Battle o for best NZ book
The 40 best books in the country have been selected. Glenn McConnell casts his eye over the finalists.
The long list for the 2020 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards has been released, with its pick for the 40 best books of the last year. Straitjacket Fits’ Shayne Carter has made the list for his memoir, as well as an investigation into the Whale Oil blog from Margie Thomson.
The books explore topics including the New Zealand Wars, the history of comedy in New Zealand, tales from a rock star, mental health and domestic violence.
Paula Morris, a lecturer of writing and a trustee for the Ockham Awards, says this year’s long list brings surprises and is certain to ignite debate.
‘‘People are going to be either furious or delighted,’’ she says, promising the judges don’t shy away from controversy.
The judges will now go through and cull the list to just four books in each category. The awards cover illustrated non-fiction, general non-fiction, poetry and fiction. The short list will be out on March 4, before the awards on May 12 at the Auckland Writers Festival.
The judges will have to compare vastly different books to choose a winner.
In non-fiction, musician Shayne Carter’s memoir Dead People I Have Known was up against scholar Vincent O’Malley’s exploration of our history, The New Zealand Wars: Nga¯ Pakanga o Aotearoa.
Margie Thomson’s expose on the legal battle between Whale Oil blogger Cameron Slater and Matthew Blomfield sits among the non-fiction nominees.
Across 100 posts, Slater falsely accused Blomfield of dishonesty, theft, bribery, deceit, perjury, corruption, bullying, fraud and other criminal behaviour. The book, Whale Oil: One Man’s Fight to Save His Reputation, details the cost this battle had on Blomfield’s life and family.
The illustrated non-fiction entries include Funny As: The Story of New
Zealand Comedy by comedian Paul Horan and Stuff journalist Philip Matthews, up against We Are Here: An Atlas of Aotearoa by geographer Chris McDowall and designer Tim Denee.
Morris says 170 books were submitted for the awards, and making the long list is no short feat.
‘‘With long lists like this, to me it’s a Christmas gift list. It’s a good guide to some of the best books coming out of New Zealand. These are chosen not just because of the quality of the writing and research, but also the production value, especially with illustrated non-fiction,’’ she says.
In fiction, three first-time authors are nominated: Becky Manawatu, for her novel about domestic violence, Aue¯; Lonely Asian Woman, by Sharon Lam; and Ruby Porter’s Attraction, a road trip story about coming to grips with our pasts.
And three poets have also made the long list with their debuts: Essa-May Ranapiri with Ransack; Jane Arthur with Craven; and Sugar Magnolia Wilson with Because a Woman’s Heart is Like a Needle at the Bottom of the Ocean.
The mix of newcomers and wellestablished authors, such as Elizabeth
Knox who is nominated for The Absolute Book, and Greg McGee for Necessary Secrets, adds a level of uncertainty to the prize, Morris says.
‘‘Even as an avid reader there’s still a lot of surprises included, or books I haven’t got around to or had forgotten about,’’ she says.
The fiction prize comes with a $50,000 cheque, which she says makes it an incredibly important award.
‘‘It’s a big prize; we live in a small market and literary writers in particular are not making a fortune from selling books. A prize like this can
make an immense difference in a writer’s life,’’ she says. The following is the full list of nominees. Poetry
Craven by Jane Arthur Listening In by Lynley Edmeades Back Before You Know by Murray Edmond Under Glass by Gregory Kan Moth Hour by Anne Kennedy Ransack by Essa-May Ranapiri How to Live by Helen Rickerby Lay Studies by Steven Toussaint
Because a Woman’s Heart is Like a Needle at the Bottom of the Ocean by Sugar Magnolia Wilson
How I Get Ready by Ashleigh Young Illustrated Non-Fiction
Crafting Aotearoa: A Cultural History of Making in New Zealand and the Wider Moana Oceania edited by Karl Chitham, Kolokesa U Ma¯ hina-Tuai, Damian Skinner
Protest Tautohetohe: Objects of Resistance, Persistence and Defiance edited by Stephanie Gordon, Matariki Williams, Puawai Cairns
Catherine Frances Hodgkins: Hammond European and Mary Journeys Kisler edited by Funny Paul Horan As: The and Story Philip of Matthews New Zealand Comedy by
The New Photography: New Zealand’s Firstgeneration Contemporary Photographers edited by
Athol McCredie We Are Here: An Atlas of Aotearoa by Chris
McDowall and Tim Denee
Louise Henderson: From Life edited by Felicity Milburn, Lara Strongman, Julia Waite McCahon Country by Justin Paton
Colin McCahon: There is Only One Direction, Vol. 1
1919-1959 by Peter Simpson
The Meaning of Trees: The History and Use of New Zealand’s Native Plants by Robert Vennell General Non-Fiction
Women Mean Business: Colonial Businesswomen in New Zealand by Catherine Bishop
Dead People I Have Known by Shayne Carter
Dead Letters: Censorship and Subversion in New Zealand 1914-1920 by Jared Davidson
Shirley Smith: An Examined Life by Sarah
Gaitanos
Wild Honey: Reading New Zealand Women’s Poetry by Paula Green Finding Frances Hodgkins by Mary Kisler
Towards the Mountain: A Story of Grief and Hope Forty Years on from Erebus by Sarah Myles
The New Zealand Wars | Nga¯ Pakanga o Aotearoa by Vincent O’Malley
Fifteen Million Years in Antarctica by Rebecca
Priestley
Whale Oil: One Man’s Fight to Save His Reputation, then His Life by Margie Thomson Fiction
The Absolute Book by Elizabeth Knox Lonely Asian Woman by Sharon Lam Necessary Secrets by Greg McGee Aue¯ by Becky Manawatu Moonlight Sonata by Eileen Merriman Pearly Gates by Owen Marshall Attraction by Ruby Porter A Mistake by Carl Shuker Loving Sylvie by Elizabeth Smither Halibut on the Moon by David Vann