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NZ Herald
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Top 10 bestselling NZ books: May 31
Our bestselling local books. Photos / Supplied 1. (1) The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press) Heading all the local charts for the second week running is Catherine Chidgey's latest novel, which tells the mysterious, ominous story of three boys in an alternative 1970s Britain. It's a 'tense, 'There is the hint of submerged identity; of aspiration and prosperity, rubbing skins with disappointment and neglect; a preoccupation with what is authentic and what is fraudulent; the self and truth only dimly visible … Calling on the deeply rooted psychological power of the storytelling rule of three, the novel is divided into The Book of Dreams, The Book of Knowledge and The Book of Guilt. Three women, Mother Morning, Mother Afternoon and Mother Night, care for a set of thirteen-year-old triplets in an all-boy's orphanage. There are three main narrative perspectives: Vincent, one of the triplets; the Minister of Loneliness, a government minister in charge of national care institutions known as the Sycamore Homes; and Nancy, a young girl kept in seclusion by fastidious older parents. This attention to pattern also coolly embodies the quest for order and control, the troubling obsession at the core of the fictional investigation.'
The Spinoff
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Spinoff
The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending May 30
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books' stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1 Air by John Boyne (Doubleday, $35) The conclusion to Boyne's four-part Elements Series and so far, so good over on Good Reads where 2402 ratings give it an average of 4.47 stars. 2 Orbital by Samantha Harvey (Jonathan Cape, $26) Last year's Booker Prize winner. This year's Booker longlist is due on 29 July. 3 Delirious by Damien Wilkins (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $38) The 2025 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction winner! My heart is still pumping after that hair-raising ceremony in which Wilkins was delayed until the very last moment when he literally ran onto the stage to make his acceptance speech. Read a day-after-the-night-before interview with Wilkins right here on The Spinoff. 4 Is A River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane (Penguin Random House, $65) The people love Macfarlane and his nature writing. 5 M urriyang: Song of Time by Stan Grant (Simon and Schuster, $47) Remember when Stan Grant took the stage at Auckland Writers Festival's gala night and was simply outstanding? Grant is an indigenous Australian writer and journalist and an astonishing, moving storyteller. 6 1985 by Dominic Hoey (Penguin, $38) 'Reading it was just like being back in Auckland, growing up on the streets of Grey Lynn and hoping you might be able to scab some money off your mates and hit up the 562 Takeaway (made famous by appearing on the cover of Hoey's poetry collection 'I Thought We'd Be Famous'). OK, yeah, Hoey and I grew up in Auckland a few decades apart, but reading this felt like looking back on a childhood diary that myself or any one of my friends could have written.' Read more of The Spinoff's Lyric Waiwiri-Smith and Claire Mabey's thoughts on this propulsive new novel, here. 7 James by Percival Everett (Picador, $38) One of the bestselling books of 2024 looks to do the same this 2025. 8 Girl On Girl: How Pop Culture Turned a Generation of Woman Against Themselves by Sophie Gilbert (John Murray, $40) Here's the publisher's explanation: 'What happened to feminism in the twenty-first century? This question feels increasingly urgent in a moment of cultural and legislative backlash, when widespread uncertainty about the movement's power, focus, and currency threatens decades of progress. Sophie Gilbert identifies an inflection point in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when the energy of third-wave and 'riot grrrl' feminism collapsed into a regressive period of hyper-objectification, sexualization, and infantilization. Mining the darker side of nostalgia, Gilbert trains her keen analytic eye on the most revealing cultural objects of the era, across music, film, television, fashion, tabloid journalism, and more. What she recounts is harrowing, from the leering gaze of the paparazzi to the gleeful cruelty of early reality TV and a burgeoning internet culture vicious toward women in the spotlight and damaging for those who weren't. Gilbert tracks many of the period's dominant themes back to the rise of internet porn, which gained widespread influence as it began to pervade our collective consciousness. The result is a devastating portrait of a time when a distinctly American blend of excess, materialism, and power worship collided with the culture's reactionary, puritanical, and chauvinistic currents. Amid a collective reconsideration of the way women are treated in public, Girl on Girl is a blistering indictment of the matrix of misogyny that undergirded the cultural production of the early twenty-first century, and continues to shape our world today.' 9 Toi Te Mana: An Indigenous History of Māori Art by Deidre Brown & Ngarino Ellis with Jonathan Mane-Wheoki (Auckland University Press, $100) Winner of the Bookhub Award for Illustrated Nonfiction at this year's Ockham New Zealand Book Awards! Read about how the writers approached this ground-breaking book, here. 10 Slags by Emma Jane Unsworth (HarperCollins, $35) 'On the first morning of their holiday together in a remote part of Scotland, 42-year-old Sarah convinces her younger sister, Juliette, to clamber on to the roof of their mobile home for a better phone signal,' writes Shahidha Bari on The Guardian. 