New writer challenges old favourites

A Wellington writer’s first novel will go head-to-head with works by two of our most acclaimed authors as finalists in the country’s most prestigious literary honours, the inaugural NZ Post Book Awards.
Alison Wong’s As the Earth Turns Silver was selected by a judging panel of five for the Fiction category shortlist, along with award–winning author Fiona Farrell, for her novel Limestone, and award–winning short–story writer Owen Marshall for his collection, Living as a Moon.
Stephen Stratford, convenor of judges for the awards, said selecting just three Fiction finalists from such a strong field was cause for much debate among the judging panel.
‘It was always going to be a challenge, but we agree that each of these three finalist books is convincing, compelling, superbly crafted and contributes distinctively to NZ’s literature’, he said.
Fiction is one of the four finalist categories announced – reduced from a previous eight – in the new, streamlined Awards structure. The other three categories are Poetry, General Non–fiction and Illustrated Non–fiction.
With just 16 finalists competing in these Awards – down from 26 in previous years – readers can be sure they are getting the cream of NZ publishing’s crop.
Stratford, who brings vast experience to the panel as judge for the last Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards in 1983, convenor of the first Montana Book Awards in 1984 and judge for the Montana NZ Book Awards in 1999, says reducing the number of categories and finalists means the standard of those selected are exceptionally high.
Joining Stratford on the Awards’ judging panel are poet, short-story writer and novelist, Elizabeth Smither; writer, educationalist and broadcaster Charmaine Pountney; writer, historian and broadcaster Paul Diamond; and nature writer and photographer Neville Peat.
The panel agreed that the standout category this year was Illustrated Non–fiction.
‘The standard was very high: each finalist is not only a beautiful object but is also a showcase of the book designer’s art, with typography that enhances the text, page layouts that let the images have maximum impact, and superlative reproduction values.’
The full list of finalists in the 2010 New Zealand Post Book Awards by category are:
Fiction:
As the Earth Turns Silver by Alison Wong (Penguin Group (NZ))
Limestone by Fiona Farrell (Vintage, Random House NZ)
Living as a Moon by Owen Marshall (Vintage, Random House NZ)
Poetry:
Just This by Brian Turner (Victoria University Press)
The Lustre Jug by Bernadette Hall (Victoria University Press)
The Tram Conductor’s Blue Cap by Michael Harlow (Auckland University Press)
General Non–Fiction:
Aphrodite’s Island by Anne Salmond (Viking, Penguin Group (NZ))
Beyond the Battlefield: New Zealand and its Allies, 1939-1945 by Gerald Hensley (Viking, Penguin Group (NZ))
Cone Ten Down: Studio pottery in New Zealand, 1945-1980 by Moyra Elliott and Damian Skinner (David Bateman Ltd)
Encircled Lands: Te Urewera, 1820-1921 by Judith Binney (Bridget Williams Books)
The Invention of New Zealand Art & National Identity, 1930-1970 by Francis Pound (Auckland University Press)
Illustrated Non–Fiction:
Art at Te Papa edited by William McAloon (Te Papa Press)
Go Fish: Recipes and stories from the New Zealand Coast by Al Brown (Random House NZ)
Maori Architecture: From fale to wharenui and beyond by Deidre Brown (Raupo, Penguin Group (NZ))
Marti Friedlander by Leonard Bell (Auckland University Press)
Mrkusich: The Art of Transformation by Alan Wright and Edward Hanfling (Auckland University Press)
The Category Award winners and the overall winner will be announced at a gala dinner held in Auckland on 27 August 2010. With fewer categories, the Awards’ prize pool has been substantially increased, with the overall New Zealand Post Book of the Year Award winner receiving $15,000. Winners of the four Category Awards will each receive $10,000 and the People’s Choice Award winner $5,000.