2025 NZCYA Awards Judges Revealed

Kirikiriroa Hamilton-based writer Feana Tu‘akoi will convene the English and bilingual panel. Joining her are author and editor of children’s books and educational resources Don Long MNZM from Te Whanganui a Tara Wellington, Tākaka-based Singaporean-Pākehā writer and reviewer Linda Jane Keegan, international best-selling author and 2024 Margaret Mahy Book of the Year winner Stacy Gregg (Ngāti Mahuta, Ngāti Pukeko, Ngāti Maru Hauraki) from Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, and kaiako and education specialist Mero Rokx (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tai), who lives in Porirua. Raised and immersed in tikanga and te reo Māori, Mero will make a valuable contribution to judging of both the English and bilingual and Te Kura Pounamu categories, and will enhance communications and collaboration between the two panels.

Convening the panel judging the Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Awards for books written in, or translated into, te reo Māori for 2025 will be Mat Tait (Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō, Rangitāne o Wairau, Ngāti Kuia), who has previous experience on both panels. An artist, illustrator, writer and te reo Māori tutor based in the Motueka area, Mat won the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year at the 2023 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. Joining him and Mero will be kaitakawaenga (programming specialist) at Christchurch City Libraries Ngā Kete Wānanga o Ōtautahi Justice-Manawanui Arahanga-Pryor (Ngāti Awa ki Rangitaiki, Ngāti Uenuku, Ngāti Rangi, Ngāi Te Ruahikihiki), and kaiako, curriculum developer and author Maxine Hemi (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu, Rangitāne), who lives in Whakaoriori Masterton.

Feana says she is thrilled to be asked to convene this year’s English and bilingual judging panel, having been a judge in the 2023 awards. “But the real privilege is the opportunity to read, discuss and celebrate the mahi of Aotearoa’s multi-talented writers and illustrators,” she says. “This year’s panel is unreservedly passionate about local books and includes a breadth of expertise, perception and child-centred focus that will be vital to our consensus-based judging process. I look forward to being part of the team.”

Mat says it’s an honour to be invited to convene this year’s Te Kura Pounamu panel and to work alongside judges with the experience and mātauranga they collectively bring. “This year is a significant one for Te Kura Pounamu as the award splits into two prizes to acknowledge two important but different pūkenga in the growing sphere of pukapuka reo Māori: that of translation, and those written first and foremost in te reo. We are all looking forward to the kōrero that will no doubt spring from this welcome change.”

The 2025 judges will read, review and deliberate on an anticipated 160 or so entries in six categories: Picture Book, Junior Fiction (the Wright Family Foundation Esther Glen Award), Young Adult Fiction, Non-Fiction (the Elsie Locke Award), Illustration (the Russell Clark Award) and te reo Māori (the Wright Family Foundation Te Kura Pounamu Awards). They will select up to five finalists in each category, as well as up to five finalists for the NZSA Best First Book Award, and then winners in each category. The supreme winner, the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year, will be decided by both panels from the main category winners.Submissions for the 2025 awards are open for books published between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025. The first deadline, for books published up to 30 November 2024, is Thursday 12 December 2024. Entries for books published between 1 December 2024 and 31 March 2025 will be accepted from Friday 13 December. More details about how to enter can be found here: http://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards-for-children-and-young-adults/how-to-enter/

The 2025 NZCYA shortlist will be announced on 5 June 2025 and the awards ceremony will be held at Pipitea Marae in Whanganui a Tara Wellington on 13 August 2025, preceded by a programme of finalist author events under the Books Alive banner hosted in centres around Aotearoa.The New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults are governed by the New Zealand Book Awards Trust Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa. They are made possible through the generosity, commitment and vision of funders and sponsors Creative New Zealand, HELL Pizza, Wright Family Foundation, LIANZA Te Rau Herenga o Aotearoa, Wellington City Council, The New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa, the Mātātuhi Foundation, and Nielsen BookData.

For more information about the 2025 judges, see: http://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards-for-children-and-young-adults/2025-awards/judges/Any queries about the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults should be directed to Awards Administrator Joy Sellen at childrensawards@nzbookawards.org.nz.