'Juliette has three layers of tinfoil wrapped around her limbs and a tinfoil cone hat plonked on her head before she clocks that she's fallen for a prank. It's a pleasing bit of sibling slapstick in Slags, the new novel from Emma Jane Unsworth about desire, dissatisfaction and the ferocious loyalty of sisters. And sisterhood, as Unsworth writes it here, is an unbreakable connection for which no prank antenna is needed.' WELLINGTON 1 Slowing the Sun | Essays by Nadine Hura (Bridget Williams Books, $40) Spinoff readers may well be familiar with Nadine Hura's insightful essays. This is an outstanding collection, a long time in the making. Here's what the publisher says: 'In the midst of grief, Hura works through science, pūrākau, poetry and back again. Seeking to understand climate change in relation to whenua and people, she asks: how should we respond to what has been lost? Her many-sided essays explore environmental degradation, social disconnection and Indigenous reclamation, insisting that any meaningful response must be grounded in Te Tiriti and anti-colonialism.' 2 This Compulsion In Us by Tina Makereti (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $40) What a week for Aotearoa books! Tina Makereti's long-awaited collection of nonfiction is exquisite. Read an excerpt from This Compulsion In Us on The Spinoff, here. 3 Delirious by Damien Wilkins (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $38) 4 The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $38) The Auckland Writers Festival's bestselling book and the first in New Zealand to reach 1000 sales in 2025 (are you surprised by that number?). It's a stonkingly good tale about an alternate England of the 1970s. Sinister, thought-provoking and gripping. Read books editor Claire Mabey's review right here. 5 Wonderland by Tracy Farr (Cuba Press, $38) Tracy Farr fans rejoice! We've another compelling novel from the author of The Lives and Loves of Lena Gaunt, and The Hope Fault. Here's the blurb for Wonderland: 'Te Motu Kairangi Miramar Peninsula, Wellington 1912. Doctor Matti Loverock spends her days and nights bringing babies into the world, which means her daughters – seven-year-old triplets Ada, Oona and Hanna – have grown up at Wonderland, the once-thriving amusement park owned by their father, Charlie. Then a grieving woman arrives to stay from the other side of the world, in pain and incognito, fleeing scandal. She ignites the triplets' curiosity and brings work for Matti, diverting them all from what is really happening at Wonderland. In a bold reimagining, Marie Curie – famous for her work on radioactivity – comes to Aotearoa and discovers both solace and wonder.' 6 Tackling the Hens by Mary McCallum (Cuba Press, $25) Local hero Mary McCallum's latest poetry book tackles hens … 'Hens can be fun visitors, when they gossip and sunbathe and pop inside for a chat, but they can outstay their welcome and tackling them to send them home isn't easy,' reads the charming blurb. 'They aren't the only creatures in the pages of this book— there's Ursula the golden-eyed cat, a leporine emperor, singing mice and all the swallows! Then there are the people who interact with them: an entomologist in love with the spiders he observes, a builder who releases a trapped mouse, a woman who attracts bees as a flower does—and Mary and the hens, of course.' 7 The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong (Jonathan Cape, $38) Vuong is unstoppable. This latest work is already a TikTok sensation and massive bestseller. Here's the blurb: 'One late summer evening in the post-industrial town of East Gladness, Connecticut, nineteen-year-old Hai stands on the edge of a bridge in pelting rain, ready to jump, when he hears someone shout across the river. The voice belongs to Grazina, an elderly widow succumbing to dementia, who convinces him to take another path. Bereft and out of options, he quickly becomes her caretaker. Over the course of the year, the unlikely pair develops a life-altering bond, one built on empathy, spiritual reckoning, and heartbreak, with the power to alter Hai's relationship to himself, his family, and a community at the brink.'
Newsroom
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Newsroom
This week's biggest-selling books at King's Birthday Weekend
FICTION 1 The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $38) 'She [Chidgey] seems to get a ridiculous amount of promotion through your column,' moaned Newsroom reader Louise Bryant in the comments section this week. Oh well! Here we go again, then, paying too much heed to the author widely regarded as the best living New Zealand novelist who appears to be at her peak, with her latest novel settling into its Number 1 bestseller position for the third consecutive week and likely holding onto that status for quite some considerable time to come as word of mouth continues to recommend The Book of Guilt as a scary, literary, absorbing story of children kept as lab rats. A free copy was up for grabs (alongside Delirious by Damien Wilkins) in last week's giveaway contest. The entries were so interesting – readers were asked to make some sort of comment about Chidgey – that I wrote a story about them on Thursday. The winner is Madeleine Setchell, chairperson of Fertility NZ, 'a small but mighty charity that walks alongside all New Zealanders facing infertility'. Huzzah to Madeleine; she wins Delirious by Damien Wilkins, as well as a copy of the cheerfully over-promoted The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey. 2 Delirious by Damien Wilkins (Te Herenga Waka University Press, $38) 3 See How They Fall by Rachel Paris (Hachette, $37.99) 4 1985 by