The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography Volume One and Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau, 1769–1869 edited by W. H. Oliver (Department of Internal Affairs & Bridget Williams Books, 1990)
2nd
Once Were Warriors by Alan Duff (Tandem Press, 1990)
3rd
Vladimir Nabokov: The Russian Years by Brian Boyd (Chatto & Windus, 1990)
New Zealand Book Awards
Poetry
Berlin Diary by Cilla McQueen (McIndoe, 1990)
Fiction
The Burning Boy by Maurice Gee (Viking, 1990)
Non-Fiction
The Life of James K. Baxter by Frank McKay (Oxford University Press, 1990)
Book Production
Lindsay Missen for The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography Volume One and Ngā Tāngata Taumata Rau, 1769–1869 edited by W. H. Oliver (Department of Internal Affairs & Bridget Williams Books, 1990)
