Ockham NZ Book Awards 2023 longlists announced

The longlists for the 2023 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards have been announced.

The longlisted titles in each category are:

Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction

• Better the Blood (Michael Bennett, S&S)
• Chevalier & Gawayn: The ballad of the dreamer (Phillip Mann, Quentin Wilson Publishing)
• Down from Upland (Murdoch Stephens, Lawrence & Gibson)
• Home Theatre (Anthony Lapwood, Te Herenga Waka University Press)
• How to Loiter in a Turf War (Coco Solid, Penguin)
• Kāwai: For such a time as this (Monty Soutar, Bateman Books)
• Mary’s Boy, Jean-Jacques and other stories (Vincent O’Sullivan, Te Herenga Waka University Press)
• Mrs Jewell and the Wreck of the General Grant (Cristina Sanders, The Cuba Press)
• The Axeman’s Carnival (Catherine Chidgey, Te Herenga Waka University Press)
• The Fish (Lloyd Jones, Penguin)

General Nonfiction Award

• A Fire in the Belly of Hineāmaru: A collection of narratives about Te Tai Tokerau Tūpuna (Melinda Webber & Te Kapua O’Connor, Auckland University Press)
• A History of New Zealand in 100 Objects (Jock Phillips, Penguin)
• Democracy in Aotearoa New Zealand: A survival guide (Geoffrey Palmer & Gwen Palmer Steeds, Te Herenga Waka University Press)
• Downfall: The destruction of Charles Mackay (Paul Diamond, Massey University Press)
• Empire City: Wellington becomes the capital of New Zealand (John E Martin, Te Herenga Waka University Press)
• Every Sign of Life: On family ground (Nicholas Lyon Gresson, Quentin Wilson Publishing)
• Gaylene’s Take: Her life in New Zealand film (Gaylene Preston, Te Herenga Waka University Press)
• Grand: Becoming my mother’s daughter (Noelle McCarthy, Penguin)
• Lāuga: Understanding Samoan oratory (Sadat Muaiava, Te Papa Press)
• So Far, For Now: On journeys, widowhood and stories that are never over (Fiona Kidman, Vintage)
• The English Text of the Treaty of Waitangi (Ned Fletcher, Bridget Williams Books)
• The Road to Gondwana: In search of the lost supercontinent (Bill Morris, Exisle)
• Thief, Convict, Pirate, Wife: The many histories of Charlotte Badger (Jennifer Ashton, Auckland University Press)
• You Probably Think This Song is About You (Kate Camp, Te Herenga Waka University Press)

Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry

• Always Italicise: How to write while colonised (Alice Te Punga Somerville, Auckland University Press)
• Echidna (Essa May Ranapiri, Te Herenga Waka University Press)
• Meat Lovers (Rebecca Hawkes, Auckland University Press)
• Night School (Michael Steven, Otago University Press)
• People Person (Joanna Cho, Te Herenga Waka University Press)
• Sedition (Anahera Maire Gildea, Taraheke | Bush Lawyer)
• Super Model Minority (Chris Tse, Auckland University Press)
• Surrender (Michaela Keeble, Taraheke | Bush Lawyer)
• The Pistils (Janet Charman, Otago University Press)
• We’re All Made of Lightning (Khadro Mohamed, Tender Press)

Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Nonfiction

• I am Autistic (Chanelle Moriah, A&U)
• Jumping Sundays: The rise and fall of the counterculture in Aotearoa New Zealand (Nick Bollinger, Auckland University Press)
• Kai: Food stories and recipes from my family table (Christall Lowe, Bateman Books)
• Nature Boy: The photography of Olaf Petersen (ed by Catherine Hammond & Shaun Higgins, Auckland University Press)
• Paradise Camp (Yuki Kihara, ed by Natalie King, Thames & Hudson)
• Robin White: Something is happening here (ed by Sarah Farrar, Jill Trevelyan & Nina Tonga, Te Papa Press & Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki)
• Secrets of the Sea: The story of New Zealand’s native sea creatures (Robert Vennell, HarperCollins)
• Tāngata Ngāi Tahu | People of Ngāi Tahu volume two (ed by Helen Brown & Michael J Stevens, Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu & Bridget Williams Books)
• Te Motunui Epa (Rachel Buchanan, Bridget Williams Books)
• Toi Tū Toi Ora: Contemporary Māori art (ed by Nigel Borell, PRH NZ in association with Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki).

This year’s longlist includes a record number of 44 titles, due to the general nonfiction category judges accepting an invitation from the New Zealand Book Awards Trust Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa to select up to 14 titles, rather than the standard 10. Trust chair Nicola Legat says that the discretionary increase reflects the volume of submissions for the general nonfiction award, the number and range of which well exceeds the other three categories. The shortlist for that category will still be four, in line with the other categories.

The prize money for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction has increased from NZ$60,000 to NZ$64,000, with last year’s winner being Kurangaituku by Whiti Hereaka (Huia Publishers). The winners in the remaining three categories each receive NZ$12,000, up from $NZ$10,000 in previous years. From each category, a best first book prize will be awarded, valued at NZ$3000, up from NZ$2500.

Shortlists will be announced on 8 March, with the winners to be announced at a public ceremony on 17 May during the 2023 Auckland Writers Festival.

For more information about the awards and this year’s longlistees, see the NZ Book Awards Trust website.

Category: Awards Local news