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Applications are open for the NZSA Heritage Book Awards 2022

The NZSA Heritage Book Awards are proudly bought to you by the New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa (NZSA) and celebrate New Zealand writers who have published work in the previous year to the opening date of the awards. First established in 2014 by the Canterbury branch of NZSA, the awards are now well established on the New Zealand writers’ calendar.

NZSA Heritage Book Awards are open to self-published and traditionally published books and have inclusivity and diversity at the heart of their kaupapa. To be eligible to enter, books must be available in hard copy, have been published between 1 June 2021 and 1 June 2022.

The categories are:

  • Non-Fiction
  • Fiction
  • Te Reo Māori (both bilingual and Te Reo)
  • Children’s
  • Poetry (new for 2022)

Past winners include Fiona Farrell, Witi Ihimaera, Whiti Hereaka, Brian Turner, Caroline Barron and Fiona Kidman. In 2021 the winners were ROCK COLLEGE: An unofficial history of Mount Eden Prison by Mark Derby (Massey University Press), EVERYTHING CHANGES by Stephanie Johnson (Vintage), I AM THE UNIVERSE by Vasanti Unka, (Puffin Books, Penguin Random House), HE ITI TE KUPU: Māori metaphors and similes by Hona Black (Oratia Books).

Judges for the NZSA Heritage Book Awards 2022 are:

  • Non-fiction - David Veart and Julia Gatley
  • Fiction - Philippa Werry
  • Te Reo Māori - Vaughan Rapatahana
  • Children’s - Kyle Mewburn
  • Poetry - Kiri Piahana-Wong

Winners of the Fiction and Non-fiction book awards will each receive $1000; Te Reo Māori book award, Children’s book award, and Poetry book award winners will receive $300 each.

The competition opens on 1 June and closes on 1 August 2022. All entries should have some relationship with the theme of the Christchurch Heritage Festival 2022: Our Stories - Milestones and Moments. Find out more / terms and conditions / application form

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Canterbury branch short prose and poetry competition

The Canterbury branch of NZSA will continue to run a short prose and poetry competition in association with the Heritage Book Awards and the Christchurch Heritage Festival. Information about the competition can be found here.