“The spoken word is where I feel the poetry lives. Publishing it in a book was far scarier for me than speaking it on a stage in front of people.” — Nafanua Purcell Kersel, who won the poetry prize at...

Welcome to the biggest night in Aotearoa literature....

All Her Lives is only the fifth short story collection to win the prestigious NZ$65,000 prize in 58 years

All Her Lives is only the fifth short story collection to win the prestigious NZ$65,000 prize in 58 years First-time fiction writer Ingrid Horrocks has won New Zealand’s richest literary prize for her debut short story collection, All Her Lives. The Wellington-based poet, essayist and memoirist won the prestigious NZ$65,000 (A$53,000, £28,500) Jann Medlicott Acorn prize for fiction at the 2026 Ockham New Zealand book awards on Wednesday night. The book follows nine women across nine different life stages and generations, as they navigate politics, gender and motherhood. Continue reading...

Poet and performer Nafanua Purcell Kersel won for her first collection, Black Sugarcane.

There were nine prize categories up for grabs tonight the country's premier literary honours for books written by our very own New Zealanders.

Ingrid Horrocks says winning the New Zealand's biggest fiction prize is a massive confidence boost that encourages her to keep going.

All Her Lives is only the fifth short story collection to win the prestigious NZ$65,000 prize in 58 years

He Puawai, A Natural History of New Zealand Flowers by Emeritus Professor of Botany Philip Garnock Jones won the Judith Binney Prize for Illustrated Non-Fiction at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. ...

There were nine prize categories up for grabs tonight the country's premier literary honours for books written by our very own New Zealanders.

By Paula Morris

There were nine prize categories up for grabs tonight the country's premier literary honours for books written by our very own New Zealanders.

The ex-PM wins the People's Choice ahead of tonight's Ockham awards, and a Kaipara library wins the Greatest Book Prize of All Times

Any of the four illustrated books shortlisted for the Ockham prize might win it

A novel about a queer family hiding in plain sight is competing for next week's $65,000 fiction prize at the Ockhams