Ockham NZ Book Awards 2026 Judges’ Announcement
Journalists, award-winning writers, reviewers, academics, curators and booksellers are among the 12 experts announced today by the New Zealand Book Awards Trust Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa as the judges of the 2026 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.
The $65,000 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction will be judged by novelist, short story writer and reviewer Craig Cliff (convenor); novelist, poet and Arts Foundation Te Tumi Toi Laureate Alison Wong; and bookseller, writer and reviewer Melissa Oliver (Ngāti Porou).
Judging the Mary and Peter Biggs Award for Poetry will be poet, musician and multi-disciplinary artist Daren Kamali (convenor); poet, writer, performer and editor Jordan Hamel; and writer, musician and translator Claudia Jardine.
The General Non-Fiction Award will be judged by journalist, author and reviewer Philip Matthews (convenor); academic and writer Georgina Stewart (Ngāpuhi-nui-tonu, Pare Hauraki); and screen director, producer and author Dan Salmon.
The BookHub Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction will be judged by art historian and curator Lauren Gutsell (convenor); photographer, moving-image artist, writer and academic Natalie Robertson (Ngāti Porou, Clann Dhonnchaidh); and non-fiction writer and former magazine editor Rebekah White.
New Zealand Book Awards chair Nicola Legat says this year’s judging panels have a wide range of experience, skills and interests, and are deep readers across all the categories of the awards.
“New Zealand publishing is in a vital, powerful state and the strong entries this year will really challenge the judges’ powers of expertise and discernment,” she says. “The Trust is very confident that our judges will do a splendid job.”
Submissions are currently open for the second tranche of entries for the 2026 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. Online entries for titles published between 1 September 2025 and 31 December 2025 close on Thursday 16 October 2025. Eligibility criteria and entry instructions can be found on the awards website.
Category longlists will be announced on 29 January 2026, and the shortlist of 16 books on 4 March 2026.The finalists and winners will be celebrated on 13 May 2026 at an awards ceremony held as part of the Auckland Writers Festival Waituhi o Tāmaki.
The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are supported by Ockham Residential, Creative New Zealand, the late Jann Medlicott and the Acorn Foundation, Mary and Peter Biggs CNZM, BookHub, The Mātātuhi Foundation, and the Auckland Writers Festival.
