The 2018 awards will follow the same format. There will be four categories
- A non-fiction book award (prize $1000), judged by Tom Brooking.
- A novel or collection of short stories (prize $1000), judged by Fiona Farrell who won the fiction award last year.
- A short prose award. This can be a short story, memoir or article of not more than 1800 words (prize $200). This award is judged by Owen Marshall and is sponsored by Wily Publications Ltd.
- A poem with a maximum length of 50 lines (prize $200). This is judged by Bernadette Hall.
All entries have to focus on some aspect of New Zealand’s heritage and should have at least a nominal connection with this year’s theme for Christchurch’s Heritage Week – ‘Strength through Struggle’. The awards programme is held in conjunction with the Beca Heritage week in Christchurch which is a City Council initiative.
The short list will be announced on 20 September 2018 and the finalist will be announced at an Award ceremony of 20 October 2018, during Heritage week in Christchurch.
Entries for the awards open on 1 July 2018 and close on 20 August 2018. Book entries both fiction and non-fiction should be posted to
NZ Heritage Book Awards
C/- Tom Brooking,
Department of History and Art History,
University of Otago
PO Box 56,
Dunedin, 9054
Cost for entering a book is $35 and the competition is open to all New Zealanders resident here or abroad or others resident here. Self-published books provided they are printed are acceptable. We do not at this stage have the facility for e-books. Payments for entering books are to made on-line to 03-0855038-6073. Use your name, the title of the work, and genre to identify your entry.
Entries for the short fiction and prose are to be entered on-line or emailed to heritageweek2018@gmail.com
The cost of entering these competitions is $15 per entry. Again, the payment for the entry is to be made on line at 03-855038-6973-00
Use your name and add the title of the work and its genre in the reference and code.
New Zealand Heritage Book & Writing Awards