News

• 2025 Ockham New Zealand Winners Announced!

  15-05-2025

   

  Wellington author and professor Damien Wilkins has won the $65,000 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction for his novel Delirious (Te Herenga Waka University Press).

  Wilkins, the author of 14 books, also won the Fiction Award in 1994 for The Miserables, and he was runner-up for the prize twice – for Nineteen Widows Under Ash in 2001 and for The Fainter in 2007.

  Fiction category convenor of judges Thom Conroy says Delirious is an unforgettable work of fiction that navigates momentous themes with elegance and honesty.

  Editor, novelist and poet Emma Neale has won the $12,000 Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry for her collection Liar, Liar, Lick, Spit (Otago University Press).

  Poetry category convenor  of judges David Eggleton says Liar, Liar, Lick, Spit displays an exceptional ability to turn confessional anecdotes into quicksilvery flashes of insight.

  ‘It’s a book about fibs and fables; and telling true stories which are perceived by others as tall stories; and the knock-on or flow-on effects of distrust, the scales dropping from one’s eyes. It’s about power and a sense of powerlessness; it’s about belief and the loss of belief, it’s about trust and disillusion; it’s about disenchantment with fairytales. It’s about compassion. 

  ‘Emma Neale is a writer fantastically sensitive to figurative language and its possibilities,’ says Mr Eggleton.

  ‘Visual tour de force of enduring significance’ wins at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2025 

  Art historians Deidre Brown (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu) and Ngarino Ellis (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou) have won the $12,000 BookHub Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction at the 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards for Toi Te Mana: An Indigenous History of Māori Art – a landmark title 12 years in the making.

  Published by Auckland University Press, Toi Te Mana is a six-hundred-page comprehensive survey of Māori art, from Polynesian voyaging waka to contemporary Māori artists.

  Illustrated Non-Fiction category convenor of judges Chris Szekely says Toi Te Mana is a book of enduring significance with international reach.

  Curator, critic, activist, and the first female Māori Emeritus Professor from a university Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku (Te Arawa, Ngāpuhi, Waikato) has won the $12,000 General Non-Fiction Award for her memoir Hine Toa: A Story of Bravery (HarperCollins Publishers Aotearoa New Zealand).

  General Non-Fiction convenor of judges Holly Walker says Hine Toa is a rich, stunningly evocative memoir that defies easy categorisation.

  ‘From its extraordinary opening sentence, it weaves Māori and English storytelling traditions: “Once upon a time there was a pet tuatara named Kiriwhetū; her reptile skin was marked with stars.” Hine Toa is both a personal testimony and a taonga,’ says Ms Walker.

  Four Best First Book Awards, sponsored by the Mātātuhi Foundation, were also presented at the 14 May Ockham New Zealand Book Awards ceremony, which marked 10 years of association with principal sponsor Ockham Residential.

  Hubert Church Prize for Fiction

  Poorhara by Michelle Rahurahu (Ngāti Rahurahu, Ngāti Tahu–Ngāti Whaoa) (Te Herenga Waka University Press).

  Jessie Mackay Prize for Poetry

  Manuali’I by Rex Letoa Paget (Samoan/Danish) (Saufo’i Press)

  Judith Binney Prize for Illustrated Non-Fiction

  Sight Lines: Women and Art in Aotearoa by Kirsty Baker (Auckland University Press)

  E.H. McCormick Prize for General Non-Fiction

  The Chthonic Cycle by Una Cruickshank (Te Herenga Waka University Press)

  Each Mātātuhi Foundation Best First Book Award winner received $3,000 and a 12-month membership subscription to the New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa.

  The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are supported by Ockham Residential, Creative New Zealand, the late Jann Medlicott and the Acorn Foundation, Mary and Peter Biggs CNZM, BookHub presented by Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand, The Mātātuhi Foundation, and the Auckland Writers Festival.

  The awards ceremony, emceed by Miriama Kamo and attended by politicians, publishers, writers, and the book-loving public, was hosted at the Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre in Aotea Centre as part of the 2025 Auckland Writers Festival programme.

  To find out more about the winners’ titles follow this link.

• 2026 Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship – applications open

  30-04-2025

  Calling all creative writers! Applications are now open for the 2026 Katherine Mansfield Menton Fellowship!
  This prestigious opportunity gives one established New Zealand writer the chance to live and write for three months in the stunning Menton, France. The lucky Fellow will enjoy access to a private study beneath the terrace of Villa Isola Bella, where Katherine Mansfield crafted some of her most iconic works. The Fellowship includes a $50,000 grant to cover all costs, including travel, insurance, living expenses and accommodation.

