Māori writers and issues are plentiful in this year’s Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.
Eight Māori finalists, including Monty Soutar, Alice Te Punga Somerville, Michael Bennett and Melinda Webber, are represented in all four categories – poetry, general non-fiction, fiction and illustrated non-fiction for the first time.
New Zealand Book Awards trust spokesperson Jenna Todd (Ngāi Tahu) says the achievement comes after having the largest pool of entries this year, “and are rising to the top in the most supreme, excellent awards in New Zealand”.
“What I think is fair to say now is that there is a rise in publication across all publishers and they’re seeing a demand for Māori stories, not just for Māori but for all people of Aotearoa. There’s a yearning for that,” she says.
Celebrating more Māori writers in this year's Book Awards.
Though established writers in their own right, two debutants in the awards include Māori historian Monty Soutar for his book Kawai and screenwriter Michael Bennett for his crime novel Better The Blood, among a rising number of tāne Māori writers included.
“The interesting things that really stood out for me, the majority of these books are looking at Māori identity and looking back to see where we come from.
“We have leaders in research who are finalists and we also see the true creativity and vibrancy that has been happening the whole time.
“Having these written down helps to have an understanding of where we come from. Also, we just need to celebrate the imagination of our kaituhi Māori. I would encourage everyone to pick them and, as a hot tip, when publishers see the demand for these books, they’re going to publish more of these stories.”
The full list of finalists can be found on the NZ Book Awards Trust's website.
