Ockham NZ Book Awards 2024 winners announced

The winners of the 2024 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards have been announced.

The fiction prize went to Emily Perkins for Lioness (Bloomsbury). Convenor of fiction judges Juliet Blyth said: ‘At first glance this is a psychological thriller about a privileged, wealthy family and its unravelling. Look closer and it is an incisive exploration of wealth, power, class, female rage, and the search for authenticity.’

‘Emily Perkins deftly wrangles a large cast of characters in vivid technicolour, giving each their moment in the sun while dextrously weaving together multiple plotlines,’ said Blyth. ‘Her acute observations and razor-sharp wit decimate the tropes of mid-life in moments of pure prose brilliance, leaving the reader gasping for more. Disturbing, deep, smart, and funny as hell, Lioness is unforgettable.’

Chosen from shortlists announced in March, the winners in each category of the Ockhams are:

Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction (NZ$65,000)

• Lioness (Emily Perkins, Bloomsbury)

Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry (NZ$12,000)

• Chinese Fish (Grace Yee, Giramondo)

General Nonfiction Award (NZ$12,000)

• An Indigenous Ocean: Pacific essays (Damon Salesa, Bridget Williams Books)

Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Nonfiction (NZ$12,000)

• Don Binney: Flight path (Gregory O’Brien, Auckland University Press).

Te Mūrau o te Tuhi Māori Language Award (NZ$12,000)

• Te Rautakitahi O Tūhoe ki Ōrākau (Tā Pou Temara (Ngāi Tūhoe), Auckland University Press)

Hubert Church Prize for best first work of fiction (NZ$3000)

• Ruin and Other Stories (Emma Hislop (Kāi Tahu), Te Herenga Waka University Press)

Jessie Mackay Prize for best first work of poetry (NZ$3000)

• At the Point of Seeing (Megan Kitching, Otago University Press)

Judith Binney Prize for best first work of illustrated nonfiction (NZ$3000)

• Rugby League in New Zealand: A people’s history (Ryan Bodman, Bridget Williams Books)

E H McCormick Prize for best first work of general nonfiction (NZ$3000)

• There’s a Cure for This (Emma Wehipeihana (Ngāti Tukorehe, Ngāti Porou), Penguin).

New Zealand Book Awards Trust Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa chair Nicola Legat said the winners showed the close connection between books and current issues.

‘Drawn from an extraordinary group of shortlisted titles in a very competitive year, all these books truly deserve the honours bestowed on them,’ said Legat. ‘They are by turns witty, timely, insightful, searing, scholarly, political and loving. They have each, in their own way, moved the dial.’

The winners were announced at a public ceremony on 15 May during the 2024 Auckland Writers Festival. More information about the awards is on the NZ Book Awards Trust website.

Category: Awards Local news