  Since 1970, this life-changing opportunity has been awarded to some of our country’s literary legends – think Witi Ihimaera, Janet Frame, Bill Manhire, Charlotte Grimshaw, Paula Morris, and Dame Fiona Kidman, to name just a few. Applications close 30 May. Head to this link to find out more – and apply.

• 2025 Sargeson Prize – entries open

  01-04-2025

  Entries are now open for the 2025 Sargeson Prize, New Zealand’s most prestigious short story competition, with a newly increased first prize of $15,000. Now in its seventh year, the Sargeson Prize, named in honour of iconic New Zealand writer Frank Sargeson, was established by award-winning author and University of Waikato Associate Professor Catherine Chidgey.
  
  This year’s judge, Elizabeth Knox CNZM, DLitt (Hons) is one of New Zealand’s most celebrated and imaginative writers. She is the author of thirteen novels, including The Vintner’s Luck, Dreamhunter, and The Absolute Book. Her latest novel, Kings of this World, will be released in September.
  
  The competition features two divisions, Open and Secondary Schools, with all entries judged blind. The winner of the Secondary Schools Division will receive $2,000 and a one-week summer writing residency at the University of Waikato. This includes mentoring, accommodation, and meals.

  The competition attracted a record 1,306 entries across both divisions in 2024. The winning stories are published by ReadingRoom, Newsroom’s literary platform edited by Steve Braunias.

  Entries for the 2025 Sargeson Prize close 30 June 2025. Submission criteria and entry details are available on the University of Waikato website.

• Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day – apply now for funding

  20-03-2025

  Friday 22 August 2025 is set to be a day where words take flight and poetry pulses through the streets, libraries, parks, bookshops, and unexpected corners of Aotearoa. Now in its 28th year, Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day invites communities nationwide to create, share, and celebrate the power of poetry. Registrations and seed funding applications are now officially open.
  With over 100 events expected to take place nationwide, Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day 2025 promises another extraordinary showcase of creativity, diversity, and community spirit.

  Organisers wishing to apply for seed funding are encouraged to do so early, with applications closing at 5pm on Tuesday 3 June 2025. All the resources needed to plan and promote an event – including registration forms, funding guidelines, and helpful templates – are available now on the National Poetry Day website.

  The official 2025 event calendar will be published on Thursday 31 July, building excitement for a nationwide celebration where poetry takes centre stage.

  For more information, visit www.poetryday.co.nz or contact poetryday@nzbookawards.org.nz.

• China Residency for NZ Writers – applications open

  12-03-2025

  New Zealand’s national writer-residency organisation announces its 2025 International Residency with China.

  The Michael King Writers Centre in association with the Shanghai Writers’ Association is pleased to announce the call for applications for a New Zealand writer to hold a residency in Shanghai.

  The successful writer will receive accommodation in an inner-city apartment, a stipend towards living expenses and return economy class air travel. Writers will take part in discussions and literary events as part of the programme. The residency is from 1 September to 31 October 2025 and is open to mid-career or established writers.

  Applications close on Monday 31 March. For the application form and more details see here. 

  For more information on the exchange see Michael King Writers Centre Website.

• Australian Residency for NZ Writers – applications open

  12-03-2025

  New Zealand’s national writer-residency organisation announces its 2025 International Residency with Australia.

  The Michael King Writers Centre in association with Varuna, The National Writers’ House in Katoomba, NSW, Australia is pleased to announce for the fourth time, a residency in Australia for New Zealand writers. The writer awarded the residency will receive return flights to Sydney, four weeks accommodation and meals at Varuna and the opportunity to appear at the Blue Mountains Writers’ Festival. The residency is from 20 October – 17 November 2025.

  Applications open Tuesday 11 March and close Monday 31 March 2025. For the application form and more details see here.

  For more information on the exchange see Michael King Writers Centre Website.

• Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2025 Finalists Announced

  05-03-2025

  Congratulations to the Ockhams shortlisters!

  The $65,000 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction in the 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards will be contested by three former winners of the award – Laurence Fearnley, Kirsty Gunn and Damien Wilkins – and Commonwealth Short Story Prize winner Tina Makereti.

  The four novelists are joined by a further 12 acclaimed and debut authors of books of memoir, poetry, history, art and te ao Māori on the Ockhams shortlist announced today. These 16 finalists were selected from a longlist of 43 books by panels of specialist judges across four categories: fiction, poetry, illustrated non-fiction, and general non-fiction.

