Latest news with #OckhamNewZealandBookAwards
NZ Herald
5 days ago
- General
- NZ Herald
Q&A with Ockham Book Award-winning Rotorua author Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku
Curator, critic, activist, the first female Māori Emeritus Professor from a university – and now the winner of New Zealand's top prize for general non-fiction. Rotorua's Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku (Te Arawa, Waikato, Tūhoe) won the award for her memoir Hine Toa: A at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards last month.
Scoop
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
‘Visual Tour De Force Of Enduring Significance' Wins At The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2025
Press Release – Ockham New Zealand Book Awards Published by Auckland University Press, Toi Te Mana is a six-hundred-page comprehensive survey of Mori art, from Polynesian voyaging waka to contemporary Mori artists. 14 MAY, 2025 Art historians Deidre Brown (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu) and Ngarino Ellis (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou) have won the 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. ' Toi Te Mana is extensively researched and thoughtfully written, casting a wide inclusive net. The result is a beautifully designed visual tour de force, and a cultural framework that approaches toi mahi with intelligence and insight. ' It is dedicated to the late Jonathan Mane-Wheoki (Ngāpuhi, Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Kurī), one of the three authors responsible for this magnum opus. Congratulations to Professors Deirdre Brown and Ngarino Ellis for carrying the baton to completion, a herculean task akin to the mahi of Maui himself,' says Mr Szekely. Wellington author and professor Damien Wilkins has won the 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. 'With a gift for crisp, emotionally rich digression, Damien Wilkins immerses readers in Mary and Pete's grapples with ageing and their contemplations of lost loved ones who still thrive in vivid memories. 'What stood out to the judges was the assured but understated touch of prose as it flows elegantly across decades, threads the intricacies of relationship, and fathoms the ongoing evolution of a couple's grief. 'Intimate, funny, and, above all, honest, Delirious is an absorbing, inspiring novel, and a damn fine read,' says Dr Conroy. Curator, critic, activist, and the first female Māori Emeritus Professor from a university Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku (Te Arawa, Ngāpuhi, Waikato) has won the 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. 'As well as painting a vivid picture of Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku's early life, from her childhood on 'the pā' at Ōhinemutu to her many creative and academic achievements, it is also a fiery social and political history that chronicles the transformative second half of the 20th century in Aotearoa from a vital queer, Māori, feminist perspective. '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. Editor, novelist and poet Emma Neale has won the 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. The Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction winner was presented with $65,000. The Poetry, Illustrated Non-Fiction, General Non-Fiction award recipients were each presented with $12,000. 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. New Zealand Book Awards Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa trustee Renee Rowland says each of this year's winners' books speaks powerfully to times past or present. 'In hotly contested categories, these titles offer much to enrich their readers. They are by turns highly personal and moving; fierce and shocking; culturally insightful and challenging; and funny and loving. 'The Trust warmly congratulates the authors and publishers of these vital books,' she says. 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 go to This year's Ockham New Zealand Book Awards judges are: Thom Conroy (convenor); bookshop owner and reviewer Carole Beu; author, educator and writing mentor Tania Roxborogh (Ngāti Porou); and international judge, the esteemed literary festival chair, books editor, broadcaster and Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature Georgina Godwin (Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction); poet, critic and writer David Eggleton (convenor); poet, novelist and short story writer Elizabeth Smither MNZM; and writer and editor Jordan Tricklebank (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Mahuta) (Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry); former Alexander Turnbull chief librarian and author Chris Szekely (convenor); arts advocate Jessica Palalagi; and historian and social history curator Kirstie Ross (BookHub Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction); author, writer and facilitator Holly Walker (convenor); author, editor and historical researcher Ross Calman (Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāi Tahu); and communications professional, writer and editor Gilbert Wong (General Non-Fiction Award). The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are the country's premier literary honours for books written by New Zealanders. First established in 1968 as the Wattie Book Awards (later the Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards), they have also been known as the Montana New Zealand Book Awards and the New Zealand Post Book Awards. Awards are given for Fiction (the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction), Poetry (the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry) Illustrated Non-Fiction (the BookHub Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction) and General Non-Fiction. There are also four Best First Book Awards for first-time authors (The