Entries open for 2026 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults
The organisers of the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults (NZCYA) – which celebrate the best books for young readers published each year in Aotearoa – are now inviting submissions for the 2026 awards.
Titles with release dates between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026 will be considered 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 (Te Kura Pounamu Awards).
Up to five finalists are announced for each category, and a separate shortlist of up to five books is also selected by the judges for the NZSA Best First Book Award, presented to a previously unpublished author or illustrator. The total prize money package of $70,500 will be presented to winners of the 2026 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, announced on 19 August 2026.
As it opens submissions, the New Zealand Book Awards Trust Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa draws the attention of publishers, authors and illustrators to a clause included in the Call for Entries pack restricting the use of AI, and urges all submitters to read the full document carefully before entering.
There has been keen debate in the media in the past fortnight about the Al clause in the conditions of entry for the 2026 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, covering both text and illustrations. The stance the Trust took there was supported by the sector organisations representing publishers, authors and booksellers, and developed to support the creative endeavours and copyright interests of Aotearoa New Zealand writers and illustrators.
The Trust is taking a slightly different approach for the NZCYA awards, a stance it feels is appropriate given the many unique qualities of books for young readers. For the 2026 awards it is making books with AI-authored text ineligible. Any decisions on AI-generated illustrations will be delayed to the 2027 awards, and made following consultation across the sector, including with the New Zealand divisions of multinational publishers who are aligned with the policies of their overseas owners, authors, designers, and of course with the illustrator community.
“This is a fast-changing and complex space and there are a range of views about the appropriate use of AI generative and assistive programs that need to be explored and considered,” says Trust chair Nicola Legat. “We also acknowledge that publishers are benefitting from the productivity efficiencies that some AI business tools provide.”
There are two submission dates for the 2026 NZCYA awards. Publishers are asked to observe the guidelines for sending entries in two tranches, which are in place for ease of sending to judges. Submissions are now open for books published between 1 April 2025 and 30 November 2025 and will close at 5pm on Friday 12 December 2025. For books published between 1 December 2025 and 31 March 2026, submissions open on 15 December and will close at 5pm on Tuesday 10 February 2026.
For books in the second tranche, PDF page proofs will be accepted where books are not yet printed. In such cases, finished books must arrive with the Awards Administrator by 5pm on Monday 9 March 2026.
The Call for Entries pack with all eligibility criteria and other information is available on the New Zealand Book Awards website. All entries must be submitted online and fees paid by credit card via the online submission form.
Any queries about the Awards should be directed to Awards Administrator Joy Sellen at childrensawards@nzbookawards.org.nz.
The judges of the 2026 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults will be revealed by mid-December, and their shortlists will be made public on 10 June 2026. Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in Wellington on Wednesday 19 August 2026.
The New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults are administered by the New Zealand Book Awards Trust Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa, and supported by Creative New Zealand, HELL Pizza, the Wright Family Foundation, LIANZA Te Rau Herenga o Aotearoa, Wellington City Council, the New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa (NZSA), and NielsenIQ BookData.