Grim tales up for top book award

A look into two of New Zealand's darker tales have made the shortlist for this year's New Zealand Post Book Awards.

The finalists, selected from more than 160 entries, include a biography of Captain William Bligh, the target of naval history's most famous mutiny, and a detailed re-examination of the one of New Zealand's most shocking murders, the Parker and Hulme case.

Bligh: William Bligh in the South Seas, by Anne Salmond, and So Brilliantly Clever: Parker, Hulme and the Murder that Shocked the World, by Peter Graham, are two of the books vying for the country's top literary honour.

The vicious 1950s killing of a Christchurch mother which saw her teenage daughter Pauline Parker along with best friend Juliet Hulme spend five years in prison, also features in another book which has made the finals list - New Zealand Film: An Illustrated History.

Judging panel convenor Chris Bourke said the five finalists in each of the general and illustrated non-fiction categories were all unanimous decisions by the judges.

"The non-fiction categories feature writers who are working at the peak of their craft, finding new, original ways in which to portray New Zealand in print."

He said limiting themselves to just three finalists in the fiction and poetry categories was a far more difficult task however.

"Having all the categories restored to five finalists would more accurately represent the quality and breadth of New Zealand's writing.

"The same diversity is present in the fiction and poetry, and should be reflected in the shortlists," he said.

Chair of the awards governance group Sam Elworthy hinted at a return to the five-finalist format, saying  awards were under review and people could expect "exciting changes" next year.

"We are committed to ensuring writers are best served with these awards and the reduction in fiction and poetry finalists was made after extensive consultation with the literary community.

"Nonetheless, getting the right format for the country's premier book awards is all important. It is a challenge the governance group accept."

The panel of four judges, including writers David Eggleton, Mary Egan, Paula Green and also Bourke, chose the finalists for the awards - the overall winner of which will receive $15,000.

Winners of the four category awards will each receive $10,000, as will the winner of the Maori Language award. The winner of the People's Choice award, for which voting opens today,will take home $5000.

Winners will be announced at a gala dinner in Auckland on August 1.

THE FINALISTS

Fiction:

From Under the Overcoat, by Sue Orr (Vintage, Random House NZ)

Rangatira, by Paula Morris (Penguin Group, NZ)

The Trouble with Fire, by Fiona Kidman (Vintage, Random House NZ)

Poetry:

Bligh: William Bligh in the South Seas, by Anne Salmond (Viking, Penguin Group NZ)

The Broken Book, by Fiona Farrell (Auckland University Press)

The Hungry Heart: Journeys with William Colenso, by Peter Wells (Vintage, Random House NZ)

So Brilliantly Clever: Parker, Hulme and the Murder that Shocked the World, by Peter Graham (Awa Press)

Tupaia: The Remarkable Story of Captain Cook's Polynesian Navigator, by Joan Druett (Random House NZ)

Illustrated Non-Fiction:

A Micronaut in the Wide World: The Imaginative Life and Times of Graham Percy, by Gregory O'Brien (Auckland University Press)

New Zealand Film - An Illustrated History, by Diane Pivac with Frank Stark and Lawrence McDonald (Te Papa Press)

New Zealand's Native Trees, by John Dawson and Rob Lucas (Craig Potton Publishing)

Playing with Fire: Auckland Studio Potters Society Turns 50, by Peter Lange and Stuart Newby (Auckland Studio Potters Society, in conjunction with the National Institute of Creative Arts and Industries Centre for New Zealand Art Research and Discovery)

Whatu Kakahu/Maori Cloaks, by Awhina Tamarapa (Te Papa Press)

People's Choice:
Voting is now open at www.nzpostbookawards.co.nz and closes July 6.

- © Fairfax NZ News