  Fearnley, who won the fiction prize in 2011 for The Hut Builder, is a finalist for At the Grand Glacier Hotel; Gunn, whose novel The Big Music was judged Book of the Year in 2013, is shortlisted for the short story collection Pretty Ugly; Wilkins, who won the fiction award for The Miserables in 1994 and was runner-up in 2001 and 2007 is a finalist with Delirious; and Makereti, who won the 2016 Pacific Region Commonwealth Writers Short Story Prize, is a finalist for The Mires.

  The finalists in the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry are the acclaimed poet, essayist and novelist C.K. Stead (In the Half Light of a Dying Day), who is 92 years old; award-winning poet and novelist Emma Neale (Liar, Liar, Lick, Spit); literary polymath Robert Sullivan (Hopurangi – Songcatcher: Poems from the Maramataka); and poet and song writer Richard von Sturmer (Slender Volumes).

  In the running for the BookHub Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction are four senior curators at our national museum, Te Papa: Athol McCredie (Leslie Adkin: Farmer Photographer); and Matiu Baker, Katie Cooper, Rebecca Rice and museum research associate Michael Fitgerald (Te Ata o Tū The Shadow of Tūmatauenga: The New Zealand Wars Collections of Te Papa). They are up against former Book of the Year winner Jill Trevelyan and her co-authors Jennifer Taylor and Greg Donson (Edith Collier: Early New Zealand Modernist); and eminent academics and authors Deirdre Brown, Ngarino Ellis and the late Jonathan Mane-Wheoki (Toi Te Mana: An Indigenous History of Māori Art).

  The 2025 shortlist’s two debut authors are both finalists in this year’s General Non-Fiction category: Flora Feltham (Bad Archive) and Una Cruickshank (The Chthonic Cycle). Esteemed academics Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku (Hine Toa: A Story of Bravery) and Richard Shaw (The Unsettled: Small Stories of Colonisation) join them as finalists in this category.

  The 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards’ winners, including the four Mātātuhi Foundation Best First Book Awards recipients, will be announced at a public ceremony on 14 May during the 2025 Auckland Writers Festival.

  The winner of the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction will receive $65,000 and each of the three other main category winners 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.

  The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are supported by Ockham Residential, Creative New Zealand, the late Jann Medlicott and the Acorn Foundation, Mary and Peter Biggs CNZM, BookHub presented by Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand, The Mātātuhi Foundation, and the Auckland Writers Festival.

  For more information on the shortlist and awards see here.

• Rest in Peace Brian Turner

  06-02-2025

  

  We are very sad to farewell Otago poet, creative nonfiction writer, editor and conservationist Brian Turner. The New Zealand Poet Laureate in 2003-05, Brian also had an honorary doctorate of literature from the University of Otago, an ONZM for his services to literature and the environment, the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement in Poetry, the Commonwealth Poetry Prize and several national book awards for poetry. Brian has written plays and television scripts and his work has appeared in countless magazines, journals and anthologies.

  Vale Brian. Arohanui to Brian’s partner, his family and friends.

• 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards Longlist Announced

  30-01-2025

  Congratulations to all those who have made the longlist, in particular the following ANZL fellows and members:

  Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction: Pretty Ugly by Kirsty Gunn (Otago University Press), The Mires by Tina Makereti (Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Rangatahi-Matakore, Pākehā) (Ultimo Press), The Royal Free by Carl Shuker (Te Herenga Waka University Press)

  Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry: Hopurangi – Songcatcher: Poems from the Maramataka by Robert Sullivan (Ngāpuhi, Kāi Tahu) (Auckland University Press), In the Half Light of a Dying Day by C.K. Stead (Auckland University Press), Liar, Liar, Lick, Spit by Emma Neale (Otago University Press), The Girls in the Red House are Singing by Tracey Slaughter (Te Herenga Waka University Press)

  General Non-Fiction Award: The Mermaid Chronicles: A Midlife Mer-moir by Megan Dunn (Penguin, Penguin Random House)

  The 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards shortlist of 16 titles (four books in each category) will be announced on 5 March. The winners, including the four Mātātuhi Foundation Best First Book Awards recipients, will be announced at a public ceremony on 14 May during the Auckland Writers Festival.

  The winner of the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction will receive $65,000 in 2025 and each of the other main category winners will receive $12,000. Each of The Mātātuhi Foundation Best First Book winners (for fiction, poetry, general non-fiction and illustrated non-fiction) will be awarded $3,000.

