1st

The Envoy from Mirror City: An Autobiography, Volume III by Janet Frame (Hutchinson, 1985)

2nd

Bread and Roses by Sonja Davies (Fraser Books, 1984)

3rd

The Natural World of the Māori by Margaret Orbell, photography by Geoff Moon (David Bateman, 1985)

Poetry

Zoetropes: Poems 1972–82 by Bill Manhire (Allen & Unwin, Port Nicholson Press, & Carcanet, 1984)

Fiction

Disorderly Conduct by Marilyn Duckworth (Hodder & Stoughton, 1984)

Fiction

All Visitors Ashore by C. K. Stead (Collins, 1984)

Non-Fiction

Verdict on Erebus by Peter Mahon (Collins, 1984)

Book Production

City of Plains: A History of Hastings by M. B. Boyd (Victoria University Press for the Hastings City Council, 1984)