Ockham New Zealand Book Awards

The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards

In 2015, Ockham Residential, an Auckland urban development firm, was announced as the sponsor for the Awards which were previously known as the New Zealand Post Book Awards. The Awards are administered by the Auckland Writers Festival on behalf of the New Zealand Book Awards Trust.

The 2024 longlist was announced on 1 February 2024, and the shortlist on 6 March. The winners, including the four Mātātuhi Foundation Best First Book Awards recipients, was announced at a public ceremony on 15 May during the 2024 Auckland Writers Festival.  

Winners of the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction receive a minimum of $60,000 (wage-inflation adjusted each year). Winners of the other principal category awards each receive $10,000, and each of the winners of the four Best First Book awards, $2,500. Te Mūrau o te Tuhi Māori Language Award for books written entirely in te reo Māori is awarded at the discretion of a specially appointed judge, with prize money also $10,000.

Christchurch City Libraries lists literary prize winners and links to catalogue searches, but we may not hold copies of all titles mentioned.

2024

Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction

  • Lioness Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury Publishing) Winner
  • A Better Place Stephen Daisley (Text Publishing)
  • Audition Pip Adam (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
  • Birnam Wood Eleanor Catton (Te Herenga Waka University Press)

 

Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry

Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction

 

General Non-Fiction Award

Mūrau o te Tuhi - Māori Language Award

Te Rautakitahi o Tūhoe ki Ōrākau Tā Pou Temara (Auckland University Press)

Mātātuhi Foundation Best First Book Awards

Hubert Church Prize for Fiction: Ruin and other stories Emma Hislop (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
Judith Binney Prize for Illustrated Non-Fiction: Rugby League in New Zealand: A People's History Ryan Bodman (Bridget Williams Books)
E.H. McCormick Prize for General Non-Fiction: There's a cure for this: A Memoir Emma Wehipeihana (Espiner) (Penguin, Penguin Random House)
Jessie MacKay Prize for Poetry: At the point of seeing Megan Kitching (Otago University Press)

2023

Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction

Catalogue search for The Axeman's carnival

Catalogue search for Better the bloodCatalogue search for KāwaiCatalogue search for Mrs Jewell and the Wreck of the General Grant

Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry

Catalogue search for Always italicise

Catalogue search for People personCatalogue search for SeditionCatalogue search for We're all made of lightning

Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction

Catalogue search for Jumping Sundays

Catalogue search for Robin White Something Is Happening HereCatalogue search for Secrets of the seaCatalogue search for Te Motunui Epa

General Non-Fiction Award

Catalogue search for The English text of the Treaty of Waitangi

Catalogue search for A Fire in the Belly of HineāmaruCatalogue search for Downfall The Destruction of Charles MackayCatalogue search for Grand Becoming My Mother's Daughter

Best First Book Awards - Supported by the Mātātuhi Foundation

Hubert Church Prize for Fiction: Home Theatre by Anthony Lapwood (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
Judith Binney Prize for Illustrated Non-Fiction: Kai: Food stories and recipes from my family table by Christall Lowe (Bateman Books)
E.H. McCormick Prize for General Non-Fiction: Grand: Becoming my Mother's daughter by Noelle McCarthy (Penguin, Penguin Random House)
Jessie MacKay Prize for Poetry: We're all made of lightning by Khadro Mohamed (We are Babies Press, Tender Press)

2022

Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction

Catalogue search for Kurangaituku

Catalogue search for A good winterCatalogue search for EntanglementCatalogue search for Greta and Valdin

Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry

Catalogue search for Tumble

Catalogue search for RangikuraCatalogue search for Sleeping with stonesCatalogue search for The sea walks into a wall

Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction Award

Catalogue search for Dressed: Fashionable Dress in Aotearoa New Zealand 1840 to 1910

Catalogue search for Nuku Stories of 100 Indigeous WomenCatalogue search for Shifting Grounds: Deep Histories of Tāmaki Makaurau AucklandCatalogue search for The Architect and the Artists Hackshaw, McCahon, Dibble : the Collaborative Projects, 1965-1979

General Non Fiction Award

Catalogue search for Voices from the New Zealand Wars | He Reo nō ngā Pakanga o Aotearoa

Catalogue search for From the centre: A writer's lifeCatalogue search for The Alarmist Fifty Years Measuring Climate ChangeCatalogue search for The mirror book

Crystal Arts Trust Best First Book Awards

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Hubert Church Prize for Fiction: Greta & Valdin Rebecca K. Reilly (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
Judith Binney Prize for Illustrated Non-Fiction: The Architect and the Artists: Hackshaw, McCahon, Dibble Bridget Hackshaw (Massey University Press)
E.H. McCormick Prize for General Non-Fiction: The Alarmist: Fifty Years measuring Climate Change (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
Jessie MacKay Prize for Poetry: Whai Nicole Titihuia Hawkins (We are Babies Press)