  The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are supported by Ockham Residential, Creative New Zealand, the late Jann Medlicott and the Acorn Foundation, Mary and Peter Biggs CNZM, Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand, The Mātātuhi Foundation and the Auckland Writers Festival. For more details, including the complete longlisted titles follow this link.  

• 2024 Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement announced

  05-12-2024

  Internationally renowned children’s author Dame Lynley Dodd, historian and environmentalist Neville Peat, and multi-talented poet Apirana Taylor are being recognised for their contributions to literature with this top literary award.

  The Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement is presented annually in three categories: fiction, non-fiction and poetry.  The award is managed by Creative New Zealand and decided by the Arts Council following public nominations and recommendations from an external panel of experts.

  Kent Gardner, Chair of the Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa, says this year’s recipients fully embody the spirit of these awards, which take into consideration writers’ national acclaim, international recognition, and leadership within the New Zealand literary sector.

  “All three recipients bring multiple gifts to their work. Dame Lynley Dodd has achieved global success by combining her talents as a writer and illustrator to make reading a joy for countless children. Neville Peat’s natural history writing is compelling for the combination of analytic rigour and passion for the environment. Apirana Taylor’s poetry is product of years of experience writing and performing for the eye, the ear and the stage as an actor and teacher,” Kent says.

  This year’s recipients will be celebrated at an event in Wellington on 12 December to be attended by the Prime Minister and Minister for Arts, Culture & Heritage. For more information see here.

• Mātātuhi Foundation’s record funding round ends 2024 on a high note.

  21-11-2024

  Congratulations to ANZL Gigi Fenster who has been awarded a Mātātuhi Foundation to develop close reading resources to promote and support the study of Aotearoa New Zealand literary masters in secondary and tertiary organisations.

  Following the release of a new set of funding criteria in July, including an increase in grant size from $5,000 to $20,000, the Mātātuhi Foundation is proud to announce record funding for five more initiatives under the categories: Legacy Projects, Platform and Children’s Literature. Grants to date have supported workshops, websites, podcasts, digital resources, and community projects, including those that celebrate and preserve our literary history. For more information and list of initiatives on this round see here.

• NZ Booklovers Awards 2025 – open for entries

  14-11-2024

  Entries are open for books published between 1 January and 31 December 2024. The prize is $500 for each category to the winning author. Shortlist announced 20 February 2025, and winners announced 20 March 2025. Find out more and enter here.

• NZSA Laura Solomon Cuba Press Prize 2025 – open for applications

  05-11-2024

  The NZSA Laura Solomon Cuba Press Prize celebrates the life and work of the writer Laura Solomon. As set by Laura, the main criteria for the exciting prize is for new writing with a ‘unique and original vision’. Published and unpublished writers are invited to enter with completed manuscripts written across all genres i.e. fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, drama or children’s writing.

  

  The NZSA Laura Solomon Cuba Press Prize:

  – paves the way for new and exciting writing to make its way into the market place

  – awards the winner an ‘advance’ of $1000 and a publishing contract supplied by The Cuba Press

  – pays for the book production and printing. The Cuba Press will edit, design, print, market, distribute and promote the book and e-book and pay standard author royalties

  The prize is open to writers holding New Zealand citizenship or who are permanent residents of New Zealand.

  Applications are open from 5 November 2024 to 13 March 2024

  The application form and  terms & conditions for the NZSA Laura Solomon Cuba Press Prize are available on the NZSA website, authors.org.nz

• Alison Wong 2024 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate

  21-10-2024

  Congratulations to Alison Wong, 2024 Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate, who has received the Burr/Tatham Trust Award recognising her contributions to literature.  Her debut novel As the Earth Turns Silver, a decade in the making, won awards and received international success. In recent years she co-edited, with Paula Morris, A Clear Dawn: New Asian Voices from Aotearoa New Zealand – the first-ever anthology of Asian New Zealand creative writing. The Arts Foundation panel describe Alison’s writing as “speaking to the complex richness of our social history and diasporic experiences.”

• Surrey Hotel Writers Residency Announced

  16-10-2024

  Paula Morris (Ngāti Wai, Ngāti Whātua, Ngāti Manuhiri) has won the Surrey Hotel Writers Residency Award in association with Newsroom and Jude and Dick Frizzell. The prize is $3000 and a week’s stay at the Surrey. A past winner of the national fiction prize for her novel Rangatira (2012), who also won the best first book of fiction prize with her debut Queen of Beauty (2003), Morris intends to work on her novel in progress about three Māori living in Britain at the time of the Brexit vote.