Property developer to sponsor NZ Book Awards

Auckland-based property developer Ockham Residential has taken over sponsorship of the New Zealand Book Awards.

The announcement follows the withdrawal of previous sponsor the New Zealand Post Group last year, with a charitable trust—comprising members from the Publishers Association of New Zealand, the New Zealand Society of Authors and Booksellers New Zealand—taking over management of the awards.

The awards also recently announced a new structure, judging process and an annual NZ$50,000 (A$44,595) prize for fiction—to be provided by the Acorn Foundation—in addition to awards for poetry, general nonfiction and illustrated nonfiction. A Māori language award will also be presented if there are sufficient entries.

Ockham Residential director Mark Todd said the company’s charity foundation is focussed on promoting education and critical thinking. ‘Partnering with the New Zealand Book Awards in their pursuit of critical thought, creativity and literary excellence is a great fit for us,’ said Todd.

The winners will be announced at an event during the Auckland Writers Festival in May 2016. Festival director Anne O’Brien said it is ‘heartening when businesses recognise the value of working with the literary arts’. ‘With attendance growing exponentially year-on-year (more than 62,000 in 2015), we are a future-focussed marquee proposition for businesses,’ she said.

A longlist for the awards will be announced on 25 November and a shortlist in early March 2016. Entries are now open for books published between 1 June 2014 and 21 December 2015. For more information, visit the website here.  

Category: Local news