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The Montana New Zealand Book Awards finalists have been announced. 

The judging panel said the finalist books represent the culmination of a period of cultural self-awareness and broadening.

“Janet Frame once described New Zealand, somewhat slightingly, as possessing ‘a rich material culture’. In the past this has perhaps gone with a lack of richness in the non-material aspects of culture. If so, many of the books in this year’s awards demonstrate that that lack has been amply satisfied over the last year,” they said.

The judging panel includes Dr. Mark Williams, novelist and reviewer Jane Westaway and journalist and critic, Margo White.

The awards are for the best books published in 2008 in Fiction, Poetry, Biography, History, Reference & Anthology, Environment, Illustrative, and Lifestyle & Contemporary Culture.

One of the five fiction finalists is debut novelist, Eleanor Catton for her book, The Rehearsal; a work that has launched her onto the international stage, being snapped up by major-league publishers in the US and UK.

Another finalist is Kate De Goldi’s The 10PM Question. Already the Book of the Year at this year’s New Zealand Post Book Awards, this age-defying book’s Montana shortlisting makes history as the first to be simultaneously selected for both the children’s and adult’s national awards.

2009 Montana New Zealand Book Awards judges’ convenor, Dr. Mark Williams described the fiction category as showing “variety and sophistication.”

“The fiction finalists take us inside the land of teenage anxieties and excitations, a world where emotion is physical and sex is as ubiquitous as thought, and where adult codes cannot overwhelm the force of desire. We even enter the worlds of science and political correctness.

“Last year's publishing crop was rich and various. We enjoyed lavish books on food, domestic architecture, gardening and the arts; challenging fiction and poetry; gripping biography and impressive works of history. All are evidence that the literary culture of this country is not about to roll over and die in the face of hard economic times,” says Dr Williams.

This year’s Poetry category finalists are also stand-outs.

“Something significantly new has been achieved in poetic practice in this country. This year produced collections of individual poems and sequences that will stay in the minds of readers.”

More than 200 books were submitted for consideration in this year’s Awards.

Now in their 13th year, the Montana-sponsored Awards have a strict set of guidelines. The judging panel takes into account enduring literary merit and overall authorship; quality of illustration and graphic presentation; production values; general design; the standard of editing and the impact of the book on the community.

The full list of finalists in the 2009 Montana New Zealand Book Awards by category are:

Fiction

The Crocus Hour by Charlotte Randall (Penguin Group New Zealand).
The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton (Victoria University Press).
The 10PM Question by Kate De Goldi (Longacre Press).
Acid Song by Bernard Beckett (Longacre Press).
Novel About My Wife by Emily Perkins (Allen & Unwin).

Poetry

Get Some by Sonja Yelich (Auckland University Press).
The Lakes of Mars by Chris Orsman (Auckland University Press).
The Rocky Shore by Jenny Bornholdt (Victoria University Press).

Biography

Rita Angus: An Artist’s Life by Jill Trevelyan (Te Papa Press).
The Love School: Personal Essays by Elizabeth Knox (Victoria University Press).
Heaphy by Iain Sharp (Auckland University Press).

Environment

A Continent on the Move: New Zealand Geoscience into the 21st Century edited by Ian Graham (Geological Society of New Zealand).
Into the Wider World: A Back Country Miscellany by Brian Turner (Random House New Zealand).
Albatross: Their world, Their Ways by Tui De Roy and Mark Jones (David Bateman Ltd).

History

Mates & Lovers: A Gay History of New Zealand by Chris Brickell (Random House New Zealand).
First Catch Your Weka: A Story of New Zealand Cooking by David Veart (Auckland University Press).
Buying the Land, Selling the Land by Richard Boast (Victoria University Press).

Illustrative

Peter Peryer: Photographer by Peter Simpson with photos by Peter Peryer (Auckland University Press).
Certain Words Drawn by John Reynolds (Random House New Zealand).
Len Castle: Making the Molecules Dance by Len Castle (Lopdell House Gallery).

Lifestyle and Contemporary Culture

The Pavlova Story: A Slice of New Zealand’s Culinary History by Helen Leach (Otago University Press).
Ladies, A Plate: Traditional Home Baking by Alexa Johnston (Penguin Group New Zealand).
Art Icons of New Zealand: Lines in the Sand by Oliver Stead (David Bateman Ltd).

Reference and Anthology

The Painted Garden in New Zealand Art by Christopher Johnstone (Random House New Zealand).
The Collected Letters of Katherine Mansfield, Volume 5: 1922 edited by Vincent O’Sullivan and Margaret Scott (Oxford University Press).
Collected Poems 1951–2006 by CK Stead (Auckland University Press).

The winner in each category receives a prize of $5,000. Each category winner is eligible for the Montana Medal for Non-fiction or the Montana Medal for Poetry or Fiction, both of which carry a prize of $10,000.

The New Zealand Society of Authors (NZSA) Best First Book Awards Finalists are:

Fiction

The Year of the Shanghai Shark by Mo Zhi Hong (Penguin Group New Zealand).
Misconduct by Bridget van der Zijpp (Victoria University Press).
The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton (Victoria University Press).

Poetry

Everything Talks by Sam Sampson (Auckland University Press).
The Propaganda Poster Girl by Amy Brown (Victoria University Press).
The World’s Fastest Flower by Charlotte Simmonds (Victoria University Press).

Non-fiction

First Catch Your Weka: A Story of New Zealand Cooking by David Veart (Auckland University Press).
Mates & Lovers: A Gay History of New Zealand by Chris Brickell (Random House New Zealand).
Nga Tama Toa, The Price of Citizenship – C Company 28 (Maori) Battalion 1939–1945 by Monty Soutar (David Bateman Ltd).

Each NZSA Best First Book Awards category winner receives $2,500.