Tangata Whenua wins at the Maori Book Awards

A book seven years in the making has consolidated its place as one of the country’s most original and important contemporary works.

Last night, Tangata Whenua: An Illustrated History by Atholl Anderson, Judith Binney and Aroha Harris, published by Bridget Williams Books, won the history section in the prestigious 2015 Ngā Kupu Ora Aotearoa Māori Book Awards. As Judge Sheeanda Field said, the awards acknowledge: ‘Māori writing about Māori, in a Māori way and with a Māori voice – and that’s really important’.

Melissa Matutina Williams’s new history of urban migration, Panguru and the City: Kāinga Tahi, Kāinga Rua, was also shortlisted in the awards – and Dr Williams shared in last night’s celebration too as a contributor to Tangata Whenua.

This accolade follows Tangata Whenua’s triumph in winning the 2015 Royal Society of New Zealand Science Book Prize in May 2015 – and a Special Industry Award for Bridget Williams