2022 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults finalists announced
MEDIA RELEASE
02 June 2022
“Intense, Clever and Sexy as Hell” Novel Wins Country’s Richest Writing Prize
Wellington novelist and playwright Whiti Hereaka (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Arawa, Ngāti Whakaue, Tūhourangi, Pākehā) has won the $60,000 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at the 2022 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards for her book Kurangaituku – a richly imagined contemporary retelling of the traditional Te Arawa story Hatupatu and the Bird-Woman, told from the perspective of the ‘monster’ Kurangaituku.
Ms Hereaka received the prize ahead of novelist, lawyer and academic Gigi Fenster (A Good Winter); debut novelist and winner of the 2019 Adam Foundation Prize Rebecca K Reilly (Greta & Valdin); and novelist, poet, literary critic and academic Bryan Walpert (Entanglement). The ceremony was held live and in person, emcee’d by Jack Tame at Q Theatre, Auckland this evening.
The Fiction category’s convenor of judges, Rob Kidd, says Kurangaituku (Huia Publishers) is an extraordinary novel, unashamedly literary and utterly innovative.
“It’s an epic poem of a novel, resonant of Māori oral traditions, that gives a voice, form and a name to the bird-woman from the Māori myth. The ogress Kurangaituku tells us not only her side of the story but everything she knows about Te Ao Māori.
“Kurangaituku is poetic, intense, clever and sexy as hell. It’s also an important novel. A game changer.”
Canterbury poet, editor and writing tutor Joanna Preston has won the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry for Tumble (Otago University Press). Preston’s second collection encompasses myth and magic, including Vikings, astronauts and fallen angels.
Poetry category convenor Saradha Koirala says Tumble is a celebration of poetry that incorporates free verse and traditional forms.
“Through her layering of art, re-imagining of historic moments and firm nods to poets past, Joanna Preston reminds us of Louise Gluck with her precise, evocative narratives, chiselled out of stone to reveal what was always there.
“Simply written, yet dramatic and powerfully eloquent, each poem in this book is a banger.”
Author and senior curator New Zealand Culture and History at Te Papa Claire Regnault won the Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction for the stunningly presented Dressed: Fashionable Dress in Aotearoa New Zealand 1840 to 1910 (Te Papa Press).
Category convenor Chanel Clarke (Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Porou, Waikato Tainui) says even those who believe themselves to be without interest in either clothing or our history will be seduced by Dressed.
“Readers will find themselves transported to other worlds, populated by people, indigenous and immigrant, both heartachingly familiar and surprisingly exotic. Beautifully illustrated and deeply researched, Dressed is the complete package.
“A valuable addition to our nation’s story and a great example of what historical enquiry and non-fiction publishing can be.”
One of this country’s most respected historians, Wellington resident Vincent O’Malley, won the General Non-Fiction Award for his work, Voices from the New Zealand Wars | He Reo nō ngā Pakanga o Aotearoa (Bridget Williams Books).
Category convenor Nicholas Reid says Vincent O’Malley’s book meets all the criteria for a great work of non-fiction.
“Voices from the New Zealand Wars | He Reo nō ngā Pakanga o Aotearoa is the fruit of close historical research and is accessible to a wide readership. It tells us of the past but is relevant to the present, when public debate feeds New Zealanders’ hunger to know how our country was formed. It is nuanced in its balance of both Māori and Pakeha voices and it respects the attitudes and assumptions of people who lived in an era different from our own.
“In bringing together these voices, O’Malley creates a coherent history of the New Zealand Wars, gives greater attention to wahine than earlier historians have, and deals carefully with contested events. The excellent book production is a credit to the publishers.”
The Poetry, Illustrated Non-Fiction and General Non-Fiction category Award winners each took home a $10,000 prize.
Four Crystal Arts Trust Best First Book Awards were also presented at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.
The Hubert Church Prize for a best first book of Fiction: Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Wai) (Te Herenga Waka University Press).
The Jessie Mackay Prize for a best first book of Poetry: Whai by Nicole Titihuia Hawkins (Ngāti Kahungunu ki te Wairoa, Ngāti Pāhauwera) (We are Babies Press).
