Below are the longlists for each of the four categories as selected by the panels of weary-eyed judges who have done god\u2019s work reading through all 178 entries. An asterisk means the book is a debut and therefore up for M\u0101t\u0101tuhi Foundation Best First Book Award (worth $3,000 each).<\/p>\n
Shortlists will be announced on March 4, and winners (including the best first book award recipients) will be revealed at a ceremony at the Auckland Writers Festival on May 13.<\/p>\n
The Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction ($65,000 prize)<\/p>\n
1985 by Dominic Hoey (Penguin, Penguin Random House)<\/p>\n
All Her Lives by Ingrid Horrocks (Te Herenga Waka University Press)<\/p>\n
Before the Winter Ends by Khadro Mohamed (Tender Press)<\/p>\n
Empathy by Bryan Walpert (M\u0101karo Press)<\/p>\n
Hoods Landing by Laura Vincent (Ng\u0101ti M\u0101hanga, Ng\u0101puhi) (\u0100poro Press)<\/p>\n
How to Paint a Nude by Sam Mahon (Ugly Hill Press)<\/p>\n
Star Gazers by Duncan Sarkies (Te Herenga Waka University Press)<\/p>\n
The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press)<\/p>\n
The Last Living Cannibal by Airana Ngarewa (Ng\u0101ti Ruanui, Ng\u0101 Rauru, Ng\u0101ruahine) (Moa Press)<\/p>\n
Wonderland by Tracy Farr (The Cuba Press)<\/p>\n
Notes: First thought: \u201cWhat? No Surplus Women!?\u201d I expected Michelle Duff\u2019s debut to be here: it\u2019s an especially strong collection of short stories and for me surpassed some of the novels from 2025. But, there you go. Tells you just how subjective book judging can be.<\/p>\n
Second thought: \u201cThe AI book covers did not pass go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Third thought: \u201cHave never heard of How to Paint a Nude by Sam Mahon: wild card.\u201d<\/p>\n
Predictions: I have strong feelings about at least half of this year\u2019s shortlist. I would be extremely surprised if Chidgey\u2019s The Book of Guilt<\/a> and Hoey\u2019s 1985<\/a> didn\u2019t make the final cut. Why? Catherine Chidgey, who has won this very award twice before, is a masterful novelist. The Book of Guilt is a ripping yarn that provokes and lingers \u2013 it deserves to hassle the remaining books for their money\u2019s worth. I\u2019m still sore that Chidgey\u2019s novel Pet didn\u2019t make the shortlist back in 2024 so I\u2019m hoping we won\u2019t be in for a repeat of that in this already kind of cursed year of 2026. Hoey\u2019s 1985 is his best novel yet: it\u2019s incredibly strong across tone, voice, plot, character and also contains the ineffable quality of a singular writer. I\u2019d be quite happy if it won.<\/p>\n As for the final two spots, that\u2019s murkier. Ingrid Horrocks\u2019 All Her Lives (Horrocks\u2019 first work of fiction) is representing the short story in fine form; but given Duff\u2019s exclusion I\u2019d say the judges\u2019 propensities are leaning towards the novel. Wonderland by Tracy Farr has fervent advocates<\/a> out there among readers and booksellers \u2013 it\u2019s an evocative, original book fictionalising elements of history while at the same time evoking 19th century Wellington in detail. Empathy by Bryan Walpert \u2013 shortlisted for this prize in 2022 for his novel Entanglement \u2013 is also being well received by readers; praised for its inventive concept (it\u2019s a dystopian-tinged thriller). Duncan Sarkies\u2019 alpaca allegory<\/a> has a good shot, too: original, funny, dark, political and timely, with some unforgettable scenes involving plucking alpaca fur, and ice cube trays. Airana Ngawera\u2019s The Last Living Cannibal is a rollicking read with a propulsive energy and marvellously compelling characters; Hoods Landing by Laura Vincent and Before the Winter Ends by Khadro Mohamed (winner of Best First Book, poetry, in 2023) are solid first novels with passionate readers rooting for them. But, I\u2019m going to put my money on Wonderland and Empathy making up the final four \u2013 it would be a real coup for indie Wellington publishers The Cuba Press and M\u0101karo. And between now and March 4, when the shortlist is announced, I\u2019ll read Sam Mahon\u2019s How to Paint a Nude and reassess the situation.<\/p>\n The Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry ($12,000 prize)<\/p>\n Black Sugarcane by Nafanua Purcell Kersel (Satupa\u2018itea, Fale\u0101lupo, Aleipata, Tuaefu) (Te Herenga Waka University Press)*<\/p>\n Clay Eaters by Gregory Kan (Auckland University Press)<\/p>\n E k\u014d, n\u014d hea koe by Matariki Bennett (Ng\u0101ti Pikiao, Ng\u0101ti Whakaue, Ng\u0101ti Hinerangi) (Dead Bird Books)*<\/p>\n Giving Birth to my Father by Tusiata Avia (Te Herenga Waka University Press)<\/p>\n If We Knew How to We Would by Emma Barnes (Auckland University Press)<\/p>\n Joss: A History by Grace Yee (Giramondo Publishing)<\/p>\n No Good by Sophie van Waardenberg (Auckland University Press)*<\/p>\n Sick Power Trip by Erik Kennedy (Te Herenga Waka University Press)<\/p>\n Standing on my Shadow by Serie Barford (Anahera Press)<\/p>\n Terrier, Worrier: A Poem in Five Parts by Anna Jackson (Auckland University Press)<\/p>\n Notes: First thought: \u201cSo many fine poets! Poor judges!\u201d<\/p>\n Second thought: \u201cGrace Yee is back!\u201d* (*Some readers may remember that in 2024 Yee won several awards, including this one,<\/a> for her magnificent book Chinese Fish, and is bound to be a powerful contender.)<\/p>\n Predictions: I would love to be a fly on the wall when the judges deliberate on the shortlist if only to learn precisely how they argue the merits of one collection over another when poetry is so idiosyncratic and the territory so vast. In the spirit of gambling I\u2019m going to hazard a stab at a top four based purely on vibes and personal preferences: Terrier, Worrier: A Poem in Five Parts by Anna Jackson (because I read it cover to cover \u2013 it would not let me put it down; and was an intensely curious exposure of an inner life that both fascinated and led me to ponder my own observations, worries and questions); Sick Power Trip by Erik Kennedy<\/a> (because it made me laugh, surprised me and it reflected a lot of how I feel about the crazed world we are in); Clay Eaters<\/a> by Gregory Kan (I was sort of mesmerised by this book about grief \u2013 for family, for a cat \u2013 and about living and working in Singapore in the National Armed Forces. There is something filmic about Kan\u2019s work \u2013 the images so clear and crisp and the poet\u2019s eye has a coolness to it, not quite detachment but observational while being intimate). The last spot I\u2019m going to give to Black Sugarcane by Nafanua Purcell Kersel<\/a> because the cycle of poems about the deadly tsunami that struck S\u0101moa, American S\u0101moa and Tonga in 2009 haunts me.<\/p>\n Atlas of the New Zealand Wars: Volume One 1834\u20131864, Early Engagements to the Second Taranaki War by Derek Leask (Auckland University Press)*<\/p>\n Books of Mana: 180 M\u0101ori-Authored Books of Significance edited by Jacinta Ruru (Raukawa, Ng\u0101ti Ranginui), Angela Walhalla (K\u0101i Tahu) and Jeanette Wikaira (Ng\u0101ti Pukenga, Ng\u0101ti Tamater\u0101, Ng\u0101puhi) (Otago University Press)<\/p>\n Garrison World: Redcoat Soldiers in New Zealand and Across the British Empire by Charlotte Macdonald (Bridget Williams Books)<\/p>\n Groundwork: The Art and Writing of Emily Cumming Harris by Michele Leggott and Catherine Field-Dodgson (Rongowhakaata, Ng\u0101i T\u0101manuhiri, Te Aitanga a Mahaki) (Te Papa Press)<\/p>\n He Pu\u0101wai: A Natural History of New Zealand Flowers by Philip Garnock-Jones (Auckland University Press)*<\/p>\n Mark Adams: A Survey \u2013 He Kohinga Whakaahua by Sarah Farrar (Massey University Press and Auckland Art Gallery Toi o T\u0101maki)<\/p>\n Mr Ward\u2019s Map: Victorian Wellington Street by Street by Elizabeth Cox (Massey University Press)<\/p>\n Takoto ai te Marino: Selected Works 2018-2025 by Raukura Turei (Ng\u0101 Rauru K\u012btahi, Taranaki, Ng\u0101ti P\u0101oa, Ng\u0101i Tai ki T\u0101maki), Greta van der Star, Vanessa Green and Katie Kerr (Raukura Turei)*<\/p>\n The Collector: Thomas Cheeseman and the Making of the Auckland Museum by Andrew McKay and Richard Wolfe (Massey University Press)<\/p>\n Whenua edited by Felicity Milburn, Chloe Cull (Ng\u0101i Tahu, Ng\u0101i te Ruahikihiki) and Melanie Oliver (Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhet\u016b)<\/p>\n Notes: First thought: \u201cDon\u2019t fall asleep with any of these: they\u2019ll cause injuries if they fall on your face.\u201d<\/p>\n Second thought: \u201cThe sheer volume of hours spent on creating these books collectively must add up to at least one average lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n Predictions: Elizabeth Cox\u2019s Mr Ward\u2019s Map<\/a> has gone off; in Wellington at least. It\u2019s a gold mine of social history in a cloth-bound package with enough mappage to win over the most intense of cartography enthusiasts. I think it\u2019s a sure-fire for the shortlist. After that I think Books of Mana<\/a> has a decent shot: a brilliantly reference-able container for M\u0101ori-authored books that actually left me wanting more (the over 180 books listed are all non-fiction; I am pestering for the fiction edition next). The Te Papa Press contender \u2013 Groundwork<\/a> \u2013 is an object of beauty and intrigue as Michele Leggott and Catherine Field-Dodgson unravel the curious life of early botanical artist Emily Cumming Harris. Based purely on \u201cwow factor\u201d, Philip Garnock-Jones<\/a>\u2018 Pu\u0101wai has it in spades: the 3D photograph of indigenous flowers are wondrous and work to draw the reader in and make it a sort of all-ages object, too.<\/p>\n The General Nonfiction Award ($12,000 prize)<\/p>\n 50 Years of the Waitangi Tribunal: Whakamana i te Tiriti edited by Carwyn Jones (Ng\u0101ti Kahungunu, Te Aitanga-a-M\u0101haki) and Maria Bargh (Te Arawa, Ng\u0101ti Awa) (Huia Publishers)<\/p>\n A Different Kind of Power by Jacinda Ardern (Penguin, Penguin Random House)*<\/p>\n An Uncommon Land: From an Ancestral Past of Enclosure Towards a Regenerative Future by Catherine Knight (Totara Press)<\/p>\n Everything But the Medicine: A Doctor\u2019s Tale by Lucy O\u2019Hagan (Massey University Press)*<\/p>\n Hardship and Hope: Stories of Resistance in the Fight Against Poverty in Aotearoa by Rebecca Macfie (Bridget Williams Books)<\/p>\n Northbound: Four Seasons of Solitude on Te Araroa by Naomi Arnold (HarperCollins Aotearoa New Zealand)<\/p>\n Polkinghorne: Inside the Trial of the Century by Steve Braunias (Allen & Unwin)<\/p>\n Ruth Dallas: A Writer\u2019s Life by Diana Morrow (Otago University Press)<\/p>\n The Covid Response: A Scientist\u2019s Account of New Zealand\u2019s Pandemic and What Comes Next by Shaun Hendy (Bridget Williams Books)<\/p>\n The Hollows Boys: A Story of Three Brothers & the Fiordland Deer Recovery Era by Peta Carey (Potton & Burton)<\/p>\n The Middle of Nowhere: Stories of Working on the Manap\u014duri Hydro Project by Rosemary Baird (Canterbury University Press)*<\/p>\n The Welcome of Strangers: A History of Southern M\u0101ori by Atholl Anderson (Bridget Williams Books and Te R\u016bnanga o Ng\u0101i Tahu)<\/p>\n This Compulsion in Us by Tina Makereti (Te \u0100tiawa, Ng\u0101ti T\u016bwharetoa, Ng\u0101ti Rangatahi-Matakore, P\u0101keh\u0101) (Te Herenga Waka University Press)<\/p>\n Tony Fomison: Life of the Artist by Mark Forman (Auckland University Press)<\/p>\n Notes: First thought: \u201c#$#$%. Where is Nadine Hura\u2019s Slowing the Sun!? I\u2019m floored that this superb essay collection was skipped on this, the longest of the lists.\u201d<\/p>\n Second thought: \u201cI\u2019ve been asked to stop whining about this category so I\u2019ll just point to previous whines<\/a> and leave it there.\u201d<\/p>\n Third thought: \u201cGrant Robertson: snubbed. We\u2019re not getting over Jacinda Ardern<\/a> any time soon, are we.