Ockham NZ Book Awards 2025 Judges’ Announcement

Award-winning writers, journalists, reviewers, respected academics, curators and booksellers are among the 12 experts selected to judge the 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.

The $65,000 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction will be judged by novelist, short story writer and lecturer in creative writing Thom Conroy (convenor); bookshop owner and reviewer Carole Beu; and author, educator and writing mentor Tania Roxborogh (Ngāti Porou). They will be joined in deciding the ultimate winner from their shortlist of four by an international judge.

Judging the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry will be 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).

The General Non-Fiction Award will be judged by 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.

The Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction will be judged by former Alexander Turnbull chief librarian and author Chris Szekely (convenor); arts advocate Jessica Palalagi; and historian and social history curator Kirstie Ross.

New Zealand Book Awards Trust Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa chair Nicola Legat says each of this year’s judging panels represent a wide range of readers and experts in literature.

“These awards are high stakes for longlisted, shortlisted and winning authors and so it’s critical to get it right. These 12 fine judges have great depths of knowledge and diversities of experience, as befits their responsibilities,” she says.

The New Zealand Book Awards Trust is currently inviting submissions for the second tranche of entries for the 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. Online entries for titles published between 1 September 2024 and 31 December 2024 opened on Thursday 12 September and close 5pm on Wednesday 23 October 2024. Submissions for titles published between 1 January and 31 August 2024 have closed.

Click here (https://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards/how-to-enter/) for eligibility criteria and a Call for Entries information pack, then enter online here (https://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards/form/)

Category longlists will be announced on 30 January 2025, and the shortlist of 16 books on 5 March 2025.The finalists and winners will be celebrated on 14 May 2025 at an awards ceremony held as part of the Auckland Writers Festival.

The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are supported by Ockham Residential, Creative New Zealand, the late Jann Medlicott MNZM and the Acorn Foundation, Mary and Peter Biggs CNZM, Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand, The Mātātuhi Foundation and the Auckland Writers Festival.

OCKHAM NEW ZEALAND BOOK AWARDS 2024 – JUDGING PANELS

JANN MEDLICOTT ACORN PRIZE FOR FICTION

Thom Conroy (convenor) is a novelist (The Naturalist and The Salted Air) and award-winning short story writer whose work has been published in Best American Short Stories. He lectures in Creative Writing at Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University in Palmerston North, and is Editor-in-Chief of Headland.

Carole Beu MNZM has owned The Women’s Bookshop in Tāmaki Makaurau for 35 years. A former board member of both Booksellers Aotearoa NZ and the Auckland Writers Festival, she reviews regularly on RNZ and has organised and chaired many literary events.

Tania Roxborogh (Ngāti Porou) is an award-winning author, a veteran educator and a writing mentor, living in the Canterbury town of Lincoln. She juggles PhD research with writing and reading.

MARY AND PETER BIGGS AWARD FOR POETRY

David Eggleton (convenor) lives in Ōtepoti Dunedin, and is of Tongan, Rotuman and European descent. He was New Zealand Poet Laureate from 2019 to 2022. David is former editor of Landfall and the Phantom Billstickers Cafe Reader. His The Conch Trumpet won the 2016 Ockham New Zealand Book Award for Poetry, and in the same year he received the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement in Poetry.

Elizabeth Smither MNZM is the author of 19 collections of poetry as well as novels, short stories and journals. Her 2022 collection, My American Chair, is due to be published by MadHat Poetry Press, USA. She was New Zealand Poet Laureate from 2001 to 2003, and received the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement in Poetry in 2008. Elizabeth lives in New Plymouth.

Jordan Tricklebank (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Mahuta) is the curator of Māori Literature Blog, an exploration of literature written in English by Māori authors. He is also the editor of Pūhia, a journal for Māori literature and art. His writing has featured on The Spinoff and Newsroom, and in Huia Short Stories. Jordan is based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.

GENERAL NON-FICTION AWARD

Holly Walker (convenor) is the author of The Whole Intimate Mess and co-editor of Re-connecting Aotearoa. She holds a PhD in Creative Writing from Victoria University Te Herenga Waka, and works as a writer and facilitator in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington. She was previously Deputy Director of the Helen Clark Foundation, and a Green MP from 2011 to 2014.

Ross Calman (Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāi Tahu) is a writer, editor, historical researcher, te reo Māori translator and occasional podcast host, based in Ōtautahi Christchurch. In 2023 he received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Canterbury in recognition of his contribution to Māori history, Māori language and publishing.

Gilbert Wong is a communications professional, writer and editor from Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. He has held senior roles at the New Zealand Herald and Metro magazine. His journalism has been recognised by the Citibank Excellence in Journalism Award, and the NZ Science Journalist of the Year and Qantas Media Best Magazine Writer awards.

BOOKSELLERS AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND AWARD FOR ILLUSRATED NON-FICTION

Chris Szekely (convenor) is a former Chief Librarian of the Alexander Turnbull Library. He is a life member of Te Rōpū Whakahau, the national body representing Māori library and information professionals, and a Fellow of LIANZA Te Rau Herenga o Aotearoa. Chris has published widely on library matters and is a multi-award-winning children’s author. He lives near the Far North town of Awanui.

Jessica Palalagi traces her ancestry to Niue/Nukututaha in Te Moananui a Kiwa and Aberdeen, Scotland. She has an MA in Art History from the University of Auckland and is the Kaiwhakahaere/General Manager of the Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi. She lives in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.

Kirstie Ross is an Ōtepoti Dunedin based historian and social history curator, and Head Curator – Published and Special Collections at the University of Otago’s Hocken Collections. She has published and curated widely on topics including Scottish immigration, photography and environmental history.

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 Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction) and General Non-Fiction. There are also four 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, Rachael King, Richard Pamatatau, Garth Biggs, Renée Rowland, Laura Caygill, Suzy Maddox and Melinda Szymanik. The Trust also governs the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults and Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day.

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