The NZSA New Zealand Heritage Literary Awards had entries from all over Aotearoa in 2020. The Shortlist was announced on 14 October.

The Awards Ceremony announcing the winners is part of the WORD Christchurch Festival. This free event on Thursday 29 October, 7.00pm (St Michael & All Angels, 95-99 Oxford Tce) is open to all, and brings together writers and publishers from all over the country to celebrate historical writing.

Categories include book awards for fiction and non-fiction, short prose, poetry and new categories for a children’s book and a book in te reo Māori. Winner readings and judges comments will be followed by a light supper. All welcome.

See more at New Zealand Society of Authors

SHORTLIST

FICTION

Frankie McMillan, The Father of Octopus Wrestling (Canterbury University Press

Joanna Orwin, Shifting Currents (Joanna Orwin)

Fiona Kidman, All the Way to Summer (Vintage Penguin Random House)

Renee, The Wild Card (The Cuba Press)

Cristina Sanders, Jerningham (The Cuba Press)

John Horrocks, Dark Empire (Steele Roberts Aotearoa Publishers)

P.J McKay, The Telling Time (Polako Press)

Tom Remiger, Soldiers (Text Publishing Company)

Helen J O'Neill (ed), The Stories of Eileen Duggan (Victoria University Press)

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

The Adventures of Tupaia, Courtney Sina Meredith and Mat Tait (Allen & Unwin)

Hindsight: Pivotal Moments in New Zealand History, Mandy Hager, (OneTree House)

Icebreaker! An Epic Antarctic Adventure, Maria Gill, illustrated by Alistair Hughes (New Holland)

Lost Wonders: Vanished Creatures of Aotearoa, Sarah Ell, illustrated by Phoebe Morris (Allen & Unwin)

New Zealand Nature Heroes, Gillian Candler (Potton & Burton)

BOOKS IN TE REO MĀORI

Haare Williams - Words of a Kaumātua, Witi Ihimaera Ed. (Auckland University Press)

Whakarongo ki ō tūpuna, Darryn Joseph (Oratia Books)

Te Reo Māori, David Kārena-Holmes (Oratia Books)

NON-FICTION

Agnew, Jenny Sew Hoy & Trevor Agnew, Merchant Miner Mandarin: The Life and Times of Remarkable Choie Sew Hoy (Canterbury University Press)

Vivienne Allan, Leading Lady: Eve Poole - A Life in the Spotlight (Quentin Wilson Publishing )

Shaun Barnett and Chris Maclean, Leading the Way: 100 Years of the Tararua Tramping Club (Tararua Tramping Club in conjunction with Potton & Burton )

Caroline Barron, Ripiro Beach: A Memoir of Life After Near Death (Bateman Books )

Leonard Bell, Marti Friedlander: Portraits of the Artists (Auckland University Press )

John Newton, Llew Summers: Body and Soul (Canterbury University Press)

Dougal Rillstone, Upstream on the Mataura (Mary Egan Publishing )

Tim Saunders, This Farming Life: Five Generations on a New Zealand Farm (Allen & Unwin )

Tom Scott, Searching for Charlie: In Pursuit of the Real Charles Upham VC & Bar (Upstart Press )

Peter Simpson, Colin McCahon: Volumes I and II (Auckland University Press )

Ian Smith, Pākehā Settlements in a Māori World: New Zealand Archaeology 1769-1860 (Bridget Williams Books )

C Karl Stead, You Have a Lot to Lose (Auckland University Press)

Michael Willis, Rescue: One New Zealander’s Crusade to Save Endangered Animals (Quentin Wilson Publishing )

POETRY

Colonial Commodity, Karen Zelas

Te Mana o Te Wai, Mike Riddell

The Last Blacksmith, Jenna Heller

Airing the Family Linen, Jenni Curtis

The Woman from Deerschaw, Jenni Curtis

Hiruhārama, Gregory Dally

Whitebait, Janet Newman

View from Pigeon Island Lake Wakitipu, Husayn Rawlings

Auntie Marg, Louise Hart

Combat Ready, Sherry Grant

Let me Connect the Homes, Rachel McAlpine

Reg Lee, Kay McKenzie Cooke

On a Mat at the Bottom of the World, Kay McKenzie Cooke

Blackberry Days, Kay McKenzie Cooke

SHORT PROSE

Small Moments in the History of a Small Country, Paul Maunder

Land Wars?, Marcus Hobson

Season of Seven Summers, Nod Ghosh

The Gate, Janet Newman

Weaving my Family's Stories, Jean Rath

The Tearooms, Mandy McMullin