The NZSA Heritage Book Awards are proudly bought to you by the New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa
(NZSA) and celebrate New Zealand writers who have published work in the previous year to the opening date of the awards.
First established in 2014 by the Canterbury branch of NZSA, the awards are now well established on the New Zealand
writers’ calendar.
NZSA Heritage Book Awards are open to self-published and traditionally published books and have inclusivity and
diversity at the heart of their kaupapa. To be eligible to enter, books must be available in hard copy, have been
published between 1 June 2021 and 1 June 2022.
CategoriesNon-FictionFictionTe Reo Māori (both bilingual and Te Reo)Children’sPoetry (new for 2022)
Past winners includeFiona Farrell, Witi Ihimaera, Whiti Hereaka, Brian Turner, Caroline Barron
andFiona Kidman
. In 2021 the winners were ROCK COLLEGE: An unofficial history of Mount Eden Prison by Mark Derby (Massey University
Press), EVERYTHING CHANGES by Stephanie Johnson (Vintage), I AM THE UNIVERSE by Vasanti Unka, (Puffin Books, Penguin
Random House), HE ITI TE KUPU: Māori metaphors and similes by Hona Black (Oratia Books).
Judges for the NZSA Heritage Book Awards 2022 are:Non-fiction - David Veart and Julia GatleyFiction - Philippa WerryTe Reo Māori - Vaughan RapatahanaChildren’s - Kyle MewburnPoetry - Kiri Piahana-Wong
Winners of the Fiction and Non-fiction book awards will each receive $1000; Te Reo Māori book award, Children’s book
award, and Poetry book award winners will receive $300 each.The competition opens on 1 June and closes on 1 August 2022
. All entries should have some relationship with the theme of the Christchurch Heritage Festival 2022: Our Stories -
Milestones and Moments.
Find out more / terms and conditions / application formNZSA Canterbury Branch Short Prose and Poetry Competition
The Canterbury branch of NZSA will continue to run a short prose and poetry competition in association with the Heritage
Book Awards and the Christchurch Heritage Festival. Information about the competition can be found here: