The New Zealand Book Awards Trust Te Ohu Tiaki i Te Rau Hiringa has today opened submissions for the 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. These prestigious awards provide recognition of, and promote excellence in, the best books for adult readers published annually in Aotearoa. Titles with release dates between 1 January 2024 and 31 December 2024 will be considered for the 2025 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 for titles published between 1 January 2024 and 31 August 2024 are now open and will close at 5pm on Wednesday 11 September 2024.

Online entries for titles published between 1 September 2024 and 31 December 2024 open on Thursday 12 September and close 5pm on Wednesday 23 October 2024.

Page proofs for books in the second tranche will be accepted if books publishing in November and December have not been printed at the time that online submissions close. In these cases, finished books must arrive with the Awards Administrator no later than 5pm on Thursday 21 November.

The twelve judges for the 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards will be revealed next month, and their longlists for the four awards categories (fiction, poetry, general non-fiction and illustrated non-fiction) will be announced on 30 January 2025. The shortlist will be announced on 5 March and the 2025 awards ceremony will be held in Tāmaki Makaurau on Wednesday 14 May, in collaboration with the Auckland Writers Festival. There is a total of $125,000 in prize money available for the winners.

For both first and second tranches, click here for eligibility criteria and a Call for Entries information pack, then enter online here.

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

For any further enquiries, please email Awards Administrator Chris Chan at awards@nzbookawards.org.nz.

The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are supported by Ockham Residential, Creative New Zealand, Jann Medlicott and the Acorn Foundation, Mary and Peter Biggs CNZM, Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand, the Mātātuhi Foundation, and the Auckland Writers Festival, which hosts the awards ceremony as a marquee event in its annual programme.