Damien Wilkins

Tilly peers into her New Zealand Post Awards crystal ball…

The Read thought it would be fun to ask an eminent bookseller to pre guess the judges’ nominations for the first New Zealand Post Book Awards which will be announced  next Tuesday, June 22.

We chose Tilly Lloyd because we were doing the profile of Unity Wellington, and what the heck, it saved money on toll calls.

Ms Lloyd, however, took to her task with High Court gravity. As she had been out of the country on sabbatical during some of the awards period, she consulted with colleagues regarding titles she may have overlooked.

Deutz Medal For Fiction or Poetry
Fiction
The Book of Fame, Lloyd Jones (Penguin Books)

Fiction runners-up
The Curative, Charlotte Randall (Penguin Books)
Nineteen Widows Under Ash, Damien Wilkins (Victoria University Press)

Montana Medal for Non Fiction
Wrestling With The Angel: A Life of Janet Frame, Michael King (Viking)

Poetry
The Bells of St Babel's, Allen Curnow (Auckland University Press)

History & Biography
Parihaka: The Art of Passive Resistance, edited by Te Miringa Hohaia, Gregory O'Brien & Lara Strongman (City Gallery Wellington, the Trustees of Parihaka Pa and Victoria University Press)

Environment
Dancing Leaves: The Story of New Zealand's Cabbage Tree, Ti Kouka, Philip Simpson (Canterbury University Press)

Lifestyle
Fresh, Julie Biuso & Ian Batchelor (photographer) (New Holland Publishers)

Illustrative Arts
Ralph Hotere: Black Light, edited by Ian Wedde (Te Papa Press & Dunedin Public Art Gallery)

Readers' Choice Award
Wrestling With The Angel: A Life of Janet Frame, Michael King (Viking)

Hubert Church Best First Book of Fiction
Emerald Budgies, Karyn Hay (Vintage)

Jessie Mackay Best First Book of Poetry
Animals Indoors, Stephanie de Montalk (Victoria University Press)

E.H. McCormick Best First Book of Non-Fiction
Pukaki: A Comet Returns, Paul Tapsell (Reed Publishing)

A W Reed Lifetime Achievement Award
Dame Fiona Kidman

Review Pages/Section Of The Year Award
The Evening Post

Reviewer of the Year Award
David Eggleton

Deutz Medal For Fiction or Poetry
Blindsight, Maurice Gee (Penguin Books)

Montana Medal for Non Fiction
Pohutukawa & Rata: New Zealand's Iron-hearted Trees, Philip Simpson (Te Papa Press)

Fiction
Blindsight, Maurice Gee (Penguin Books)

Fiction runners-up
Responsibility, Nigel Cox (Victoria University Press)
The Captive Wife, Fiona Kidman (Vintage)

Poetry
Lifted, Bill Manhire (Victoria University Press)

History
Thrift to Fantasy: Home Textile Crafts of the 1930s-1950s, Rosemary McLeod (HarperCollins Publishers)

Biography
Dingle: Discovering the Sense in Adventure, Graeme Dingle (Craig Potton Publishing)

Environment
Pohutukawa & Rata: New Zealand's Iron-hearted Trees, Philip Simpson (Te Papa Press)

Lifestyle & Contemporary Culture
How to Look at a Painting, Justin Paton (Awa Press)

Illustrative
Contemporary New Zealand Photographers, Hannah Holm & Lara Strongman (eds.) (Mountain View Publishing)

Reference & Anthology
Great Sporting Moments: The best of Sport magazine 1988-2004, Damien Wilkins (ed.) (Victoria University Press)

Readers' Choice Award
Blindsight, Maurice Gee (Penguin Books)
The Captive Wife, Fiona Kidman (Vintage)

Hubert Church Best First Book of Fiction
A Red Silk Sea, Gillian Ranstead (Penguin Books)

Jessie Mackay Best First Book of Poetry
Dream Fish Floating, Karlo Mila (Huia Publishers)

E.H. McCormick Best First Book of Non-Fiction
Pakeha and the Treaty: Why It's Our Treaty Too, Patrick Snedden (Random House New Zealand)

Review Page or Programme of the Year Award
Dominion Post

Reviewer of the Year Award
Jolisa Gracewood

Montana Medal For Fiction or Poetry
Mister Pip, Lloyd Jones (Penguin Books)

Montana Medal for Non Fiction
Eagles Complete Trees and Shrubs of New Zealand, Audrey Eagle (Te Papa Press)

Fiction
Mister Pip, Lloyd Jones (Penguin Books)

Fiction runners-up
The Fainter, Damien Wilkins (Victoria University Press)
The Cowboy Dog, Nigel Cox (Victoria University Press)

Poetry
The Goose Bath, Janet Frame (Vintage)

History
Vaka Moana: Voyages of the Ancestors, K.R. Howe (ed.) (David Bateman)

Biography
Douglas Lilburn: His Life and Music, by Philip Norman (Canterbury University Press)

Environment
Ghosts of Gondwana, by George Gibbs (Craig Potton Publishing)

Lifestyle & Contemporary Culture
Stitch: Contemporary New Zealand Textile Artists, Ann Packer (Random House)

Illustrative
Eagles Complete Trees and Shrubs of New Zealand, Audrey Eagle (Te Papa Press)

Reference & Anthology
Furniture of the New Zealand Colonial Era: An Illustrated History 1830-1900, William Cottrell (Reed Publishing)

Readers' Choice Award
Mister Pip, Lloyd Jones (Penguin Books)

Hubert Church Best First Book of Fiction
The Sound of Butterflies, Rachael King (Black Swan)

Jessie Mackay Best First Book of Poetry
Secret Heart, Airini Beautrais (Victoria University Press)

E.H. McCormick Best First Book of Non-Fiction
Furniture of the New Zealand Colonial Era: An Illustrated History 1830-1900, William Cottrell (Reed Publishing)

Review Page or Programme of the Year Award
New Zealand Listener

Reviewer of the Year Award
David Eggleton

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