News from Ockham Book Awards
Whanganui writer Airini Beautrais has won the $57,000 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at the 2021 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards for her book
Bug Week – the first person to take out the category for a collection of short stories in more than a decade.
Beautrais is well-known as a poet, but this is her first book of fiction, published by Victoria University Press. She received the prize ahead of acclaimed novelists Catherine Chidgey and Pip Adam, both previous winners, and Brannavan Gnanalingam, shortlisted for the fiction prize in 2018.
The Fiction category’s convenor of judges, Kiran Dass, says
‘Knockout’ short story collection wins country’s richest writing prize Whanganui writer Airini Beautrais has won the $57,000 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at the 2021 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards for her book Bug Week – the first person .
Northland photographer Jane Ussher finalist in NZ s top book awards
3 Mar, 2021 04:00 PM
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Acclaimed photographer and Kerikeri resident Jane Ussher is a finalist in New Zealand s most prestigious book awards. Photo / supplied
Acclaimed photographer and Kerikeri resident Jane Ussher is a finalist in New Zealand s most prestigious book awards. Photo / supplied
A Northland photographer has made the shortlist for New Zealand s most prestigious book awards.
Finalists for the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, which were announced yesterday, include Nature – Stilled by Jane Ussher.
The Kerikeri photographer s book, which captures specimens from Te Papa s natural history collection, is one of four in the category for illustrated non-fiction.
Press Release – Ockham Book Awards
The shortlist for the 2021 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards, released today, is a dazzling reflection of the robust, innovative literature scene of Aotearoa New Zealand, revealing a deeper engagement with our culturally diverse society.
In the Fiction category, two past winners are vying for the same award. Catherine Chidgey and Pip Adam are both contenders for the $57,000 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction, alongside Brannavan Gnanalingam, a previous nominee, and the critically acclaimed story writer Airini Beautrais.
The works on the Fiction shortlist explore the range of human experience, from the ‘wilful blindness’ of Nazi-occupied Germany demonstrated in