The winners of the 2023 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards have been announced.
The fiction prize went to Catherine Chidgey for The Axeman’s Carnival (Te Herenga Waka University Press), a novel of ‘depth, pathos and humanity that skilfully infuses comedy with a building sense of menace, narrated by a precocious magpie called Tama’.
Judge Stephanie Johnson said The Axeman’s Carnival is a novel that has been clasped to New Zealanders’ hearts. ‘The unforgettable Tama—taken in and raised by Marnie on the Te Waipounamu high country farm she shares with champion axeman husband Rob—constantly entertains with his take on the foibles and dramas of his human companions. Chidgey’s writing is masterful, and the underlying sense of dread as the story unfolds is shot through with humour and humanity.’
Chosen from shortlists announced in March, the winners in each category of the Ockhams are:
Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction (NZ$64,000)
- The Axeman’s Carnival (Catherine Chidgey, Te Herenga Waka University Press)
General Nonfiction Award (NZ$12,000)
- The English Text of the Treaty of Waitangi (Ned Fletcher, Bridget Williams Books)
Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry (NZ$12,000)
- Always Italicise: How to write while colonised (Alice Te Punga Somerville [Te Āti Awa, Taranaki], Auckland University Press)
Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand Award for Illustrated Nonfiction (NZ$12,000)
- Jumping Sundays: The rise and fall of the counterculture in Aotearoa New Zealand (Nick Bollinger, Auckland University Press)
Hubert Church Prize for a best first work of fiction (NZ$3000)
- Home Theatre (Anthony Lapwood [Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Whakaue, Pākehā], Te Herenga Waka University Press)
Jessie Mackay Prize for a best first work of poetry (NZ$3000)
- We’re All Made of Lightning (Khadro Mohamed, We Are Babies Press, Tender Press)
Judith Binney Prize for a best first work of illustrated nonfiction (NZ$3000)
- Kai: Food stories and recipes from my family table (Christall Lowe [Ngāti Kauwhata, Tainui, Ngāti Maniapoto] (Bateman Books)
E H McCormick Prize for a best first work of general nonfiction (NZ$3000)
- Grand: Becoming my mother’s daughter (Noelle McCarthy, Penguin)
New Zealand Book Awards Trust Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa spokesperson Jenna Todd (Kāi Tahu) said this year’s winners are a demonstration of the quality and virtuosity of Aotearoa writers today. ‘It’s a joy to celebrate these innovative, thought-provoking, conversation-starting books across fiction, poetry, general nonfiction and illustrated nonfiction; each of them singing and fizzing and demanding to be read.’
Todd added, ‘These titles of excellence are a tribute to the broad range of publishers who produced them, from the boutique to the established and multinational. Publishers are the power houses behind these books and also deserve the recognition.’
The winners were announced at a public ceremony on 17 May during the 2023 Auckland Writers Festival. See last year’s winners here.
For more information about the awards, see the NZ Book Awards Trust website.
Category: Awards Local news