Alongside Ingrid Horrocks and Tina Makereti, who teach at International Institute of Modern Letters, and are published by Te Herenga Waka University Press (THWUP), Emeritus Professor Charlotte Macdonald is longlisted for Garrison World:Redcoat Soldiers in New Zealand and Across the British Empire, Professor Anna Jackson from the English Literature programme is longlisted for Terrier, Worrier: A poem in five parts, and Professor Maria Bargh (Te Arawa, Ngāti Awa) from Te Kawa a Māui and Adjunct Professor Carwyn Jones (Ngāti Kahungunu, Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki) are longlisted for 50 Years of the Waitangi Tribunal: Whakamana i te Tiriti.
Te Herenga Waka University Press (THWUP) is delighted to have seven books on the longlist.
Longlisted for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction
- All Her Lives, by Ingrid Horrocks
- Star Gazers, by Duncan Sarkies
- The Book of Guilt, by Catherine Chidgey
Longlisted for the General Non-Fiction prize
- This Compulsion in Us, by Tina Makereti (Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Rangatahi-Matakore, Pākehā)
Longlisted for the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry
- Black Sugarcane, by Nafanua Purcell Kersel (Satupa'itea, Faleālupo, Aleipata, Tuaefu)
- Giving Birth to My Father, by Tusiata Avia
- Sick Power Trip, by Erik Kennedy
Publisher Fergus Barrowman says, “We are very proud of these books and thrilled to see them recognised by the judges. These titles showcase the variety of brilliant voices we publish here at THWUP.
“In prose, we have the fierce intelligence of the stories in All Her Lives, the satire and comedy of Star Gazers, the masterful suspense and worldbuilding in The Book of Guilt, and the urgent and powerful thinking in This Compulsion in Us. In poetry, there’s the engaging and generous voice of Black Sugarcane, the raw grief and profound renewal of Giving Birth to My Father, and the incisive, witty cultural commentary of Sick Power Trip.
“It’s especially exciting to see debut poet Nafanua Purcell Kersel recognised at the beginning of what promises to be a brilliant writing career.”
Alumni connections
This year's longlist also reflects the vital role of the International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML) in nurturing New Zealand's literary talent. Of the THWUP-published longlisted authors, Tusiata Avia, Ingrid Horrocks, Tina Makereti, Catherine Chidgey, and Nafanua Purcell Kersel each have connections to the IIML programmes.
Additionally, poet Gregory Kan, whose collection Clay Eaters (Auckland University Press) is longlisted for the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry, is an MA graduate from the IIML. Tracy Farr, whose novel Wonderland (The Cuba Press) is longlisted for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction, is currently a PhD student at the IIML.
Beyond the IIML, 10 further alumni are also recognised in the longlist: Laura Vincent, Derek Leask, Professor Jacinta Ruru (Raukawa, Ngāti Ranginui), Catherine Field-Dodgson (Rongowhakaata, Ngāi Tāmanuhiri, Te Aitanga a Mahaki), Philip Garnock-Jones, Elizabeth Cox, Chloe Cull (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāi te Ruahikihiki), Melanie Oliver, Diana Morrow, and Peta Carey.
The Ockham Book Awards’ shortlist will be released on 4 March and winners will be announced at a ceremony on 13 May as part of the Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki.
Thanks to the generosity of the late Jann Medlicott, the winner of the fiction prize will receive $65,000. Winners of the other three principal category awards each receive $12,000, as will any recipient of Te Mūrau o te Tuhi. Each of the four Mātātuhi Foundation Best First Book prizes is worth $3,000.
For more information, visit the New Zealand Book Awards website.