2021

Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction

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  • Bug Week by Airini Beautrais (Victoria University Press) Winner
  • Nothing to See by Pip Adam (Victoria University Press)
  • Remote Sympathy by Catherine Chidgey (Victoria University Press)
  • Sprigs by Brannavan Gnanalingam (Lawrence & Gibson)

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Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry

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Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction Award

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General Non Fiction Award

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Mūrau o te Tuhu - Māori Language Award

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Mātāmua ko te Kupu! Ta Timoti Kāretu (Kotahi Rau Pukapuka, Auckland University Press)

MitoQ Best First Book Awards

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The Judith Binney Best First Book Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction

Hiakai: Modern Māori Cuisine by Monique Fiso (Godwit, Penguin Random House)

The Jessie Mackay Award for Poetry

I am a Human Being Jackson Nieuwland (Compound Press)

The Hubert Church Award for Fiction

Victory Park Rachel Kerr (Mākaro Press)

The E H McCormick Award for General Non-Fiction

Specimen: Personal Essays by Madison Hamill (Victoria University Press)


2020

Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction

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Catalogue search for Pearly gatesCatalogue search for A mistakeCatalogue search for Halibut on the moon

Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry

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Catalogue search for Moth hourCatalogue search for Lay studiesCatalogue search for How I get ready

Illustrated Non-Fiction Award

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Catalogue search for Crafting AotearoaCatalogue search for We are hereCatalogue search for McCahon country

General Non Fiction Award

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Catalogue search for Shirley Smith: An examined lifeCatalogue search for Wild honey: Reading New Zealand women's poetryCatalogue search Towards the mountain

MitoQ Best First Book Awards

The Judith Binney Best First Book Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction

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We Are Here: An Atlas of Aotearoa Chris McDowall and Tim Denee (Massey University Press)

The Jessie Mackay Award for Poetry

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Craven Jane Arthur (Victoria University Press)

The Hubert Church Award for Fiction

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Auē Becky Manawatu (Mākaro Press)

The E H McCormick Award for General Non-Fiction

Catalogue search for Dead people I have known

Dead People I Have Known Shayne Carter (Victoria University Press)

2019

Acorn Foundation Fiction Prize

Catalogue link for This mortal boy

Catalogue link for The new shipsCatalogue link for The cageCover

Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry

Catalogue link for Are friends electric?

Catalogue link for There's no place like the Internet in springtimeCatalogue link for The factsCatalogue link for Poūkanhangatus

Illustrated Non-Fiction Award

Catalogue link for Tatau: A History of Sāmoan Tattooing

Catalogue link for Fight for the Forests: The Pivotal Campaigns that Saved New Zealand’s Native ForestsCatalogue link for Wanted: The Search for the Modernist Murals of E. Mervyn TaylorCatalogue link for Birdstories: A History of the Birds of New Zealand

Royal Society Te Apārangi Award for General Non Fiction

Catalogue link for Hudson & Halls: The Food of Love

Catalogue link for Memory piecesCatalogue link for We can make a lifeCatalogue link for With Them Through Hell: New Zealand Medical Services in the First World War

Te Mūrau o te Tuhi - Māori Language Award

He Kupu Tuku Iho: Ko te Reo Māori te Tatau ki te Ao Timoti Kāretu and Wharehuia Milroy (Auckland University Press)

Catalogue link for He kupu tuku iho: Ko te Reo Maori te tatau ki te Ao

MitoQ Best First Book Awards

The Judith Binney Best First Book Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction

Whatever it Takes: Pacific Films and John O’Shea 1948-2000 John Reid (Victoria University Press)

Catalogue link for Whatever it takes: Pacific films and John O'Shea 1998-200

The Jessie Mackay Award for Poetry

Poūkahangatus Tayi Tibble (Victoria University Press)

Catalogue link for Poūkanhangatus

The Hubert Church Award for Fiction

The Sound of Breaking Glass Kirsten Warner (Mākaro Press)

Catalogue link for The sound of breaking glass

The E H McCormick Award for General Non-Fiction

We Can Make a Life Chessie Henry (Victoria University Press)

Catalogue link for We can make a life

2018

Acorn Foundation Fiction Prize

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The New Animals Pip Adam (Victoria University Press) Winner
Salt Picnic Patrick Evans (Victoria University Press)
Sodden Downstream Brannavan Gnanalingam (Lawrence & Gibson)
Baby Annaleese Jochems (Victoria University Press)

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Poetry Award

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Night Horse Elizabeth Smither (Auckland University Press) Winner
Anchor Stone Tony Beyer (Cold Hub Press)
Rāwāhi Briar Wood (Anahera Press)
The Yield Sue Wootton (Otago University Press)

  

Illustrated Non-Fiction Award

Tuai: A Traveller in Two Worlds Alison Jones and Kuni Kaa Jenkins (Bridget Williams Books) Winner
Tōtara: A Natural and Cultural History Philip Simpson (Auckland University Press)
Gordon Walters: New Vision Zara Stanhope (commissioning editor), Lucy Hammonds, Laurence Simmons, Julia Waite (Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki and Dunedin Public Art Gallery)
The Face of Nature: An Environmental History of the Otago Peninsula Jonathan West (Otago University Press)