Mātātuhi Foundation Best First Book Awards) and, at the judges' discretion, Te Mūrau o te Tuhi, a Māori Language Award. The awards are governed by the New Zealand Book Awards Trust Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa (a registered charity). Current members of the Trust are Nicola Legat, Richard Pamatatau, Garth Biggs, Renée Rowland, Laura Caygill, Suzy Maddox and Elena de Roo. The Trust also governs the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults and Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day. Ockham Residential is Auckland's most thoughtful developer. Through creating elegant and enduring buildings that are well-loved by those who make them home, Ockham hopes to enhance Auckland – and to contribute to its many communities. Founded in 2009 by Mark Todd and Benjamin Preston, Ockham supports a number of organisations in arts, science and education. These include the Ockham Collective, their creative and educational charity, the acclaimed BWB Texts series, the People's Choice Award in New Zealand Geographic 's Photographer of the Year Award, and Ponsonby's Objectspace gallery. But its principal sponsorship of the New Zealand Book Awards, a relationship now in its tenth year, is perhaps Ockham's most visible contribution. Says Mark Todd: 'Our communities would be drab, grey and much poorer places without art, without words, without science – without critical thought. That's why our partnership with the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards means the world to us.' Creative New Zealand has been a sustaining partner of New Zealand's book awards for decades. The national arts development agency of the New Zealand government encourages, promotes and supports the arts in New Zealand for the benefit of all New Zealanders through funding, capability building, an international programme, and advocacy. Creative New Zealand provides a wide range of support to New Zealand literature, including funding for writers and publishers, residencies, literary festivals and awards, and supports organisations which work to increase the readership and sales of New Zealand literature at home and internationally. Acorn Foundation is a community foundation based in the Western Bay of Plenty that encourages people to establish an endowment fund to support causes they love in the local community forever. Donations are pooled and invested, and the investment income is used to make annual donations to local charities, while the capital remains intact. Acorn has now distributed over $20 million to causes important to their donors. Community foundations are the fastest growing form of philanthropy worldwide, and there are currently 18 located across the country, with more than 85% of New Zealanders able to access a local foundation. The Prize for Fiction at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards has been provided through the generosity of one of Acorn's donors, the late Jann Medlicott, and will be awarded to the top fiction work each year, in perpetuity. Mary and Peter Biggs CNZM are long-time arts advocates and patrons – particularly of literature, theatre and music. They have funded the Biggs Family Prize in Poetry at Victoria University of Wellington's International Institute of Modern Letters since 2006, along with the Alex Scobie Research Prize in Classical Studies. They have been consistent supporters of the International Festival the of the Arts, the Auckland Writers Festival, Wellington's Circa Theatre, the New Zealand Arts Foundation, Featherston Booktown, Read NZ Te Pou Muramura, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Featherston Sculpture Trust and the Wairarapa's Kokomai Arts Festival. Peter was Chair of Creative New Zealand from 1999 to 2006. He led the Cultural Philanthropy Taskforce in 2010 and the New Zealand Professional Orchestra Sector Review in 2012. He was appointed a Companion of New Zealand Order of Merit for arts governance and philanthropy in 2013. Mary is the Operations Manager for Featherston Booktown Karukatea. She has driven the festival's success and growth, and it is now regarded as one of the leading cultural events in Aotearoa New Zealand. Founded in 1921, Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand is the national association for bookshops that helps its members grow and succeed through education, information, advocacy, marketing campaigns – such as Bookshop Day – and services – such as BookHub. Launched in 2023, BookHub is an e-commerce platform that enables people to browse books, buy books and find local bookshops, directly connecting readers with independent bookstores across the motu. Local bookshops are essential community hubs, and champions of Aotearoa New Zealand books and of the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. The Mātātuhi Foundation was established by the Auckland Writers Festival in 2018 to support the growth and development of New Zealand's literary landscape. To achieve this outcome, the Foundation funds literary projects that have the potential to develop sustainable literary platforms that help grow awareness and readership of New Zealand books and writers, increase engagement with New Zealand children's literature, or build access to, and awareness of, New Zealand's literary legacy. For 25 years, the Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki has been a champion of thought leadership, literary engagement and community building. It is New Zealand's premier celebration of books and ideas, with annual attendances of over 80,000. The Festival offers a six-day programme of inspiring discussions, conversations, readings, debates and performances for every age, audience and interest. Featuring over 200 of the world's best writers and thinkers from Aotearoa and overseas and with 25 percent of the programme delivered free, this year's Festival takes place 13 – 18 May 2025.