\u201d<\/p>\n Predictions: I\u2019ll be pissy if Naomi Arnold\u2019s Northbound<\/a> isn\u2019t on the shortlist. I think about Arnold traipsing through mud from hell and hearing the voice of God and eating sugary snacks until her molars melt all the time. Her writing is immediate and evocative and thanks to this book I can tick Te Araroa off my list: I feel like I was there, walking 40km a day despite my toes falling off, with Arnold the whole way. Simply fantastic writing and an intimate window into what it means to immerse, obsess, complete. I also really want This Compulsion in Us<\/a> to be on the shortlist. Makereti is one of our great writers and this collection goes deep with her precise, generous mind. Rebecca Macfie, national treasure, brought us Hardship and Hope: Stories of Resistance in the Fight Against Poverty in Aotearoa \u2013 both an infuriating and mobilising read, essential for anyone who cares about the daily lives of our most vulnerable and the shitty systems that govern poverty (and wealth). As for the third spot? I suspect Braunias\u2019 Polkinghorne book will make the cut, but in my fantasy line-up I\u2019m putting Ruth Dallas: A Writer\u2019s Life by Diana Morrow. Dallas was a poet that many might have heard of but few know anything about. Morrow\u2019s book slunk under the radar a bit in 2025 but it\u2019s a hugely important piece of work that illuminates the quiet persistence of this really quite remarkable woman who forged a body of work in post-war Aotearoa when men tended to dominate the literary scene.<\/p>\n Thoughts and prayers to the judges:\u00a0<\/p>\n The Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction is judged by novelist, short story writer and reviewer Craig Cliff\u00a0(convenor); novelist, poet and Arts Foundation Te Tumi Toi Laureate\u00a0Alison Wong; and bookseller, writer and reviewer\u00a0Melissa Oliver\u00a0(Ng\u0101ti Porou).<\/p>\n Judging the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry are poet, musician and multi-disciplinary artist\u00a0Daren Kamali\u00a0(convenor); poet, writer, performer and editor\u00a0Jordan Hamel; and writer, musician and translator\u00a0Claudia Jardine.<\/p>\n The General Non-Fiction Award judges are journalist, author and reviewer\u00a0Philip Matthews\u00a0(convenor); academic and writer\u00a0Georgina Stewart\u00a0(Ng\u0101puhi-nui-tonu, Pare Hauraki); and screen director, producer, and author\u00a0Dan Salmon.<\/p>\n The BookHub Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction is judged by art historian and curator\u00a0Lauren Gutsell\u00a0(convenor); photographer, moving-image artist, writer and academic\u00a0Natalie Robertson\u00a0(Ng\u0101ti Porou, Clann Dhonnchaidh); and non-fiction writer and former magazine editor\u00a0Rebekah White.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Announcing the 44 books competing for the year\u2019s major literary awards. This year\u2019s Ockhams have already been in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":257875,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[489,7421,148511,73267,42,48715,148512,43,97143,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-257874","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-books","tag-catherine-chidgey","tag-dominic-hoey","tag-duncan-sarkies","tag-headlines","tag-jacinda-ardern","tag-jann-medlicott-acorn-prize-for-fiction","tag-news","tag-ockhams","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257874","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=257874"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/257874\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/257875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=257874"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=257874"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=257874"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Catherine Chidgey, two-time Ockhams winner, and longlisted in 2026 for The Book of Guilt.<\/p>\n
Nafanua Purcell Kersel, shortlisted for her debut poetry book, Black Sugarcane. Photo: Ebony Lamb.
\nThe BookHub Award for Illustrated Nonfiction ($12,000 prize)<\/p>\nThe editors of Books of Mana: Angela Wanhalla, Jacinta Ruru and Jeanette Wikaira.<\/p>\n
Tina Makereti, longlisted for her essay collection This Compulsion in Us. Photo: Ebony Lamb.<\/p>\n