NEW ROYAL SOCIETY OF NEW ZEALAND SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE FOR WRITERS AND PUBLISHERS

The Royal Society of New Zealand, our national science academy, has established a popular science book prize; the winner is to be announced at the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival on Friday 15 May.

The prize is $10,000 for the (New Zealand resident) author/s and $2500 for the publisher. Submissions close on Thursday 5 February 2009. A simple application form will be available on www.royalsociety.org.nz in a couple of weeks.

The judges are: Professor Jean Fleming, University of Otago; Associate Professor Harry Ricketts, Victoria University of Wellington; and Professor Brian Boyd, The University of Auckland. The shortlist will be announced at the end of March.

The definition of popular science books, for the purpose of this prize, is: books about science which do not require a specialist knowledge in the subject of the book in order to be read, enjoyed and understood.”

Works of fiction, books which are essentially illustrative, reference and children’s books will not be eligible for the prize.

For further information, please contact Glenda Lewis, Royal Society of New Zealand, glenda.lewis@royalsociety.org.nz