Pope, who now calls Ireland home, was nominated in the rugby book section for his book entitled, If You Really Knew Me, which is co-authored by Kevin McDermot .
The awards were due to be handed out this morning, with Pope's autobiography up against the likes of the autobiographies of Lord Sebastian Coe and Australian swimming great Ian Thorpe.
Pope (51), who was brought up in Ashburton, first played for Otago in 1984 and made 84 appearances for Otago, finishing in 1993.
He was a No 8 for the Otago side for many years playing alongside Mike Brewer and Paul Henderson.
Although those two made it into the All Blacks, Pope never did in a period where there was a logjam of talent in New Zealand in that position.
The book describes Pope's rugby career in New Zealand, under then Otago coach Laurie Mains, and his desperation to wear the All Black jersey.
He played for the South Island and also made it to an All Black trial but never made the final step.
The book outlines all of that and also his subsequent experiences in Ireland where he has gone on to become a popular rugby analyst on television.
While in Dunedin he wrote a children's book and he has continued to do that in Ireland, where he has written six children books.
Pope initially played for University A in Dunedin and then Green Island.
Pope said he was thrilled to be nominated in such a prestigious competition, especially since the book has only been published in Ireland, and not the United Kingdom.
The book, which is not available in New Zealand stores at present, is not all about rugby and Pope talks about his battle with dysthymia - a type of depression - and his decision to move away from Otago in the early 1990s.
