Along with being awarded a publishing contract, the Allen & Unwin NZ Fiction Prize winner receives an advance against royalties of $10,000.

The prize is open to all unpublished full-length manuscripts in the fiction genre between 70,000 and 100,000 words in length, written by citizens and residents of New Zealand. Both debut and already-published authors are eligible to enter.

For regular updates and details on how to enter, go to www.allenandunwin.co.nz and follow Allen & Unwin NZ on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

The 2023 Allen & Unwin Fiction Prize winner, The Call by Auckland TV writer, showrunner and executive producer Gavin Strawhan, is out on 19 March. The Call is a taut, superbly plotted crime novel — set in rural coastal New Zealand and featuring a complex protagonist — with a shocking ending. It will be a lead fiction title for Allen & Unwin Australia and New Zealand.

Allen & Unwin New Zealand is delighted to announce that they have now sold more than 10,000 copies of Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts by Josie Shapiro, the inaugural winner of the Allen & Unwin NZ Fiction Prize.

Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts was the bestselling NZ fiction debut published in 2023, according to Nielsen BookScan. It has been a critical and commercial success here in New Zealand, and French rights have been sold.

Allen & Unwin NZ Publisher Michelle Hurley says, ‘While we knew we had uncovered a wonderful new talent in Josie Shapiro as soon as we read her manuscript, we have been overjoyed by its incredible success. Any New Zealand author who sells more than 10,000 copies of their novel is in a very small, special class indeed. We couldn’t be more delighted for Josie and we look forward to publishing her next novel in 2025.’

Allen & Unwin Fiction Prize winner Josie Shapiro says, ‘In a year full of incredible fiction debuts, I’m blown away by the immense support my novel has had from booksellers and readers. I have to acknowledge the team at Allen & Unwin NZ for all they’ve done for Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts, and my eternal thanks to everyone who has read my book.’

Josie Shapiro is now working on a second novel to be published by Allen & Unwin NZ in 2025.