Iconic Writer a Montana NZ Book Awards finalist

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Iconic Writer a Montana New Zealand Book Awards finalist

A poetry collection by one of the nation’s most renowned authors, Janet Frame, is a finalist in this year’s Montana New Zealand Book Awards.

Published posthumously, The Goose Bath is Frame’s first new title in almost 20 years. She died in January 2004.

Montana New Zealand Book Awards judges’ convenor, Dr Paul Millar says running through the poems [in The Goose Bath] is a personal and domesticated tone—reminiscent of the intimate voice of Frame’s autobiographies—that subtly conceals the operation of her powerful literary intelligence.

‘As with all Frame’s writing the memorable elements of The Goose Bath are those unexpected encounters with language that surprise and delight.’

There were more than 220 books submitted to the Montana New Zealand Book Awards this year with some 26 finalists announced.

Dr Millar says the judges found the finalists in the non-fiction categories to be exceptionally strong, with a number of books representing the culmination of a lifetime of creativity and dedication.

‘Many of these books are publications of great beauty and significance that focus in original ways on New Zealand’s uniqueness and diversity.’

Literary non-fiction as an emerging genre can also be seen in this year’s Montana New Zealand Book Awards finalists.

‘Many of the books entered in the 2007 Montana New Zealand Book Awards challenged the judges by stretching the boundaries of conventional categories,’ says Dr Millar.

Dr Millar is referring to Chris Price’s Brief Lives which is a finalist in the biography category and Martin Edmond’s Luca Antara: Passages in Search of Australia which is a finalist in the history category.

The judging of New Zealand’s best books published during the 2006 calendar year is carried out across eight categories – Fiction, Poetry, Biography, History, Reference & Anthology, Environment, Illustrative, and Lifestyle & Contemporary Culture.

The full list of finalists in the 2007 Montana New Zealand Book Awards by category are:

Fiction
The Cowboy Dog by Nigel Cox (Victoria University Press)
Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones (Penguin Books)
My Name Was Judas by C K Stead (Vintage)
Ocean Roads by James George (Huia Publishers)
The Fainter by Damien Wilkins (Victoria University Press)

Poetry
One Shapely Thing: Poems and Journals by Dinah Hawken (Victoria University Press)
The Goose Bath by Janet Frame (Vintage)
The Year of the Bicycle by James Brown (Victoria University Press)

Biography
A Life of J C Beaglehole, New Zealand Scholar by Tim Beaglehole (Victoria University Press)
Brief Lives by Chris Price (Auckland University Press)
Douglas Lilburn: His Life and Music by Philip Norman (Canterbury University Press)

History
Chiefs of Industry: Māori Tribal Enterprise in Early Colonial New Zealand by Hazel Petrie (Auckland University Press)
Luca Antara: Passages in Search of Australia by Martin Edmond (East Street Publications)
Vaka Moana – Voyages of the Ancestors edited by K. R. Howe (David Bateman Ltd)

Environment
Extinct Birds of New Zealand by Alan Tennyson and Paul Martinson (Te Papa Press)
Ghosts of Gondwana: The History of Life in New Zealand by George Gibbs (Craig Potton Publishing)
New Zealand: A Natural World Revealed by Tui De Roy and Mark Jones (David Bateman Ltd)

Illustrative
Eagle’s Complete Trees and Shrubs of New Zealand by Audrey Eagle (Te Papa Press)
Julia Morison: a loop around a loop by Justin Paton with essays by Jennifer Hay and Anna Smith (Christchurch Art Gallery and Dunedin Public Art Gallery)
Lake of Coal: The Disappearance of a Mining Township by David Cook (Craig Potton Publishing and Ramp Press)

Lifestyle and Contemporary Culture
Crown Lynn: A New Zealand Icon by Valerie Ringer Monk (Penguin Books)
Kāhui Whetū: Contemporary Māori Art – A Carver’s Perspective by Roi Toia and Todd Couper (Reed Publishing)
Stitch: Contemporary New Zealand Textile Artists by Ann Packer (Random House)

Reference and Anthology
An Illustrated Guide to New Zealand Hebes by Michael Bayly and Alison Kellow (Te Papa Press)
Furniture of the New Zealand Colonial Era: An Illustrated History 1830- 1900 by William Cottrell (Reed Publishing)
Tirohia Kimihia: A Māori Learner Dictionary by Huia Publishers (Ministry of Education)

The winner in each category receives a prize of $5,000. Each category winner is eligible for the Montana Medal for non fiction or poetry or fiction, both of which carry a prize of $10,000.

The New Zealand Society of Authors (NZSA) Best First Book Awards. There are three categories and this year, for the first time, the finalists of these three categories are announced today together with the Montana New Zealand Book Awards category finalists.

The finalists for the NZSA Best First Book Awards are:
Fiction
Davey Darling by Paul Shannon (Penguin Books)
Overdue New Releases by Matt Johnson (Urban by Longacre Press)
The Sound of Butterflies by Rachael King (Black Swan)

Poetry
After the Dance by Michele Amas (Victoria University Press)
Cup by Alison Wong (Steele Roberts)
Secret Heart by Airini Beautrais (Victoria University Press)

Non fiction
An Illustrated Guide to New Zealand Hebes by Michael Bayly and Alison Kellow (Te Papa Press)
Douglas Lilburn: His Life and Music by Philip Norman (Canterbury University Press)
Furniture of the New Zealand Colonial Era: An Illustrated History 1830- 1900 by William Cottrell (Reed Publishing)

Each NZSA Best First Book Awards category winner receives $2,500.

The principal sponsors of the Montana New Zealand Book Awards are Montana and Creative New Zealand. The awards are managed by Booksellers New Zealand and supported by Book Publishers Association of New Zealand, the New Zealand Society of Authors and Book Tokens (NZ) Ltd.

The winner of the poetry category will be announced on Montana Poetry Day on Friday 27 July 2007.

All other winners including the BPANZ Review Awards will be advised at a gala dinner to be held at Sky City in Auckland on Monday 30 July 2007.

ENDS

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