The New Zealand Book Awards Trust Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa is now inviting submissions for the 2023 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. These annual awards recognise and celebrate the best books for young readers published in Aotearoa. Titles with release dates between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023 will be considered for the 2023 awards.

There are two submission dates. Publishers are asked to observe the guidelines for sending entries in two tranches, which are in place for ease of sending to judges. Submissions are now open for books published between 1 April 2022 and 30 November 2022, and will close at 5pm on Tuesday 13 December 2022. For books published between 1 December 2022 and 31 March 2023, submissions open on 14 December and will close at 5pm on Friday 10 February 2023.

For books in the second tranche, page proofs will be accepted where books are not yet printed. In such cases, finished books must arrive with the Awards Administrator, New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, Attn: Joy Sellen, 72 Te Wharepōuri Street, Wellington 6023, by 5pm on Friday 10 March 2023.

All entries must be submitted online at www.nzbookawards.nz and fees paid by credit card via the online submission form.

A Call for Entries pack with eligibility criteria and other information is available at http://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards-for-children-and-young-adults/how-to-enter/. Eligibility criteria and conditions of entry are reviewed each year, so even publishers who enter books annually are encouraged to read the pack carefully before completing the online form.

The judges of the 2023 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults will be announced in the coming weeks, and their shortlist will be made public on 1 June 2023. The awards ceremony is planned for Thursday 10 August 2023 in Wellington.

The New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults are administered by the New Zealand Book Awards Trust Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa, and supported by Creative New Zealand, HELL Pizza, the Wright Family Foundation, LIANZA, Wellington City Council, the New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi o Aotearoa (NZSA), and Nielsen BookData.

Any queries about the Awards should be directed to the Awards Administrator at childrensawards@nzbookawards.org.nz.