Scoop
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
‘Visual Tour De Force Of Enduring Significance' Wins At The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2025
Press Release – Ockham New Zealand Book Awards Art historians Deidre Brown (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu) and Ngarino Ellis (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou) have won the 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. ' Toi Te Mana is extensively researched and thoughtfully written, casting a wide inclusive net. The result is a beautifully designed visual tour de force, and a cultural framework that approaches toi mahi with intelligence and insight. ' It is dedicated to the late Jonathan Mane-Wheoki (Ngāpuhi, Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Kurī), one of the three authors responsible for this magnum opus. Congratulations to Professors Deirdre Brown and Ngarino Ellis for carrying the baton to completion, a herculean task akin to the mahi of Maui himself,' says Mr Szekely. Wellington author and professor Damien Wilkins has won the 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. 'With a gift for crisp, emotionally rich digression, Damien Wilkins immerses readers in Mary and Pete's grapples with ageing and their contemplations of lost loved ones who still thrive in vivid memories. 'What stood out to the judges was the assured but understated touch of prose as it flows elegantly across decades, threads the intricacies of relationship, and fathoms the ongoing evolution of a couple's grief. 'Intimate, funny, and, above all, honest, Delirious is an absorbing, inspiring novel, and a damn fine read,' says Dr Conroy. Curator, critic, activist, and the first female Māori Emeritus Professor from a university Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku (Te Arawa, Ngāpuhi, Waikato) has won the 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. 'As well as painting a vivid picture of Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku's early life, from her childhood on 'the pā' at Ōhinemutu to her many creative and academic achievements, it is also a fiery social and political history that chronicles the transformative second half of the 20th century in Aotearoa from a vital queer, Māori, feminist perspective. '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. Editor, novelist and poet Emma Neale has won the 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. The Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction winner was presented with $65,000. The Poetry, Illustrated Non-Fiction, General Non-Fiction award recipients were each presented with $12,000. 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. New Zealand Book Awards Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa trustee Renee Rowland says each of this year's winners' books speaks powerfully to times past or present. 'In hotly contested categories, these titles offer much to enrich their readers. They are by turns highly personal and moving; fierce and shocking; culturally insightful and challenging; and funny and loving. 'The Trust warmly congratulates the authors and publishers of these vital books,' she says. 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 go to This year's Ockham New Zealand Book Awards judges are: Thom Conroy (convenor); bookshop owner and reviewer Carole Beu; author, educator and writing mentor Tania Roxborogh (Ngāti Porou); and international judge, the esteemed literary festival chair, books editor, broadcaster and Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature Georgina Godwin (Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction); poet, critic and writer David Eggleton (convenor); poet, novelist and short story writer Elizabeth Smither MNZM; and writer and editor Jordan Tricklebank (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Mahuta) (Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry); former Alexander Turnbull chief librarian and author Chris Szekely (convenor); arts advocate Jessica Palalagi; and historian and social history curator Kirstie Ross (BookHub Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction); author, writer and facilitator Holly Walker (convenor); author, editor and historical researcher Ross Calman (Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāi Tahu); and communications professional, writer and editor Gilbert Wong (General Non-Fiction Award). The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are the country's premier literary honours for books written by New Zealanders. First established in 1968 as the Wattie Book Awards (later the Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards), they have also been known as the Montana New Zealand Book Awards and the New Zealand Post Book Awards. Awards are given for Fiction (the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction), Poetry (the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry) Illustrated Non-Fiction (the BookHub Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction) and General Non-Fiction. There are also four Best First Book Awards for first-time authors (The Mātātuhi Foundation Best First Book Awards) and, at the judges' discretion, Te Mūrau o te Tuhi, a Māori Language Award. The awards are governed by the New Zealand Book Awards Trust Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa (a registered charity). Current members of the Trust are Nicola Legat, Richard Pamatatau, Garth Biggs, Renée Rowland, Laura Caygill, Suzy