The New Zealand Book Awards longlists have been announced!
Books exploring politics, fashion, social change, war, contested histories and family relationships sit alongside works celebrating our natural world and the enduring legacies of our activists and artists in the longlists for the 2022 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.
The awards include the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction, which offers $60,000 to the winner in 2022. Generous Acorn donor Jann has been sponsoring the annual Fiction Prize since its inception in 2016, providing incredible recognition and support for New Zealand authors.
The 2022 longlist for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction includes the following books:
- A Good Winter by Gigi Fenster
- Aljce in Therapy Land by Alice Tawhai
- Entanglement by Bryan Walpert
- Everything Changes by Stephanie Johnson
- Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly
- Kurangaituku by Whiti Hereaka
- Loop Tracks by Sue Orr
- She’s a Killer by Kirsten McDougall
- The Pink Jumpsuit: Short Fictions, Tall Truths by Emma Neale
- Unsheltered by Clare Moleta
The prize for fiction is one of four awards this year. A total of forty poetry, prose and non-fiction titles make up the longlists announced today. Selected from an impressive and highly competitive field of 160 entries, works range from deftly crafted intimate worlds to full-colour books that soar in scope and scale. Ten of the longlisted works are by first-time authors.
New Zealand Book Awards Trust spokesperson Dr Paula Morris says that each of the four longlists speak to the diversity and excellence of books published last year, with both experienced and debut writers represented.
“The range of publishers reflects the ingenuity and high quality across the industry, including the smallest of independents, and the imagination and expertise informing every aspect of our local publishing landscape.”
To find out more about all the longlisted titles, visit: https://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards/2022-awards/longlist/
Keep an eye out for the shortlist, which will be announced on 2 March!