The $53,000 Acorn Foundation Fiction Prize for 2019 will be judged by novelist and literary festival programme director Rachael King; novelist, short story writer and lecturer James George (Ngāpuhi); and journalist, reviewer and editor Sally Blundell. They are joined in deciding the ultimate winner from their shortlist of four by award-winning New York-based novelist Joseph O'Neill.

The Poetry Award will be judged by three award-winning poets: creative writing teacher Airini Beautrais; Massey University Professor Bryan Walpert; and Karlo Mila, Pasifika poet who runs an indigenous leadership programme.

The Royal Society Te Apārangi Award for General Non-Fiction will be judged by academic and award-winning science writer Rebecca Priestley; award-winning historian and academic Angela Wanhalla; and curator, educator and writer Karl Chitham (Ngāpuhi).

The Illustrated Non-Fiction Award will be judged by well-known writer and commentator Douglas Lloyd Jenkins; art curator and writer Lucy Hammonds; and long-time bookseller Bruce Caddy.