The winner of the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction will receive $64,000. Each winner of the other main category will receive $12,000. Each of the Best First Book winners, for fiction, poetry, general non-fiction and illustrated non-fiction, will be awarded $3000.
New Zealand Book Awards Trust Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa spokesperson Jenna Todd says this year’s shortlist is a treasure trove to celebrate.
“There is not one dominating publisher this year, with a range of 12 publishers shortlisted across 16 titles,” she said.
“Many of these books, across all categories, delve deeply into strong personal narratives. They offer tales of tension, distrust and revenge, treating readers to vivid explorations of aspects of Aotearoa’s history.
“Subjects and characters are treated with the utmost of care, critical thought, and examination.
“This group of writers, both venerated and emerging, steers you towards laughter, wonder and new knowledge,” Todd added.
Past winners include Becky Manawatu, Whiti Hereaka, Fiona Kidman, Charlotte Grimshaw, Patricia Grace, and Eleanor Catton, among others.
The ceremony begins at 7PM and you can watch the livestream in the video above.
The 2023 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards shortlisted titles are:
*represents debut authors
Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction
- Better the Blood by Michael Bennett (Ngāti Pikiao, Ngāti Whakaue) (Simon & Schuster)
- Kāwai: For Such a Time as This by Monty Soutar (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, Ngāti Kahungunu) (Bateman Books)
- Mrs Jewell and the Wreck of the General Grant by Cristina Sanders (The Cuba Press)
- The Axeman’s Carnival by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry
- Always Italicise: How to Write While Colonised by Alice Te Punga Somerville (Te Āti Awa, Taranaki) (Auckland University Press)
- People Person by Joanna Cho (Te Herenga Waka University Press)*
- Sedition by Anahera Maire Gildea (Ngāti Tukorehe) (Taraheke | Bush Lawyer)*
- We’re All Made of Lightning by Khadro Mohamed (We Are Babies Press, Tender Press)*
Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction
- Jumping Sundays: The Rise and Fall of the Counterculture in Aotearoa New Zealand by Nick Bollinger (Auckland University Press)
- Robin White: Something is Happening Here edited by Sarah Farrar, Jill Trevelyan and Nina Tonga (Te Papa Press and Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki)
- Secrets of the Sea: The Story of New Zealand’s Native Sea Creatures by Robert Vennell (HarperCollins)
- Te Motunui Epa by Rachel Buchanan (Taranaki, Te Ātiawa) (Bridget Williams Books)
General Non-Fiction Award
- A Fire in the Belly of Hineāmaru: A Collection of Narratives about Te Tai Tokerau Tūpuna by Melinda Webber (Ngāti Kahu, Ngāti Hau, Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whakaue) and Te Kapua O’Connor (Ngāti Kurī, Pohūtiare) (Auckland University Press)
- Downfall: The Destruction of Charles Mackay by Paul Diamond (Ngāti Hauā, Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi) (Massey University Press)
- Grand: Becoming my Mother’s Daughter by Noelle McCarthy (Penguin, Penguin Random House)*
- The English Text of the Treaty of Waitangi by Ned Fletcher (Bridget Williams Books)*