Maddox and Elena de Roo. The Trust also governs the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults and Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day. Ockham Residential is Auckland's most thoughtful developer. Through creating elegant and enduring buildings that are well-loved by those who make them home, Ockham hopes to enhance Auckland – and to contribute to its many communities. Founded in 2009 by Mark Todd and Benjamin Preston, Ockham supports a number of organisations in arts, science and education. These include the Ockham Collective, their creative and educational charity, the acclaimed BWB Texts series, the People's Choice Award in New Zealand Geographic 's Photographer of the Year Award, and Ponsonby's Objectspace gallery. But its principal sponsorship of the New Zealand Book Awards, a relationship now in its tenth year, is perhaps Ockham's most visible contribution. Says Mark Todd: 'Our communities would be drab, grey and much poorer places without art, without words, without science – without critical thought. That's why our partnership with the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards means the world to us.' Creative New Zealand has been a sustaining partner of New Zealand's book awards for decades. The national arts development agency of the New Zealand government encourages, promotes and supports the arts in New Zealand for the benefit of all New Zealanders through funding, capability building, an international programme, and advocacy. Creative New Zealand provides a wide range of support to New Zealand literature, including funding for writers and publishers, residencies, literary festivals and awards, and supports organisations which work to increase the readership and sales of New Zealand literature at home and internationally. Acorn Foundation is a community foundation based in the Western Bay of Plenty that encourages people to establish an endowment fund to support causes they love in the local community forever. Donations are pooled and invested, and the investment income is used to make annual donations to local charities, while the capital remains intact. Acorn has now distributed over $20 million to causes important to their donors. Community foundations are the fastest growing form of philanthropy worldwide, and there are currently 18 located across the country, with more than 85% of New Zealanders able to access a local foundation. The Prize for Fiction at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards has been provided through the generosity of one of Acorn's donors, the late Jann Medlicott, and will be awarded to the top fiction work each year, in perpetuity. Mary and Peter Biggs CNZM are long-time arts advocates and patrons – particularly of literature, theatre and music. They have funded the Biggs Family Prize in Poetry at Victoria University of Wellington's International Institute of Modern Letters since 2006, along with the Alex Scobie Research Prize in Classical Studies. They have been consistent supporters of the International Festival the of the Arts, the Auckland Writers Festival, Wellington's Circa Theatre, the New Zealand Arts Foundation, Featherston Booktown, Read NZ Te Pou Muramura, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Featherston Sculpture Trust and the Wairarapa's Kokomai Arts Festival. Peter was Chair of Creative New Zealand from 1999 to 2006. He led the Cultural Philanthropy Taskforce in 2010 and the New Zealand Professional Orchestra Sector Review in 2012. He was appointed a Companion of New Zealand Order of Merit for arts governance and philanthropy in 2013. Mary is the Operations Manager for Featherston Booktown Karukatea. She has driven the festival's success and growth, and it is now regarded as one of the leading cultural events in Aotearoa New Zealand. Founded in 1921, Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand is the national association for bookshops that helps its members grow and succeed through education, information, advocacy, marketing campaigns – such as Bookshop Day – and services – such as BookHub. Launched in 2023, BookHub is an e-commerce platform that enables people to browse books, buy books and find local bookshops, directly connecting readers with independent bookstores across the motu. Local bookshops are essential community hubs, and champions of Aotearoa New Zealand books and of the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. The Mātātuhi Foundation was established by the Auckland Writers Festival in 2018 to support the growth and development of New Zealand's literary landscape. To achieve this outcome, the Foundation funds literary projects that have the potential to develop sustainable literary platforms that help grow awareness and readership of New Zealand books and writers, increase engagement with New Zealand children's literature, or build access to, and awareness of, New Zealand's literary legacy. For 25 years, the Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki has been a champion of thought leadership, literary engagement and community building. It is New Zealand's premier celebration of books and ideas, with annual attendances of over 80,000. The Festival offers a six-day programme of inspiring discussions, conversations, readings, debates and performances for every age, audience and interest. Featuring over 200 of the world's best writers and thinkers from Aotearoa and overseas and with 25 percent of the programme delivered free, this year's Festival takes place 13 – 18 May 2025.
