A Wellington writer's first novel is a finalist in the country's most prestigious book awards.
David Coventry, whose debut book The Invisible Mile, about a New Zealander who in 1928 rode with the first English-speaking Tour de France team, is one of four fiction category finalists in the 2016 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, as are the distinguished novelist Patricia Grace (Chappy), Emeritus Professor Patrick Evans (The Back of His Head) and Stephen Daisley (Coming Rain). All are contenders to win the new $50,000 Acorn Foundation Literary Award.
The fiction titles are four of the 16 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards finalists announced today, after a year-long hiatus that sees the awards return with new sponsorship, increased prize money, and a winners' ceremony open to the public as part of the Auckland Writers Festival.
The convenor of judges for the fiction category, Jill Rawnsley, notes that the four finalist books are all historical novels.
"All are masterful examples of storytelling, using multiple narrative points of view, conjuring up hugely memorable - if not always likeable - characters and vivid portrayals of hard physical and psychologically complex lives," says Rawnsley.
