Rugged, Characterful books win awards for Best First Book

Rugged New Zealand country and character is the over-riding theme in the three winning books for the New Zealand Society of Authors Best First Book section in the New Zealand Post Book Awards announced today. Each author wins a prize of $2,500.

The three New Zealand Society of Authors Best First Book winners are:

·         Best First Book – Fiction: Tough by Amy Head, published by Victoria University Press

·         Best First Book – Poetry: Horse with Hat by Marty Smith, illustrations by Brendan O’Brien, published by Victoria University Press, and

·         Best First book – Non-fiction: Tragedy at Pike River Mine by Rebecca Macfie, published by Awa Press.

The New Zealand Post Book Awards 2014 judging panel comprises broadcaster Miriama Kamo (panel convenor); acclaimed New Zealand artist, Dick Frizzell; award-winning Radio New Zealand presenter, Kim Hill; poet and novelist, Elizabeth Smither; and literary critic, Peter Simpson.

Miriama says, “Brimming with verve and energy, these three books stood up and declared themselves winners. One of the most exciting things about this trio is that they are not just the best in a field of new and untested authors, they are, in fact, simply excellent works that stack up against the toughest competition. We are thrilled to declare them winners of the New Zealand Society of Authors Best Book awards.”

Set on the West Coast, Amy Head’s Tough mines the ‘then and now in a literary panorama mirroring the very place upon which the collection is built.’ The judges said that Amy’s writing is clean, unfettered, yet fulsomely expressed.

“If Kiwi filmmaking can be characterised as ‘cinema of unease’, then Horse with Hat is the literary equivalent – dark, quiet, explosive and compelling. The book reflects those quintessential markers that so many New Zealand families will recognise, whether with joy or reluctance. Galloping from poem to poem, Marty’s work is an innovative and unsentimental observation of relationships, the most primal of all – within the family,” says Miriama.

The judges asked themselves what more could be said about the tragic events at Pike River? “It could have been easy for us to have looked at this book with a jaded cynicism. But this is the bigger picture in all its damning detail. From the first page this book grabs the reader and takes them on a

coal-ride of horrific proportions, reminding us of forgotten moments, contextualising events. And then there’s revelation after revelation.”

The judges agreed that each of these three books sports a confident, uncompromising and unique voice. Miriama concludes, “It may be all too neat, but the winners are united in a theme of mining.  Whether mining the anatomy of one tragic event, the particular characteristics of the West Coast and its occupants, or the depths of familial dynamics, this small but perfect collection is a triumph, rising above any dark moment to declare themselves as clear and worthy winners of the New Zealand Society of Authors Best First Books in the New Zealand Post Book Awards 2014. We congratulate Amy, Marty and Rebecca.”

Finalists announced on Wednesday, 23 July

The finalists in the New Zealand Post Book Awards 2014 will be announced on Wednesday, 23 July in the four categories of Fiction, Poetry, Illustrated Non-fiction and General Non-fiction as well as the four finalists in the Nielsen Booksellers’ Choice award. Voting in the popular People’s Choice opens on Wednesday, 23 July and closes on Friday, 15 August.

The winners of each category will be announced on Wednesday, 27 August at a glittering ceremony at Wellington’s Te Papa Museum, together with announcement of the overall winner who will be awarded the New Zealand Post Book of the Year prize.

The New Zealand Post Book Awards are managed by Booksellers New Zealand and sponsored by   New Zealand Post. The awards are also supported by Creative New Zealand and Book Tokens New Zealand.