Scoop
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
‘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 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. ' Toi Te Mana is extensively researched and thoughtfully written, casting a wide inclusive net. The result is a beautifully designed visual tour de force, and a cultural framework that approaches toi mahi with intelligence and insight. ' It is dedicated to the late Jonathan Mane-Wheoki (Ngāpuhi, Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Kurī), one of the three authors responsible for this magnum opus. Congratulations to Professors Deirdre Brown and Ngarino Ellis for carrying the baton to completion, a herculean task akin to the mahi of Maui himself,' says Mr Szekely. Wellington author and professor Damien Wilkins has won the 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. 'With a gift for crisp, emotionally rich digression, Damien Wilkins immerses readers in Mary and Pete's grapples with ageing and their contemplations of lost loved ones who still thrive in vivid memories. 'What stood out to the judges was the assured but understated touch of prose as it flows elegantly across decades, threads the intricacies of relationship, and fathoms the ongoing evolution of a couple's grief. 'Intimate, funny, and, above all, honest, Delirious is an absorbing, inspiring novel, and a damn fine read,' says Dr Conroy. Curator, critic, activist, and the first female Māori Emeritus Professor from a university Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku (Te Arawa, Ngāpuhi, Waikato) has won the 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. 'As well as painting a vivid picture of Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku's early life, from her childhood on 'the pā' at Ōhinemutu to her many creative and academic achievements, it is also a fiery social and political history that chronicles the transformative second half of the 20th century in Aotearoa from a vital queer, Māori, feminist perspective. '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. Editor, novelist and poet Emma Neale has won the 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. The Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction winner was presented with $65,000. The Poetry, Illustrated Non-Fiction, General Non-Fiction award recipients were each presented with $12,000. 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. New Zealand Book Awards Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa trustee Renee Rowland says each of this year's winners' books speaks powerfully to times past or present. 'In hotly contested categories, these titles offer much to enrich their readers. They are by turns highly personal and moving; fierce and shocking; culturally insightful and challenging; and funny and loving. 'The Trust warmly congratulates the authors and publishers of these vital books,' she says. 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 go to This year's Ockham New Zealand Book Awards judges are: Thom Conroy (convenor); bookshop owner and reviewer Carole Beu; author, educator and writing mentor Tania Roxborogh (Ngāti Porou); and international judge, the esteemed literary festival chair, books editor, broadcaster and Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature Georgina Godwin (Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction); poet, critic and writer David Eggleton (convenor); poet, novelist and short story writer Elizabeth Smither MNZM; and writer and editor Jordan Tricklebank (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Mahuta) (Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry); former Alexander Turnbull chief librarian and author Chris Szekely (convenor); arts advocate Jessica Palalagi; and historian and social history curator Kirstie Ross (BookHub Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction); author, writer and facilitator Holly Walker (convenor); author, editor and historical researcher Ross Calman (Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāi Tahu); and communications professional, writer and editor Gilbert Wong (General Non-Fiction Award). The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are the country's premier literary honours for books written by New Zealanders. First established in 1968 as the Wattie Book Awards (later the Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards), they have also been known as the Montana New Zealand Book Awards and the New Zealand Post Book Awards. Awards are given for Fiction (the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction), Poetry (the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry) Illustrated Non-Fiction (the BookHub Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction) and General Non-Fiction. There are also four Best First Book Awards for first-time authors (The Mātātuhi Foundation Best First Book Awards) and, at the judges' discretion, Te Mūrau o te Tuhi, a Māori Language Award. The awards are governed by the New Zealand Book Awards Trust Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa (a registered charity). Current members of the Trust are Nicola Legat, Richard Pamatatau, Garth Biggs, Renée Rowland, Laura Caygill, Suzy Maddox and Elena de Roo. The Trust also governs the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults and Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day. Ockham Residential is Auckland's most thoughtful developer. Through creating elegant and enduring buildings that are well-loved by those who make them home, Ockham hopes to enhance Auckland – and to contribute to its many communities. Founded in 2009 by Mark Todd and Benjamin Preston, Ockham supports a number of organisations in arts, science and education. These include the Ockham Collective, their creative and educational charity, the acclaimed BWB Texts series, the People's Choice Award in New Zealand Geographic 's Photographer of the Year Award, and Ponsonby's Objectspace gallery. But its principal sponsorship of the New Zealand Book Awards, a relationship now in its tenth year, is perhaps Ockham's most visible contribution. Says Mark Todd: 'Our communities would be drab, grey and much poorer places without art, without words, without science – without critical thought. That's why our partnership with the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards means the world to us.' Creative New Zealand has been a sustaining partner of New Zealand's book awards for decades. The national arts development agency of the New Zealand government encourages, promotes and supports the arts in New Zealand for the benefit of all New Zealanders through funding, capability building, an international programme, and advocacy. Creative New Zealand provides a wide range of support to New Zealand literature, including funding for writers and publishers, residencies, literary festivals and awards, and supports organisations which work to increase the readership and sales of New Zealand literature at home and internationally. Acorn Foundation is a community foundation based in the Western Bay of Plenty that encourages people to establish an endowment fund to support causes they love in the local community forever. Donations are pooled and invested, and the investment income is used to make annual donations to local charities, while the capital remains intact. Acorn has now distributed over $20 million to causes important to their donors. Community foundations are the fastest growing form of philanthropy worldwide, and there are currently 18 located across the country, with more than 85% of New Zealanders able to access a local foundation. The Prize for Fiction at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards has been provided through the generosity of one of Acorn's donors, the late Jann Medlicott, and will be awarded to the top fiction work each year, in perpetuity. Mary and Peter Biggs CNZM are long-time arts advocates and patrons – particularly of literature, theatre and music. They have funded the Biggs Family Prize in Poetry at Victoria University of Wellington's International Institute of Modern Letters since 2006, along with the Alex Scobie Research Prize in Classical Studies. They have been consistent supporters of the International Festival the of the Arts, the Auckland Writers Festival, Wellington's Circa Theatre, the New Zealand Arts Foundation, Featherston Booktown, Read NZ Te Pou Muramura, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Featherston Sculpture Trust and the Wairarapa's Kokomai Arts Festival. Peter was Chair of Creative New Zealand from 1999 to 2006. He led the Cultural Philanthropy Taskforce in 2010 and the New Zealand Professional Orchestra Sector Review in 2012. He was appointed a Companion of New Zealand Order of Merit for arts governance and philanthropy in 2013. Mary is the Operations Manager for Featherston Booktown Karukatea. She has driven the festival's success and growth, and it is now regarded as one of the leading cultural events in Aotearoa New Zealand. Founded in 1921, Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand is the national association for bookshops that helps its members grow and succeed through education, information, advocacy, marketing campaigns – such as Bookshop Day – and services – such as BookHub. Launched in 2023, BookHub is an e-commerce platform that enables people to browse books, buy books and find local bookshops, directly connecting readers with independent bookstores across the motu. Local bookshops are essential community hubs, and champions of Aotearoa New Zealand books and of the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. The Mātātuhi Foundation was established by the Auckland Writers Festival in 2018 to support the growth and development of New Zealand's literary landscape. To achieve this outcome, the Foundation funds literary projects that have the potential to develop sustainable literary platforms that help grow awareness and readership of New Zealand books and writers, increase engagement with New Zealand children's literature, or build access to, and awareness of, New Zealand's literary legacy. For 25 years, the Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki has been a champion of thought leadership, literary engagement and community building. It is New Zealand's premier celebration of books and ideas, with annual attendances of over 80,000. The Festival offers a six-day programme of inspiring discussions, conversations, readings, debates and performances for every age, audience and interest. Featuring over 200 of the world's best writers and thinkers from Aotearoa and overseas and with 25 percent of the programme delivered free, this year's Festival takes place 13 – 18 May 2025.