The Judith Binney Prize for a best first work of Illustrated Non-Fiction: The Architect and the Artists: Hackshaw, McCahon, Dibble by Bridget Hackshaw (Massey University Press).
The E.H. McCormick Prize for a best first work of General Non-Fiction: The Alarmist: Fifty Years Measuring Climate Change by Dave Lowe (Te Herenga Waka University Press).
Each Crystal Arts Trust Best First Book Award winner received $2500 and a 12-month membership subscription to the New Zealand Society of Authors.
“As the longlists demonstrated, this was a year of original, excellent, ground-breaking books,” says Paula Morris, a trustee of the New Zealand Book Awards Trust, which governs the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.
“These eight writers – with books by seven different publishers – suggest our deep pool of talent, accomplishment, knowledge and imagination.”
Who were the finalists?
*represents debut authors
L-R: Gigi Fenster, Bryan Walpert, Rebecca K Reilly, Whiti Hereaka
Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction — 2022 Shortlist
A Good Winter by Gigi Fenster (Text Publishing) — $37 at Mighty Ape
Entanglement by Bryan Walpert (Mākaro Press) —$35 at Mighty Ape
*Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly* (Te Herenga Waka University Press) — $35 at THWUP
Kurangaituku by Whiti Hereaka (Huia Publishers) - $35 at Huia
L-R: Tayi Tibble, Serie Barford, Anne Kennedy, Joanna Preston
Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry — 2022 Shortlist
Rangikura by Tayi Tibble (Te Herenga Waka University Press) - $25 at THWUP
Sleeping with Stones by Serie Barford (Anahera Press) — $25 at Anahera Press
The Sea Walks into a Wall by Anne Kennedy (Auckland University Press) — $25 at Mighty Ape
Tumble by Joanna Preston (Otago University Press) — $28 at Mighty Ape
L-R: Claire Regnault, Qiane Matata-Sipu, Lucy Mackintosh, Bridget Hackshaw
Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction — 2022 Shortlist
Dressed: Fashionable Dress in Aotearoa New Zealand 1840 to 1910 by Claire Regnault (Te Papa Press) — $70 at Mighty Ape
*NUKU: Stories of 100 Indigenous Women* by Qiane Matata-Sipu (QIANE+co) — $65 at Nuku
*Shifting Grounds: Deep Histories of Tāmaki Makaurau by Lucy Mackintosh* (Bridget Williams Books) — $59.99 at BWB
*The Architect and the Artists: Hackshaw, McCahon, Dibble by Bridget Hackshaw* (Massey University Press) — $65 at Mighty Ape
L-R: Patricia Grace, Dave Lowe, Charlotte Grimshaw, Vincent O’Malley
General Non-Fiction Award — 2022 Shortlist
From the Centre: A Writer’s Life by Patricia Grace (Penguin, Penguin Random House) — $32 at Mighty Ape (20% discount)
*The Alarmist: Fifty Years Measuring Climate Change by Dave Lowe* (Te Herenga Waka University Press) — $40 at THWUP
The Mirror Book by Charlotte Grimshaw (Vintage, Penguin Random House) — $30 at Mighty Ape (21% discount)
Voices from the New Zealand Wars | He Reo nō ngā Pakanga o Aotearoa by Vincent O’Malley (Bridget Williams Books) — $44 at Mighty Ape (12% discount)
Who were the judges?
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.
International Fiction judge John Freeman is founder of the literary annual Freeman's, executive editor at Alfred A. Knopf, and the author and editor of ten books including The Park, The Penguin Book of the Modern American Short Story, Dictionary of the Undoing, and, with Tracy K. Smith, There's a Revolution Outside, My Love.
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 Trust and the Funders
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 awards for first-time authors (The Crystal Arts Trust Best First Book awards) 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 (a registered charity). Current members of the Trust are Nicola Legat, Karen Ferns, Paula Morris, Jenna Todd, Anne Morgan, Melanee Winder, Melinda Szymanik and Richard Pamatatau. The Trust also governs the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults and Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day.
