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Ockham 2025 longlists announced

The longlists for the 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards have been announced.

The longlisted titles in each category are:

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

  • All That We Know (Shilo Kino [Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Maniapoto], Moa Press)
  • Amma (Saraid de Silva, Moa Press)
  • Ash (Louise Wallace, Te Herenga Waka University Press)
  • At the Grand Glacier Hotel (Laurence Fearnley, Penguin)
  • Delirious (Damien Wilkins, Te Herenga Waka University Press)
  • Kataraina (Becky Manawatu [Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Māmoe, Waitaha], Mākaro Press)
  • The Mires (Tina Makereti [Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Rangatahi-Matakore, Pākehā], Ultimo)
  • Poorhara (Michelle Rahurahu [Ngāti Rahurahu, Ngāti Tahu–Ngāti Whaoa], Te Herenga Waka University Press)
  • Pretty Ugly (Kirsty Gunn, Otago University Press)
  • The Royal Free (Carl Shuker, Te Herenga Waka University Press)

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

  • Fox Spirit on a Distant Cloud (Lee Murray, The Cuba Press)
  • The Girls in the Red House Are Singing (Tracey Slaughter, Te Herenga Waka University Press)
  • Hibiscus Tart (Carin Smeaton, Titus Books)
  • Hopurangi – Songcatcher: Poems from the Maramataka (Robert Sullivan [Ngāpuhi, Kāi Tahu], Auckland University Press)
  • In the Half Light of a Dying Day (CK Stead, Auckland University Press)
  • Liar, Liar, Lick, Spit (Emma Neale, Otago University Press)
  • Manuali‘i (Rex Letoa Paget, Saufo‘i Press)
  • /Slanted (Alison Glenny, Compound Press)
  • Slender Volumes (Richard von Sturmer, Spoor Books)
  • Slim Volume (James Brown, Te Herenga Waka University Press)

BookHub Award for Illustrated Nonfiction (NZ$12,000)

  • A Different Light: First Photographs of Aotearoa (Catherine Hammond & Shaun Higgins, Auckland University Press)
  • Edith Collier: Early New Zealand Modernist (Jill Trevelyan, Jennifer Taylor & Greg Donson, Massey University Press)
  • Fenoga Tāoga Niue I Aotearoa: Niue Heritage Journey in Aotearoa (Molima Molly Pihigia, Toluma’anave Barbara Makuati-Afitu, Kolokesa Uafā Māhina-Tuai, Hikule’o Fe’aomoeako Melaia Māhina & Janson Chau, Mafola Press) 
  • Force of Nature Te Aumangea o Te Ao Tūroa: A Conservation History of Forest & Bird 1923–2023 (David Young & Naomi Arnold, Potton & Burton)
  • Golden Enterprise: New Zealand Chinese Merchants 1860s–1970s (Phoebe H Li, Chinese Poll Tax Heritage Trust)
  • Leslie Adkin: Farmer Photographer (Athol McCredie, Te Papa Press)
  • Sam the Trap Man: Cracking Yarns and Tall Tales from the Bush (Sam Gibson, A&U NZ)
  • Sight Lines: Women and Art in Aotearoa (Kirsty Baker, Auckland University Press)
  • Te Ata o Tū The Shadow of Tūmatauenga: The New Zealand Wars Collections of Te Papa (Matiu Baker [Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Whakaue], Katie Cooper, Michael Fitzgerald & Rebecca Rice, Te Papa Press)
  • Toi Te Mana: An Indigenous History of Māori Art (Deidre Brown [Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu] & Ngarino Ellis, [Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou], with Jonathan Mane-Wheoki, [Ngāpuhi, Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Kurī], Auckland University Press)

General Nonfiction Award (NZ$12,000)

  • Bad Archive (Flora Feltham, Te Herenga Waka University Press)
  • The Beautiful Afternoon (Airini Beautrais, Te Herenga Waka University Press)
  • Becoming Aotearoa: A New History of New Zealand (Michael Belgrave, Massey University Press)
  • The Chthonic Cycle (Una Cruickshank, Te Herenga Waka University Press)
  • Feijoa: A Story of Obsession & Belonging (Kate Evans, Moa Press)
  • Hard by the Cloud House (Peter Walker, Massey University Press)
  • Hine Toa: A Story of Bravery (Ngāhuia Te Awekōtuku [Te Arawa, Tūhoe, Ngāpuhi, Waikato], HarperCollins)
  • The Invasion of Waikato Te Riri ki Tainui (Vincent O’Malley, Bridget Williams Books)
  • Kahurangi: The Nature of Kahurangi National Park and Northwest Nelson (Dave Hansford, Potton & Burton)
  • The Mermaid Chronicles: A Midlife Mer-moir (Megan Dunn, Penguin)
  • The Twisted Chain (Jason Gurney [Ngāpuhi], Otago University Press)
  • The Unsettled: Small Stories of Colonisation (Richard Shaw, Massey University Press)
  • Unreel: A Life in Review (Diana Wichtel, Penguin).

The 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards shortlist of 16 titles (four books in each category) will be announced on 5 March. The winners, including the four Mātātuhi Foundation Best First Book Awards recipients (who will each receive $NZ3000), will be announced on 14 May, during the 2025 Auckland Writers Festival.

More information about the awards is available on the NZ Book Awards Trust website.

 

Category: Awards Local news