The Spinoff
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Spinoff
Auckland Writers Festival 2025: A selection of reviews
The best sessions we saw at the Aotea Centre last weekend. The crowds draw in and spill out of the Aotea Centre like waves for six days. First it's school students – six thousand of them. Then it's the general public and the 240 writers programmed onto the stages. This year's festival attracted 85,000 attendances (on par with last year's record-breaking numbers) and sold a whopping 12,000 books – Catherine Chidgey's just-released The Book of Guilt was the top selling title. Everyone who attended the festival will have had a different experience: so much is on at the same time and there are events to suit many and various tastes, ages, budgets and interests. Sometimes the funnest parts are the inbetween times: meeting up with fellow festivalgoers and swapping notes, bumping into writers, making badges up on Level 5 with your kids, ravenously eating a smashed potato from the smashed potato truck in the square. The scale and intensity of Auckland Writers Festival's buzz is a testament both to the feat of organisation that the festival team achieved, and to the passionate community of readers and writers who showed up and got stuck in. Spinoff staff wove in and out of the festival (including the unusually suspenseful Ockham New Zealand Book Awards ceremony) and reviewed what they went to: Gala Night: The Moment I Knew This was one of the best Gala night's I've been to. The format is that eight writers have to stand in front of 2,000 people and tell a story based on a theme. This year's theme was 'the moment I knew'. Highlights were Australian journalist Stan Grant's story about why he always roots for the not-Australian team to win; Lemn Sissay on the story of why he always thought his name was Norman (absolutely devastating tale told by one of the most vibrant and light-filled presences); David Nicholls on his failed career as an actor (charming! So charming!); and Colm Toíbín's hysterical memories of eating the body of Christ and never asking if it remained flesh and blood once it hit the guts. Get the man on the comedy circuit. What made this night particularly great is that almost all the writers stuck to the brief (tell a true story, no notes). / Claire Mabey Ruth Shaw: A Life at the End of the World I'm in awe of Ruth Shaw. She's a globally bestselling author and a deeply interesting woman. This session was very well chaired by Elisabeth Easther who gently drew out Shaw's humour, her intellect and glimpses of her vast and often very difficult life. Shaw talked about her love of books and her early and successful attempts at writing (thanks to a teacher); she discussed having a vaginal prolapse and her activism for women's health; her love and respect for her fourth husband, Lance; and the immense pressure of busloads of visitors coming to her Manapouri bookshops to connect with her in person, and how her life has had to adjust to cope. Fascinating person, wonderful books, excellent conversation. / CM Lee Murray's talk about speculative fiction in the Schools programme Auckland Writers Festival's schools programme is a beast. Thousands of students pour into sessions over two days in the Aotea Centre – it's absolutely epic and inspiring. Lee Murray gave a brilliant illustrated lecture on speculative fiction, including the books that carved the way, and how it can be used to put what we want into the world. I was watching the students watching Lee and they were riveted – I expect there will be more than a few spec fic novels underway by now. / CM Being a NZ Writer Today The Spinoff's Mad Chapman chaired Whiti Hereaka, Damien Wilkins and Lynley Edmeades in a conversation about the realities of trying to be a writer in Aotearoa. They covered whether creative writing courses are for everyone (basically you don't need them but they work… Hereaka said her one-year MA boosted her 10 years; that it propelled her writing because of the intensity; Wilkins said it's the community that people find important, as well as becoming a better reader). They discussed the fact that making money is not part of the equation here – the market is too small. They discussed agents, too: Wilkins and Edmeades don't have one; Hereaka does. But the advice was that it's good to have one due to aforementioned tiny market. The conversation was equal parts depressing and uplifting. Basically, perseverance and self-belief and drive is what you need, no matter what else is or isn't on the table. / CM Rock Solid: Sacha Cotter & Josh Morgan at Pukapuka Adventures Cotter (writer) and Morgan (illustrator) make some of Aotearoa's best picture books. Their latest is called A Guide to Rocks and their Auckland Writers Festival appearance was the very first time it has been seen by the public. Reader, I cried. It is the most beautiful story of learning how to talk about your feelings so that you can truly get close to your family. Told with the metaphor of rocks that grow and grow, and an old family guidebook, it's entertaining as well as deeply useful for conversations about unburdening yourself. The illustrations are absolutely gorgeous – and Cotter's prose pitch perfect. After a terrific dramatised reading they played a new song to go with the book and it's a BANGER. Someone give them a recording deal! Absolute heroes, these two. / CM Let The Dead Speak Kia Kōrero Te Hunga Mate It can be jarring being one of only a handful of brown faces in a Writers Festival session talking about how much creative licence we have when telling the stories of our tūpuna. Thankfully, panel chair Hirini Kaa insisted those unfamiliar with concepts such as tapu search for an explanation online, rather than getting the panel to explain it. Instead, the crowd was treated to vivid poetry from Whiti Hereaka, an imaginative waiata from Ariana Tikao, and striking film excerpts written by Tim Worall that all served as incredible examples of how we can respectfully enable the dead to talk. For those of us in the crowd who have pondered how best to navigate bringing the past to life, the kōrero confirmed that the best way to do it is carefully, respectfully, and always by adhering to tikanga – lest we suffer the consequences. The practice of doing what was spoken about was probably most aptly displayed by the beautiful karanga a whaea performed at the end of the session to thank the panel for their kōrero. / Liam Rātana All Animals are Equal? 