New Zealand

Book award finalists announced

06:07 am on 23 July 2014

The Man Booker prize-winning novel The Luminaries is in line to pick up another award next month.

The book by New Zealand author Eleanor Catton is a finalist in the New Zealand Post Book Awards to be announced on 27 August.

Eleanor Catton. Photo: ROBERT CATTO

Rebecca Macfie's book Tragedy At Pike River Mine is also a finalist.

TV presenter Miriama Kamo is convening the judging panel for the awards, which also includes Radio New Zealand presenter Kim Hill.

FINALISTS

Fiction

  • The Bright Side of my Condition by Charlotte Randall, Penguin Books
  • The Last Days of the National Costume by Anne Kennedy, Allen & Unwin
  • The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton, Victoria University Press
  • Max Gate by Damien Wilkins, Victoria University Press

Poetry

  • Gathering Evidence by Caoilinn Hughes, Victoria University Press
  • Heartland by Michele Leggott, Auckland University Press
  • Horse with Hat by Marty Smith, Victoria University Press
  • Us, then by Vincent O'Sullivan, Victoria University Press

Illustrated non-fiction

  • Coast: A New Zealand journey by Bruce Ansley & Jane Ussher, Random House NZ (Godwit)
  • Greer Twiss: Sculptor by Greer Twiss, Dr Robin Woodward & Haru Sameshima, Ron Sang Publications
  • New Zealand and the First World War 1914-1919 by Damien Fenton, Penguin Books
  • Promoting Prosperity: The art of early New Zealand advertising by Peter Alsop and Gary Stewart, Craig Potton Publishing

General non-fiction

  • A History of Silence by Lloyd Jones, Penguin Books
  • Peter McLeavey: The life and times of a New Zealand art dealer by Jill Trevelyan, Te Papa Press
  • The Mighty Totara: The life and times of Norman Kirk by David Grant, Random House NZ
  • Tragedy at Pike River Mine by Rebecca Macfie, Awa Press

Nielsen Booksellers' Choice

  • Beyond the State: New Zealand state houses from modest to modern, by Bill McKay, Andrea Stevens & Simon Devitt, Penguin Books
  • Molesworth: Stories from New Zealand's largest high-country station by Harry Broad and Rob Suisted, Craig Potton Publishing
  • The Beginner's Guide to Hunting and Fishing in New Zealand by Paul Adamson, Random House NZ
  • The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton, Victoria University Press