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Royal Society Te Apārangi Award for General Non Fiction

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Driving to Treblinka: A Long Search for a Lost Father Diana Wichtel (Awa Press) Winner 
Dancing with the King: The Rise and Fall of the King Country, 1864-1885 Michael Belgrave (Auckland University Press)
Tears of Rangi: Experiments Across Worlds Anne Salmond (Auckland University Press)
Drawn Out: A Seriously Funny Memoir Tom Scott (Allen & Unwin NZ)
Driving to Treblinka: A Long Search for a Lost Father Diana Wichtel (Awa Press)

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Best first books

The Judith Binney Best First Book Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction

Caves: Exploring New Zealand’s Subterranean Wilderness Marcus Thomas and Neil Silverwood (Whio Publishing)

The Jessie Mackay Award for Poetry

Fully Clothed and So Forgetful Hannah Mettner (Victoria University Press)

The Hubert Church Award for Fiction

Baby Annaleese Jochems (Victoria University Press)

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The E H McCormick Award for General Non-Fiction

Driving to Treblinka: A Long Search for a Lost Father Diana Wichtel (Awa Press)

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2017

Ockham NZ Book Awards: Catherine Chidgey, Victoria University Press the big winners Stuff, 16 May 2017

Acorn Foundation Fiction Prize

Cover of The Wish Child

Cover of Love as a stranger Cover of Billy Bird Cover of The name on the door is not mine

Poetry

Cover of Fits & starts

Cover of Fale Aitu: Spirit House Cover of Hera Lindsay Bird  Cover of This paper boat

Illustrated Non-fiction

Cover of A history of New Zealand women

Cover of Bloomsbury South Catalogue record for New Zealand wine Cover of Ann Shelton: Dark matter

Royal Society Te Apārangi Award for General Non-Fiction

Cover of Can you tolerate this?

Cover of This model world Cover of My father's island Cover of Big smoke

Best first books

The Judith Binney Best First Book Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction

A Whakapapa of Tradition: 100 Years of Ngāti Porou Carving 1830-1930 Ngarino Ellis (Auckland University Press)

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The Jessie Mackay Award for Poetry

Hera Lindsay Bird Hera Lindsay Bird (Victoria University Press)

Cover of Hera Lindsay Bird

The Hubert Church Award for Fiction

Black Ice Matter Gina Cole (Huia Publishers)

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The E H McCormick Award for General Non-Fiction

My Father’s Island Adam Dudding (Victoria University Press)

Cover of My father's island

2016

The winners (including the four Best First Book Awards) were announced at a ceremony on Tuesday 10 May 2016, at the opening night event of the Auckland Writers Festival. The awards covered books published between 1 June 2014 and 21 December 2015. The overall winner received $50,000. Winners of the three category awards each received $10,000; the Māori Language Award $10,000; and each of the winners of the four Best First Book Awards, $2,500.

Fiction

Cover of Coming Rain Cover of The Back of His Head Cover of Chappy Cover of The Invisible Mile

Illustrated Non Fiction

Cover of Tangata WhenuaCover of Real Modern Cover of Te Ara Puoro Cover of New Zealand Photography Collected

General Non Fiction

Cover of Maori Boy Cover of Maurice Gee  Cover of The Villa at the Edge of Empire Cover of Lost and Gone Away

Poetry

Cover of The Conch Trumpet Cover of How to Be Dead in a Year of Snakes Cover of The Night We Ate the Baby Cover of Song of the Ghost in the Machine

Best first books

The Judith Binney Best First Book Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction

Te Ara Puoro: A Journey into the World of Māori Music Richard Nunns (Potton and Burton)

The Jessie Mackay Award for Poetry

How to Be Dead in a Year of Snakes Chris Tse (Auckland University Press)

The Hubert Church Award for Fiction

The Invisible Mile David Coventry (Victoria University Press)

The E H McCormick Award for General Non-Fiction

Panguru and the City: Kāinga Tahi, Kāinga Rua Melissa Matutina Williams (Bridget Williams Books)

Cover Cover Cover of The Invisible Mile Cover

History of the New Zealand Book Awards

Before 1996, there were two major New Zealand literary prizes. They merged in 1996 to form the Montana New Zealand Book awards.

The New Zealand Book Awards ran from 1976-1995.

The other major award from 1968-1993 was the Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards (formerly the Wattie Book Awards).

Montana took over sponsorship in 1994 and the awards became the Montana Book Awards (1994-1995).

In 1996, the Montana Book Awards merged with the New Zealand Book Awards to become the Montana New Zealand Book Awards. The Montana New Zealand Book Awards ran from 1996-2009.

From 2010-2014 the Awards were sponsored by New Zealand Post. In 2015 Ockham assumed sponsorship of the Awards but no prizes were awarded that year.

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