'It was like we were in a theatre and suddenly the back fell off,' said Mathilde Walter Clark, the Danish author of A Blind Eye, a groundbreaking work about the treatment and culling of mink in Denmark. She described seeing news clips on Denmark's mink cull in 2020 and not being able to take her eyes off the farms and cages in the background. She felt like suddenly she could see the ropes and pulleys that made the theatre work, as the media refused to talk about the mink as animals – instead they were products and lost revenue. Walter Clark was in conversation with Elisabeth Easther and for a brief time, Jean-Baptiste Del Amo, author of Animalia, who had to rush out sick. Before he left, he managed to tell us about his experience visiting a pig farm 17 years ago where he 'witnessed the collapse of our humanity'. Walter Clark insisted that actually, she isn't interested in mink, or animal rights, any more than the next person and that writing a book about them was 'not a dream scenario'. It was just that she couldn't unsee the collapse of the theatre, and what it said about us as humans. From loose pages of a very fresh English translation of the book, she read a beautiful passage about what mink are like in their natural habitat, and how native Americans see them. More than a book about mink, it's one about language, reality-making, story telling and the human condition. This was an incredible session and it was free – so please, if you're broke, don't discount coming to the festival. / Gabi Lardies Asako Yuzuki: Japan's Trailblazer Asako Yuzuki's novel Butter has topped international charts – including ours – and joined Paula Morris on stage with a translator. It was a hilarious hour, with Yuzuki starting by admitting that in Japan, she is not popular, not invited to literary festivals and almost always interviewed by people who have not read her book and probably never will. She was full of self-depreciating humour, and when she found out that in New Zealand we also often don't value our own until they're celebrated overseas she said 'So there's no paradise then.' An excellent question from the crowd – asking if the two main characters' relationship almost veering into romance was purposeful – opened a response that got to the core of the characters. These are women who have never thought about sexual pleasure for themselves, said Yuzuki. When they meet, the patriarchal pressures of society are somewhat un-internalised and so things open up. The grand finale of the session was staff taking photos of Yuzuki with the rambunctious loving crowd, so that she can prove back home that she's popular here. / GL Worldwide Book Club: Sámi Literature I popped up to the Kōrero Corner to hear Sámi journalist and writer Elin Anna Labba's recommendations of indigenous Sámi literature. The Kōrero Corner was a cosy space on the top floor where events were more casual and intimate and always free. The sessions were somewhat syncopated with the bigger events, so that when they finished downstairs, the chaos of jabbering people floated up, and Labba hoped we could still hear her 'small voice'. She made the effort to make sure she only recommended books that are available to us, so that cut down the options to a handful. Among them were Myths, Tales, and Poetry from Four Centuries of Sámi Literature and Stolen by Ann-Helén Laestadius. The highest recommendation was for Aednan, a poetry book by Linnea Axelsson. 'When you read the book it feels like you're up on a mountaintop,' said Labba. / GL The 2024 Booker Prize Winner: Samantha Harvey I went to see Samantha Harvey and found what she had to say deeply interesting. Orbital, her slim 136-page novel about a single day on the International Space Station, won last year's Booker Prize. Harvey did a beautiful job explaining how the heck she wrote a crazy good novel about a setting (space) and place (the ISS) that she has never been to. The NASA website, she said, is a treasure trove of info. The ISS has a live stream, she said, but it seldom works. Her stories about negotiating a plotless novel set in space with her publishers were illuminating and funny. Harvey also spoke about a recent lit prize she judged which required her to read 100+ novels. She was struck by how many seemed to shut the reader out. In her own writing she aims to invite readers in and honour their generous spirit. It's an act of generosity, Harvey said, to read a novel when a million other things demand your attention. The signing line was huge. / Liv Sisson How Tyrants Fall: And How Nations Survive An expertly chaired discussion between Spinoff editor-at-large Toby Manhire and political scientist Marcel Dirsus. The talk was necessarily bleak, with insights into the minds and actions of tyrants (think dictators, kings etc) the world over, but Dirsus was persistently optimistic about the future, making the Saturday morning session a surprisingly uplifting start to the weekend. The shadow of Donald Trump fell on a number of sessions throughout the festival, and proved a winning ticket, with Dirsus's Saturday session selling out so quickly they added a near-identical encore on Sunday. / Mad Chapman
