Two poetry collections longlisted in the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards this year — Ghosts by Siobhan Harvey and Tumble by Joanna Preston — mark a seven-year streak the publisher has had with at least one of its titles making the category top 10.
Publisher Sue Wootton, whose work The Yield was part of OUP’s run of excellence when it was shortlisted in 2018, said she was "absolutely delighted" with the news.
"We’re very proud of our authors. It’s just fantastic to see the recognition for those particular titles," she said.
The press’ perennial presence in the poetry field was "an acknowledgement of the long tradition of excellence in literature that OUP has fostered", Dr Wootton said.
She also made special mention of Alexander McKinnon, whose first book Come Back to Mona Vale: Life and Death in a Christchurch Mansion was longlisted for the general non-fiction award.
There was another local triumph for the Dunedin Public Art Gallery which published Joanna Margaret Paul: Imagined in the Context of a Room by Lauren Gutsell, Lucy Hammonds and Greg Donson — a finalist in the illustrated non-fiction category.
Shortlists of four titles will be revealed on March 2, and winners will be announced at a ceremony in May.
Finalists
Fiction
A Good Winter by Gigi Fenster (Text Publishing)
Aljce in Therapy Land by Alice Tawhai (Lawrence & Gibson)
Entanglement by Bryan Walpert (Makaro Press)
Everything Changes by Stephanie Johnson (Vintage, Penguin Random House)
Greta & Valdin by Rebecca K Reilly (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
Kurangaituku by Whiti Hereaka (Huia Publishers)
Loop Tracks by Sue Orr (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
She’s a Killer by Kirsten McDougall (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
The Pink Jumpsuit: Short Fictions, Tall Truths by Emma Neale (Quentin Wilson Publishing)
Unsheltered by Clare Moleta (Scribner Australia, Simon & Schuster)
Illustrated Non-Fiction
Bill Hammond: Across the Evening Sky by Peter Vangioni with Tony de Lautour, Rachael King, Nic Low, Paul Scofield and Ariana Tikao (Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu)
Conversatio: In the Company of Bees by Anne Noble with Zara Stanhope and Anna Brown (Massey University Press)
Dressed: Fashionable Dress in Aotearoa New Zealand 1840 to 1910 by Claire Regnault (Te Papa Press)
He Ringatoi o nga Tupuna: Isaac Coates and his Maori Portraits by Hilary and John Mitchell (Potton & Burton)
Hei Taonga ma nga Uri Whakatipu/Treasures for the Rising Generation: The Dominion Museum Ethnological Expeditions 1919–1923 edited by Wayne Ngata, Anne Salmond, Natalie Robertson, Amiria Salmond, Monty Soutar, Billie Lythberg, James Schuster and Conal McCarthy et al (Te Papa Press)
Joanna Margaret Paul: Imagined in the Context of a Room by Lauren Gutsell, Lucy Hammonds and Greg Donson (Dunedin Public Art Gallery)
NUKU: Stories of 100 Indigenous Women by Qiane Matata-Sipu (QIANE+co)
Shifting Grounds: Deep Histories of Tamaki Makaurau Auckland by Lucy Mackintosh (Bridget Williams Books)
Te Puna Waiora: The Distinguished Weavers of Te Kahui Whiritoi by Ngahuia Te Awekotuku, Donna Campbell, Awhina Tamarapa and Nathan Pohio (Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetu)
The Architect and the Artists: Hackshaw, McCahon, Dibble by Bridget Hackshaw (Massey University Press)
Poetry
Bird Collector by Alison Glenny (Compound Press)
Ghosts by Siobhan Harvey (Otago University Press)
Party Legend by Sam Duckor-Jones (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
Rangikura by Tayi Tibble (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
Sea-light by Dinah Hawken (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
Sleeping with Stones by Serie Barford (Anahera Press)
The Sea Walks into a Wall by Anne Kennedy (Auckland University Press)
Toku Papa by Ruby Solly (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
Tumble by Joanna Preston (Otago University Press)
Whai by Nicole Titihuia Hawkins (We Are Babies Press)
General Non-Fiction
After Dark: Walking into the Nights of Aotearoa by Annette Lees (Potton & Burton)
Bloody Woman by Lana Lopesi (Bridget Williams Books)
Come Back to Mona Vale: Life and Death in a Christchurch Mansion by Alexander McKinnon (Otago University Press)
Enough Horizon: The Life and Work of Blanche Baughan by Carol Markwell (The Cuba Press)
From the Centre: A Writer’s Life by Patricia Grace (Penguin, Penguin Random House)
He Kupu Taurangi: Treaty Settlements and the Future of Aotearoa New Zealand by Christopher Finlayson and James Christmas (Huia Publishers)
Helen Kelly: Her Life by Rebecca Macfie (Awa Press)
The Alarmist: Fifty Years Measuring Climate Change by Dave Lowe (Te Herenga Waka University Press)
The Mirror Book by Charlotte Grimshaw (Vintage, Penguin Random House)
Voices from the New Zealand Wars | He Reo no nga Pakanga o Aotearoa by Vincent O’Malley (Bridget Williams Books)
