Category: NZ Book Awards

2026: NZ Book Awards

Posted on May 10, 2026 by

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RACHEL:● The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards shortlist was a mixed bag for me this year. The shortlist ranges from the diva of NZ fiction Catherine Chidgey to debut novelists, a poet and memoirist, and a visual artist. The subject matter is equally diverse:… Continue Reading “2026: NZ Book Awards”

Category: Kiwi lit, Literary fiction, NZ Book AwardsTags: , ,

How To Paint A Nude – Sam Mahon

Posted on April 22, 2026 by

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A local artist and a Belaruisan refugee meet regularly at a Christchurch cafe to discuss life, art and politics. A priest once told me that we fall in love with people with whom we have wounds in common, that in caring for them we’re… Continue Reading “How To Paint A Nude – Sam Mahon”

Category: Art, Contemporary fiction, Environmental fiction, Kiwi lit, Literary fiction, Metafiction, NZ Book Awards, Philosophical, PoliticalTags: , ,

All Her Lives – Ingrid Horrocks

Posted on April 15, 2026 by

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READ FOR NZ BOOK AWARDS All Her Lives is a collection of nine linked stories about women throughout the ages who have battled, persevered and instigated change, and whom are finding their place in society. Did homecoming have to be this, too? Being outside,… Continue Reading “All Her Lives – Ingrid Horrocks”

Category: Climate Fiction, Cultural, Environmental fiction, Female Experience, Feminism, Historical Fiction, Kiwi lit, Literary fiction, NZ Book Awards, Political, Queer, Short StoriesTags: , ,

Hoods Landing – Laura Vincent

Posted on April 8, 2026 by

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READ FOR NZ BOOK AWARDS In the rural reaches of Auckland, the women of the eclectic Gordon family gather for Christmas. Rita, the 50-year-old baby of the family, is planning to tell them she has cancer. Drifting between past and present, she considers the… Continue Reading “Hoods Landing – Laura Vincent”

Category: Contemporary fiction, Domestic Fiction, Family drama, Female Experience, Gothic, Humour, Kiwi lit, Literary fiction, Māori Fiction, NZ Book Awards, QueerTags: , ,

The Last Living Cannibal – Airana Ngarewa

Posted on March 18, 2026 by

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READ FOR NZ BOOK AWARDS Set in the 1940s Taranaki, The Last Living Cannibal is narrated by an old man, Koko, from both the present and afterlife. It examines muru or the restoration of balance within an iwi or community, and is put to… Continue Reading “The Last Living Cannibal – Airana Ngarewa”

Category: Colonisation, Cultural, Family drama, Historical Fiction, Kiwi lit, Literary fiction, Māori Fiction, NZ Book Awards, Political, War storyTags: ,

Before The Winter Ends – Khadro Mohamed

Posted on March 11, 2026 by

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READ FOR NZ BOOK AWARDS Set during a cold Wellington winter, Before The Winter Ends explores the immigrant experience via Omar, a teen whose grades are slipping and is losing connection with his best friend, and his mother who recalls her life two decades… Continue Reading “Before The Winter Ends – Khadro Mohamed”

Category: Coming of Age, Cultural, Faith & Religion, Family drama, Historical Fiction, Immigrant story, Kiwi lit, Literary fiction, NZ Book Awards, War storyTags: ,

The Book of Guilt – Catherine Chidgey

Posted on June 18, 2025 by

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READ FOR BOOKCLUBChaired by Tessa Triplet orphans spend their life isolated in a special home cared for by Mother Morning, Mother Afternoon and Mother Night, learning about the world from The Book of Knowledge, having their dreams analysed in The Book of Dreams and… Continue Reading “The Book of Guilt – Catherine Chidgey”

Category: Colonisation, Coming of Age, Dystopian, Historical Fiction, Literary fiction, NZ Book Awards, Philosophical, Political, Psychological, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Thriller, Translated, Unreliable Narrator, War storyTags: , ,

2025: NZ Book Awards

Posted on May 10, 2025 by

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This year’s Book Awards brings together four quietly powerful novels that reflect a focus on subtlety and social resonance. Delirious by Damien Wilkins, The Mires by Tina Makereti, Pretty Ugly by Kirsty Gunn, and At the Grand Glacier Hotel by Laurence Fearnley each offer… Continue Reading “2025: NZ Book Awards”

Category: Literary fiction, NZ Book AwardsTags: , ,

Delirious – Damien Wilkins

Posted on April 23, 2025 by

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READ FOR NZ BOOK AWARDS Retired cop and librarian Mary and Pete are struggling with ailments and deciding whether to move into a retirement home or stay in their family home. Then the police ask to speak to them about the accident that killed… Continue Reading “Delirious – Damien Wilkins”

Category: Contemporary fiction, Domestic Fiction, Family drama, Humour, Kiwi lit, Literary fiction, NZ Book Awards, Psychological, RealistTags: , ,

Pretty Ugly – Kirsty Gunn

Posted on April 16, 2025 by

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READ FOR NZ BOOK AWARDS Thirteen darkly compelling stories look directly into the troubled human heart and draw out what dwells there. The ‘ugly’ of these stories is to do with ‘considering how much a person’s life can bear’. The unease and compassion for… Continue Reading “Pretty Ugly – Kirsty Gunn”

Category: Experimental fiction, Kiwi lit, Literary fiction, NZ Book Awards, Psychological, Short StoriesTags: , ,

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