After an extended judges’ deliberation, due to the high quality and diverse range of entrants this year, The Ngaio Marsh Awards are stoked to at last reveal our longlist for the 2026 Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel.

12 terrific stories from 12 terrific Kiwi storytellers. Congratulations to:

• Lucky Thing by Tom Baragwanath
• Carved In Blood by Michael Bennett
• Softly Calls the Devil by Christopher Blake
• The Birds Began to Sing by Jeffrey Buchanan
• Black Silk and Buried Secrets by Deborah Challinor
• The Deadly Dispute by Amanda Hampson
• Bella Donna by Jill Johnson
• The Good Father by Liam McIlvanney
• When the Deep, Dark Bush Swallows You Whole by Geoff Parkes
• The Vanishing Place by Zoe Rankin
• Hooked Up by Fiona Sussman
• A Beautiful Family by Jennifer Trevelyan

The finalists for all the 2026 categories – Best Novel, Best First Novel, and Best Kids/YA – will be announced later in Spring.