Ockham Residential is Auckland’s most thoughtful developer. Through creating elegant and enduring buildings that are well-loved by those who make them home, Ockham hopes to enhance Auckland – and to contribute to its many communities. Founded in 2009 by Mark Todd and Benjamin Preston, Ockham supports a number of organisations in arts, science and education. These include the Ockham Collective, their creative and educational charity, the acclaimed BWB Texts series, the People’s Choice Award in New Zealand Geographic’s Photographer of the Year Award, and Ponsonby’s Objectspace gallery. But its principal sponsorship of the New Zealand Book Awards, a relationship now in its eighth year, is perhaps Ockham’s most visible contribution. Says Mark Todd: “Our communities would be drab, grey and much poorer places without art, without words, without science – without critical thought. That’s why our partnership with the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards means the world to us.”
Creative New Zealand has been a sustaining partner of New Zealand’s book awards for decades. The national arts development agency of the New Zealand government encourages, promotes and supports the arts in New Zealand for the benefit of all New Zealanders through funding, capability building, an international programme, and advocacy. Creative New Zealand provides a wide range of support to New Zealand literature, including funding for writers and publishers, residencies, literary festivals and awards, and supports organisations which work to increase the readership and sales of New Zealand literature at home and internationally.
The Acorn Foundation is a community foundation based in the Western Bay of Plenty, which encourages people to leave a gift in their wills and/or their lifetimes to support their local community forever. Donations are pooled and invested, and the investment income is used to make donations to local charities, in accordance with the donors’ wishes. The capital remains intact. Since it was established in 2003, Acorn has distributed over $10 million. Donors may choose which organisations are to benefit each year, or they may decide to leave it to the trustees’ discretion. Community foundations are the fastest growing form of philanthropy worldwide, and there are now 17 throughout New Zealand, with more in the early stages. The Prize for Fiction has been provided through the generosity of one of the Foundation’s donors, Jann Medlicott, and will be awarded to the top fiction work each year, in perpetuity. Its base figure of $50,000 in 2016 is adjusted each year, to reflect wage inflation
Mary and Peter Biggs CNZM are long-time arts advocates and patrons – particularly of literature, theatre and music. They have funded the Biggs Family Prize in Poetry at Victoria University of Wellington’s International Institute of Modern Letters since 2006, along with the Alex Scobie Research Prize in Classical Studies. They have been consistent supporters of the International Festival of the Arts, the Auckland Writers Festival, Wellington’s Circa Theatre, the New Zealand Arts Foundation, Featherston Booktown, Read NZ Te Pou Muramura, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Featherston Sculpture Trust and the Wairarapa’s Kokomai Arts Festival. Peter was Chair of Creative New Zealand from 1999 to 2006. He led the Cultural Philanthropy Taskforce in 2010 and the New Zealand Professional Orchestra Sector Review in 2012. Peter is Chief Executive of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. He was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for arts governance and philanthropy in 2013.
Founded in 1921, Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand is the membership association for bookshops in New Zealand. This national not-for-profit trade organisation works to help independently owned and chain bookstores to grow and succeed. Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand provides education, information, business products, and services; creates relevant programmes; and engages in public policy and industry advocacy. The association is governed by a volunteer board of booksellers.
The Crystal Arts Trust is an independent registered charitable trust dedicated to cultural philanthropy. Formed in 2021 by longstanding patrons of the arts James and Rosetta Allan, its aim is to make a difference to the future of emerging writers, visual artists, and musicians, by providing financial support at a critical time in their career. To provide enduring support, the Crystal Arts Trust plans to cultivate partnerships with an array of arts, cultural, and corporate organisations from across the country. With their backing, the trust will work to ensure that emerging artists receive the support they need to thrive, develop their career, and become commercially successful.
The Auckland Writers Festival | Waituhi o Tāmaki is the largest literary event in New Zealand and the largest presenter of Aotearoa literature in the world. Established in 1999, this annual festival hosts more than 200 writers for six days of discussion, conversation, reading, debate, performance, schools, family and free events ranging across fiction, non-fiction, poetry, music, theatre, culture, art and more. Audience attendance ranges between 65-85,000. This year’s Festival takes place 23-28 August 2022.
MEDIA
For interview opportunities, author images and further information please contact: Penny Hartill, director, hPR 021 721 424, penny@hartillpr.co.nz
