NZ Book Award finalists named

The 2016 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards inaugural longlist has been announced.

There are 40 long-listed works; ten each from the four awards categories - illustrated non-fiction, general non-fiction, poetry and fiction.

New Zealand Book Awards Trust chair Nicola Legat says the increasing number and calibre of locally published works is behind the introduction of a longlist.

"Authors have asked for a longlist for many years and it emerged as a clear preference after consultation with the wider literary community," says Legat. "A longlist more equitably showcases a wider number of books in a strong publishing environment where there is very close competition. It is a demonstration of how vital New Zealand literature is and how talented our writers are."

The books were selected by four panels of specialist judges and are drawn from a record number of 240 entries.

"There will be especial interest in the fiction prize given that the eventual winner will be awarded the Acorn Foundation Literary Award, worth $50,000,"says Legat.

The fiction finalists are (pictured above):

* The Antipodeans by Greg McGee (Upstart Press)
* Astonished Dice: Collected Short Stories by Geoff Cochrane (Victoria University Press)
* The Back of His Head by Patrick Evans (Victoria University Press)
* Chappy by Patricia Grace (Penguin Random House)
* The Chimes by Anna Smaill (Hodder & Stoughton)
* Coming Rain by Stephen Daisley (Text Publishing)
* The Invisible Mile by David Coventry (Victoria University Press)
* The Legend of Winstone Blackhat by Tanya Moir (Penguin Random House)
* The Pale North by Hamish Clayton (Penguin Random House)
* Reach by Laurence Fearnley (Penguin Random House)

Illustrated non-fiction finalists:

* Zealandia: Our Continent Revealed by Nick Mortimer and Hamish Campbell (Penguin Random House)
* My Family Table: Simple Wholefood Recipes from 'Petite Kitchen' by Eleanor Ozich (Allen & Unwin)
* Hello Girls and Boys! A New Zealand Toy Story by David Veart (Auckland University Press)
* Tuatara: Biology and Conservation of a Venerable Survivor by Alison Cree (Canterbury University Press)
* Real Modern: Everyday New Zealand in the 1950s and 1960s by Bronwyn Labrum (Te Papa Press)
* Coast. Country.Neighbourhood.City edited by Michael Barrett (Six Point Press)
* Te Ara Puoro: A Journey into the World of Māori Music by Richard Nunns (Potton and Burton)
* New Zealand Photography Collected by Athol McCredie (Te Papa Press)
* Tangata Whenua: An Illustrated History by Atholl Anderson, Judith Binney, Aroha Harris (Bridget Williams Books)
* Tramping: a New Zealand History by Shaun Barnett and Chris MacLean (Potton and Burton)

General non-fiction finalists:

* Maurice Gee: Life and Work by Rachel Barrowman (Victoria University Press)
* Terrain: Travels through a Deep Landscape by Geoff Chapple (Penguin Random House)
* The Villa at the Edge of the Empire: One Hundred Ways to Read a City by Fiona Farrell (Penguin Random House)
* Māori Boy: A Memoir of Childhood by Witi Ihimaera (Penguin Random House)
* Lost and Gone Away by Lynn Jenner (Auckland University Press)
* Kitchens: The New Zealand Kitchen in the 20th Century by Helen Leach (Otago University Press)
* Panguru and the City, Kāinga Tahi, Kāinga Rua: An Urban Migration History by Melissa Matutina Williams (Bridget Williams Books)
* Outcasts of the Gods? The Struggle over Slavery in Māori New Zealand by Hazel Petrie (Auckland University Press)
* Journey to a Hanging by Peter Wells (Penguin Random House)
* The Healthy Country? A History of Life and Death in New Zealand by Alistair Woodward and Tony Blakley (Auckland University Press)

Poetry finalists:

* The Art of Excavation by Leilani Tamu (Anahera Press)
* Shaggy Magpie Songs by Murray Edmond (Auckland University Press)
* How to be Dead in a Year of Snakes by Chris Tse (Auckland University Press)
* The Night We Ate the Baby by Tim Upperton (Haunui Press)
* Otherwise by John Dennison (Auckland University Press)
* Mr Clean & The Junkie by Jennifer Compton (Mākaro Press)
* Song of the Ghost in the Machine by Roger Horrocks (Victoria University Press)
* Tender Machines by Emma Neale (Otago University Press)
* The Conch Trumpet by David Eggleton (Otago University Press)
* Dear Neil Roberts by Airini Beautrais (Victoria University Press)

The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards shortlist will be announced on 8 March 2016, and the winners (including the four Best First Book Awards and a Māori Language award) will be announced at a ceremony on May 10 2016, held as the opening night event of the Auckland Writers Festival.