Whanganui writer Airini Beautrais has won the premier award at the 2021 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards for her book
Bug Week - it s her first book of fiction and it s also the first time the category has been won by a collection of short stories in more than a decade.
Airini Beautrais.
Photo: Tracy Grant
Beautrais won the $57,000 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction with a book that convenor of judges Kiran Dass described as a knockout from start to finish. Casting a devastating and witty eye on humanity at its most fallible and wonky, this is a tightly-wound and remarkably assured collection. Atmospheric and refined, these stories evoke a strong sense of quiet unease, slow burning rage and the absurdly comic, Dass said.
Thursday, 13 May 2021, 9:24 am
The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards is a highly
anticipated event on the annual arts calendar, and one
category that continues to gain interest is the Best First
Book Awards, sponsored by MitoQ.
The Best First Book
Awards recognise work of quality by an author for whom the
entry is their first published book. For the third year
running, MitoQ has sponsored the category, giving new
writers a financial boost and recognition to help them focus
on pursuing a writing career.
The Best First Book
Awards category has seen steady growth in submission numbers
since its introduction to the Book Awards in 1996. In 2021,