Chidgey named Ockhams’ best
Catherine Chidgey has won the top prize for the second time in her career at the Ockham Awards, for her novel The Axeman’s Carnival, described by judges as ‘‘a page-turning novel of depth, pathos and humanity.’’
Chidgey won the $64,000 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction, beating out Michael Bennett (Better the Blood), historian Monty Soutar (Kā wai: For Such a Time as This), and Cristina Sanders (Mrs Jewell and the Wreck of the General Grant).
Chidgey won the top prize in 2017, for her novel The Wish Child, also published by Te Herenga Waka University Press.
The fiction category’s convener of judges, Stephanie Johnson, described says The Axeman’s Carnival as being close ‘‘to New Zealanders’ hearts.’’
‘‘Catherine Chidgey’s writing is masterful, and the underlying sense of dread as the story unfolds is shot through with humour and humanity.’’
The Ockhams described Chidgey’s award-winner as a page-turning novel of depth, pathos and humanity.
As well as the major award of the evening, the event celebrated categories of poetry, illustrated non-fiction and general nonfiction,
with the winners of each category taking home $12,000.
Scholar and poet Alice Te Punga Somerville won the poetry prize for Always Italicise: How to Write While Colonised.
Poetry category convener Diane Brown praised Te Punga Somerville’s collection for reaching
‘‘a new understanding of what it is to be a Mā ori woman scholar, mother and wife in 2022 encountering and navigating uncomfortable and hostile spaces.’’
Nick Bollinger, broadcaster, music critic and author, won the award for illustrated non-fiction.
His book Jumping Sundays:
The Rise and Fall of the Counterculture in Aotearoa New Zealand, was a ‘‘fantastic example of scholarship, creativity and craft,’’ according to category convener Jared Davidson.
The general non-fiction award went to historian and lawyer Ned Fletcher for his work, The English
Text of the Treaty of Waitangi.
Judge Anna Rawhiti-O’Connell said the book was an essential analysis of Te Tiriti.
‘‘The English Text of the Treaty of Waitangi will shift and inform debates about the intentions of those who constructed and signed the Treaty and how we interpret it today.’’
The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are the country’s premier literary honours for books written by New Zealanders.
The awards were announced at a ceremony held at Auckland’s Aotea Centre on Wednesday night.