KEY POINTS:
New Zealand writer Janet Frame is among the finalists in this year's Montana New Zealand Book Awards. Published posthumously (Frame died in January 2004), The Goose Bath is Frame's first new title in almost 20 years.
The full list of finalists in the 2007 Montana New Zealand Book Awards by category are:
Fiction
* The Cowboy Dog by Nigel Cox (Victoria University Press)
* Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones (Penguin New Zealand)
* My Name Was Judas by C K Stead (Random House)
* Ocean Roads by James George (Huia Publishers)
* The Fainter by Damien Wilkins (Victoria University Press)
Poetry
* One Shapely Thing: Poems and Journals by Dinah Hawken (Victoria * University Press)
* The Goose Bath by Janet Frame (Random House)
* The Year of the Bicycle by James Brown (Victoria University Press)
Biography
* A Life of J C Beaglehole, New Zealand Scholar by Tim Beaglehole (Victoria University Press)
* Brief Lives by Chris Price (Auckland University Press)
* Douglas Lilburn: His Life and Music by Philip Norman (Canterbury University Press)
History
* Chiefs of Industry by Hazel Petrie (Auckland University Press)
* Luca Antara: Passages in Search of Australia by Martin Edmond (East Street Publications)
* Vaka Moana: Voyages of the Ancestors edited by Kerry Howe (David Bateman Ltd)
Environment
* Extinct Birds of New Zealand by Alan Tennyson and Paul Martinson (Te Papa Press)
* Ghosts of Gondwana by George Gibbs (Craig Potton Press)
* New Zealand: A Natural World Revealed by Tui de Roy and Mark Jones (David Bateman Ltd)
Illustrative
* Eagle's Complete Trees and Shrubs of New Zealand by Audrey Eagle (Te Papa Press)
* Julia Morison: A Loop Around a Loop by Justin Paton, with essays by Jennifer Hay and Anna Smith (Christchurch Art Gallery and Dunedin Public Art Gallery)
* Lake of Coal: The Disappearance of a Mining Township by David Cook (Craig Potton Publishing and Ramp Press)
* Lifestyle and contemporary culture
* CrownLynn: A New Zealand Icon by Valerie Ringer Monk (Penguin New Zealand)
* Kahui Whetu: Contemporary Maori Art: A Carver's Perspective by Roi Toia and Todd Couper (Reed Books)
* Stitch: Contemporary New Zealand Textile Artists by Ann Packer (Random House)
Reference and anthology
* An Illustrated Guide to New Zealand Hebes by Michael Bayly and Alison Kellow (Te Papa Press)
* Furniture of the New Zealand Colonial Era: An Illustrated History 1830-1900 by William Cottrell (Reed Books)
* Tirohia Kimihia by Huia Publishers (Ministry of Education)
* The New Zealand Society of Authors (NZSA) Best First Book Awards
Fiction
* Davey Darling by Paul Shannon (Penguin New Zealand)
* Overdue New Releases by Matt Johnson (Longacre Press)
* The Sound of Butterflies by Rachael King (Random House)
Poetry
* After the Dance by Michele Amas (Victoria University Press)
* Cup by Alison Wong (Steele Roberts)
* Secret Heart by Arini Beautrais (Victoria University Press)
Non-fiction
* An Illustrated Guide to New Zealand Hebes by Michael Bayly and Alison Kellow (Te Papa Press)
* Douglas Lilburn: His Life and Music by Philip Norman (Canterbury University Press)
* Furniture of the New Zealand Colonial Era: An Illustrated History 1830-1900 by William Cottrell (Reed Books)
The winner of the poetry category will be announced on Montana Poetry Day on July 27. All other winners, including the BPANZ Review Awards, will be advised at a gala dinner in Auckland on July 30.
