Canadian Children & YA
New Zealand
International Awards Index A-Z
International Children & YA
Note: International Award results on this site are updated periodically.

New Zealand Book Award List- winners - shortlists - books

Commonwealth Writers Prize

Organised and funded by the Commonwealth Foundation. It was first awarded in 1987. The Commonwealth Foundation is an intergovernmental organisation working in the 53 countries of the Commonwealth of Nations. The aim of this book award is to encourage new Commonwealth fiction, and to ensure that works of merit reach a wider audience outside their country of origin.

The Prize covers the Commonwealth regions of Africa, Europe and South Asia, The Caribbean and Canada, and South East Asia and the South Pacific. In Each of the four regions two prizes of £1,000 are awarded for the Best Book and for the Best First Book. Eight regional winners’ books are then judged by the A pan-Commonwealth panel. Authors win £10,000 for the overall Best Book and £5,000 for the Best First Book. Writers and judges come together in a final literary programme in a different Commonwealth country each year. 2009 Commonwealth Writers Prize details

Elsie Locke (LIANZA)

Awarded annually for the work which makes a distinguished contribution to non-fiction for young people and which has been published in the previous year. A medal and $1000.00 are awarded to the winner.

The Elsie Locke Award shall be awarded for a work that is considered to be a distinguished contribution to non-fiction for young people. The recipient(s) of the Award shall be a citizen or resident of New Zealand and must have been published in the preceding calendar year. No reprint or new edition of a work will be eligible for the Award but a substantially revised edition may be considered.

A medal and $1000.00 are awarded to the winner. Established in 1986

Esther Glen Award

The New Zealand Library and Information Association Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa offers annually an award, known as the Esther Glen Award. This award is offered annually to the author of the book which is considered to be the most distinguished contribution to literature for children aged 0-15, by an author who is a citizen or resident of New Zealand.

Gaelyn Gordon Award

Instituted in 1998, the Storylines Gaelyn Gordon Award commemorates the life and works of Gaelyn Gordon (1939-1997), and honours a book by a New Zealand author that has proved itself a long-standing favourite with New Zealand children, yet not won a major award.commemorates the life and works of Gaelyn Gordon (1939-1997), and honours a book by a New Zealand author that has proved itself a long-standing favourite with New Zealand children, yet not won a major award. Winners 1998 - present

Joy Cowley Award - Storylines

Inaugurated in 2002 and sponsored by Scholastic New Zealand, the Joy Cowley Award is given annually, when merited, for a 32-page picture book manuscript of not more than 1000 words for either very young or older children. The Joy Cowley Award is open to all New Zealand residents, and offers a monetary award of $1500, along with an offer of publication of the edited manuscript by Scholastic NZ.

Margaret Mahy Medal and Lecture Award - Storylines
The Margaret Mahy Medal Award is presented to a person who has made an especially significant contribution to children's literature, publishing or literacy, and honours New Zealand's leading author for children. The inaugural lecture was presented by Margaret Mahy in 1991. The prize is administerd by the Storylines Charitable Childrens Trust. Details

Montana New Zealand Book Awards

Formed in 1996, this single set of national awards combines the Montana (previously Goodman Fielder Wattie) Book Awards and the New Zealand Book Awards.

The Montana New Zealand Book Awards are supported by Montana Wines and administered by Booksellers New Zealand.

Over the years awards have been given in various combinations of the following categories: Fiction, Poetry, Illustrative Arts, Natural Heritage, Leisure & Lifestyle, (later Lives & Lifestyle), Readers' Choice, Honour Award, Book of the Year / Cultural Heritage, Deutz Medal for Fiction, Montana Medal for Non-Fiction, Best First Book of Poetry, Best First Book of Fiction, Best First Book of Non- Fiction, Reviewer of the Year, Best Review Page. More details of past and present winners and shortlists.

Ngä Kupu Ora Book Awards

Massey University is marking this year’s Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week) by celebrating excellence in Māori publishing.

Books on Māori topics published in 2008 or 2009 have been reviewed and shortlisted for the University’s inaugural Ngä Kupu Ora Book Awards. While mainly targeted at staff and students, anyone can view the short-listed finalists online and at the campus libraries to vote for the winners.

Kaihautū Māori (Māori Library Services Manager) Spencer Lilley says that the idea for organising book awards recognising Māori literature was a result of other major book awards consistently failing to include Māori items in their awards. “The only other book awards that has a regular Māori award is the Library and Information Association New Zealand Aotearoa Children’s Book Awards – Te Kura Pounamu Award, which recognises excellence in te reo Māori children’s books" More details

Nielsen BookData New Zealand Booksellers' Choice Award

The award is an established acknowledgement of the books that booksellers throughout the country have most enjoyed reading, selling and promoting. It is unique in that it acknowledges the key role booksellers play in supporting New Zealand writing and publishing. Booksellers are asked to vote for the book they have most enjoyed reading, selling and promoting.

The award carries a prize of $NZ2500 for the winning author. All booksellers who vote will enter a prize draw for a subscription to a Nielsen BookData bibliographic service. More details of past and present winners and shortlists.

New Zealand Post Awards for Children & Young Adults- New Zealand

Originally awarded a single prize for the Picture Story Book of the Year. Over the year the awards were expanded and some categories experienced name changes -

The awards are supported by New Zealand Post and administered by BooksellersNew Zealand. Awards are currently offered in the following categories: Book of the Year, Picture Book, JuniorFiction, Young Adult Fiction, Non-Fiction, Best First Book,Children's Choice Award - more

The Royal Society of New Zealand Science Book Prize

The nation's national science academy, has established a popular science book prize; the winner is to be announced at the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival on Friday 15 May, 2009

The prize is $10,000 for the (New Zealand resident) author/s and $2500 for the publisher. Submissions close on Thursday 5 February 2009. A simple application form is available on the Royal Society website at http://www.royalsociety.org.nz/

Russell Clark Award- New Zealand/Aotearoa

The Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (LIANZA) offers annually an award known as the Russell Clark Award. The award is for the artist who has produced the most distinguished pictures or illustrations for a children's book with, or without, text more

Sir Julius Vogel Awards

The Sir Julius Vogel awards are fan voted awards for various endeavours in the science fiction, fantasy or horror fields by New Zealanders. Professional nominations can be for novels, short stories, art and others. Fan nominations can be for fanzine, writing, art, services to fandom, services to science fiction and more. The awards are administered by The Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of New Zealand.

Sir Julius Vogel was a Prime Minister of New Zealand, and wrote in 1889 what was probably the first full length Science Fiction novel by a New Zealander, Anno Domini 2000 - A Woman's Destiny.

This book was strongly centred around New Zealand, and was a utopian view of the future in which women would hold many positions of authority. "Predictions" which have come true. More details of past and present winners and shortlists.

Storyline Notables- New Zealand/Aotearoa

Picture books (Books for children and/or young adults where the narrative is carried equally by pictures and story - more

Te Kura Pounamu Award.

The award is given to the author of a book that is considered to be a distinguished contribution written in Te Reo Maori to the literature for children or young people.

Tom Fitzgibbon Award-- New Zealand/Aotearoa

The Tom Fitzgibbon Award is administered by Storylines: Children's Literature Foundation of New Zealand and sponsored by Scholastic New Zealand Limited.

The award is for a work of narrative fiction appropriate for children between the ages of seven and thirteen years. It was established to honour the memory of Tom Fitzgibbon, the first chairman of the New Zealand Children's Book Foundation, and to recognise his unique contribution to children's literature in this country - more

International Guest Awards at Book Awards NZ

Amazon.co.uk Widgets

www.literaryawards.co.uk