction (the Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction) and General Non-Fiction. There are also four Best First Book Awards for first-time authors and, at the judges’ discretion, Te Mūrau o te Tuhi, a Māori Language Award. The awards are governed by the New Zealand Book Awards Trust Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa (a registered charity). Current members of the Trust are Nicola Legat, Rachael King, Richard Pamatatau, Garth Biggs, Jenna Todd, Laura Caygill, Claire Murdoch and Melinda Szymanik. The Trust also governs the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults and Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day.
