Finalists 2009

MONTANA MEDAL WINNER - FICTION 2009

Novel About My Wife - Emily Perkins

Bloomsbury, ISBN 978-074759-650-9  $27.99 pbk

The World's Fastest Flower - Charlotte Simmonds

Victoria University Press, ISBN 978-0-86473-576-8, $25.00 pbk

Nga Tama Toa: The Price of Citizenship, C Company 28 (Maori) Battalion 1939-1945  - Monty Soutar

David Bateman, ISBN 978-1-86953-593-3, $69.99 hbk

The fascinating story of C Company Māori Battalion told through personal recollections, eyewitness accounts, numerous anecdotes and fantastic photographs. At times heart-rending, at times heart-warming, this impressive book captures the special ‘spirit’ of the Māori Battalion — a remarkable book that documents the stories of those who were at the battlefront and at home.

The Propaganda Poster Girl - Amy Brown

Victoria University Press, ISBN 978-0-86473-574-4, $25.00 pbk

What emerges from this collection, without ever leaning on the familiar modes of confession, is a compelling self-portrait. Where other young poets might have found only feelings, Amy Brown finds images and scenes to carry the burden of disclosure. Rather than endless interiors, there’s a palpable, recognisable world in the work. This is a thoughtful, mature and provocative collection.
– Damien Wilkins

NZSA BEST FIRST BOOK OF POETRY 2009

Everything Talks - Sam Sampson

Auckland University Press, ISBN 978-1-86940-411-6, $24.99 pbk

If the poems in this collection by Sam Sampson are mysterious, they are also as true to immediate fact – informed by a particularly New Zealand nostalgia and sense of loss – as the poet can make them. In these poems of history and geography, of ships and sky, of flotsam and jetsam in an imaginary sea, many different voices may be heard . . . everything talks.

The Year of the Shanghai Shark - Mo Zhi Hong

Penguin Group (NZ), ISBN 978-014300-893-4, $28.00 pbk

This is a sophisticated story of China’s new generation severing ties with their cultural past, rich with a fascinating array of colourful characters who frequent their inner-city apartment block.  Hai Long is a teenager and as we meet a series of colourful characters in Hai Long’s life, we also watch him being trained in the ways of the pick-pocket.

Misconduct - Bridget van der Zijp

Victoria University Press, ISBN 978-0-86473-575-1, $30.00 pbk

Peter Peryer: Photographer - Peter Simpson & Peter Peryer

Auckland University Press, ISBN 978-1-86940-417-8, $59.99 pbk

ILLUSTRATIVE CATEGORY WINNER 2009

Len Castle: Making the Molecules Dance - Len Castle

Lopdell House Gallery, ISBN 978-0-95828-951-1, $135.00 hbk

Len Castle’s potting career, which started in 1947, spans the emergence, flourishing and subsequent transformation of the craft movement of the 20th century. His work epitomises its vitality, its deeply indigenous origins and the sophistication of its craftsmanship and artistry. He has been described as a ‘national treasure’.

Certain Words Drawn - John Reynolds

Godwit, ISBN 978-1-86962-149-0, $70.00 hbk

John Reynolds is one of New Zealand’s most significant and most admired contemporary artists. Certain Words Drawn brings together examples of his recent work and practice in a stunning book designed by Arch McDonnell of In House Design. Edited by University of Auckland professor Laurence Simmons, the book is generously laden with images and contains essays by, inter alia, Dianne Bardsley, Ian Wedde, Shirley and Roger Horrocks and Leigh Davis.