Dominic Hoey (Penguin Random House, $38) A free copy of this tough new tale of Grey Lynn noir is up for grabs in this week's giveaway contest. Hoey is a sort of literary establishment outsider. So, too, is American writer Alex Perez, who posted an apparently controversial rant on Substack this week about one of the themes of Hoey's novel, the crisis of masculinity. He writes, 'The literary man is constantly haunted by the specter of masculinity. This is obviously an elite—and striver—problem, because working-class men, unless they somehow meet a New Yorker staffer on the construction site, haven't been aware that this discourse has been ongoing for a decade. The non-online man, warts and all, just is. He might be misogynist; he might be a brute. But he's just whatever kind of dude he is, and that's that. Most of my time is spent hanging out with regular dudes who aren't obsessed with their masculinity, so the neurotic behavior of the literary man is always jarring …' To enter the draw to win 1985, read Perez's Substack argument, and remark upon it at whatever length in an email to stephen11@ with the subject line in screaming caps A WORKING CLASS HERO IS SOMETHING TO BE by midnight on Sunday, June 1. Good cover. 5 Tea and Cake and Death (The Bookshop Detectives 2) by Gareth and Louise Ward (Penguin Random House, $38) 6 Black Silk and Buried Secrets (Tatty Crowe 2) by Deborah Challinor (HarperCollins, $37.99) 7 Dead Girl Gone (The Bookshop Detectives 1) by Gareth and Louise Ward (Penguin Random House, $26) 8 The Good Mistress by Anne Tierman (Hachette, $37.99) 9 Sea Change by Jenny Pattrick (David Bateman, $37.99) 10 All That We Know by Shilo Kino (Hachette, $37.99) I very briefly ran into the author at the recent Auckland Writers Festival. I got a bit lost trying to find the correct venue to watch Noelle McCarthy chair a Norwegian author, blundered into a room I thought was right, but instead saw Shilo Kino waiting to go onstage with Jeremy Hansen in a session about humour. Shilo said, 'Hi Steve!' I replied, 'Hi Shilo!' Then I turned and fled, pausing to say to Jeremy, 'You look younger every time I see you.' Anyway, it must have been a good session; Shilo's very funny novel was published over a year ago, but sales at the AWF have resurrected it into the top 10. NONFICTION 1 Whānau by Donovan Farnham & Rehua Wilson (Hachette, 29.99) 2 Full Circle by Jenny-May Clarkson (HarperCollins, $39.99) 'Over time,' writes the presenter of Breakfast in her new memoir, 'the scrutiny wears you down. Not just the actual things that people say but the awareness of what they might say. When I started in television, the comments were mostly about my appearance. But, as I settled into my role at Breakfast, that started to change. Of late, a lot of the negative comments I get have been centred on who I am. My Māoritanga. I don't look at them, don't even get the Breakfast inbox emails on my computer, because if I had to read some of what comes in, I just wouldn't ever be able to say anything again. But every now and then, I'll catch something someone's said before I've been able to look away. 'The other day, I spotted a comment where someone was complaining about my use of te reo Māori. 'Don't like watching her, sick of her pushing too much Māori on to people, just speak English.' That sort of thing. Worse, usually. You know the style. I used to get absolutely thrown by comments like that but they don't rock me now. I just think, How bizarre. And how sad. Because it is sad. Sad that someone thinks it's okay to talk about another person like that. Sad that they don't accept that my reo is a big part of who I am as a person and that I am not only selected but endorsed by my employer, TVNZ. Sad that they don't realise te reo Māori is one of the official languages of our country, so there's no such thing as 'too much'. Sad that they don't know how precious and amazing it is that we have our reo.' Striking cover. 3 Everyday Comfort Food by Vanya Insull (Allen & Unwin, $39.99) 4 Three Wee Bookshops at the End of the World by Ruth Shaw (Allen & Unwin, $39.99) 5 No Words for This by Ali Mau (HarperCollins, $39.99) 6 Atua Wāhine by Hana Tapiata (HarperCollins, $36.99) 7 Fix Iron First by Dr Libby (Little Green Frog Publishing, $39.95) Self-helper all about iron. Blurbology: 'When iron levels are low, everything feels harder. Your energy fades. Your mood shifts. Your resilience diminishes … What's not recognised often enough is that low iron doesn't just make you tired. It can alter your brain chemistry, slow your metabolism, impact your thyroid, disturb your sleep and lower your emotional resilience … This book is for anyone who has ever felt persistently tired, anxious, low in mood, or disconnected from their spark – and not known why. It's for parents watching a child struggle with energy or concentration. It's for women navigating the rhythms of their menstrual cycle or the shifts of perimenopause. It's for anyone who feels like they're doing everything right but still doesn't feel like themselves – or who has tried, unsuccessfully, to restore their iron levels and is still searching for answers.' 8 Northbound by Naomi Arnold (HarperCollins, $39.99) Two excellent books about the great New Zealand outdoors have been published in 2025. Northbound is the author's account of walking the Te Araroa track; Fire & Ice: Secrets, histories, treasures and mysteries of Tongariro National Park by Hazel Phillips is an illustrated book about the central plateau, and was reviewed very favourably this week. 9 The Last Secret Agent by Pippa Latour & Jude Dobson (Allen & Unwin, $37.99) 10 Hine Toa by Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku (HarperCollins, $39.99)
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.
