The finalists were announced this morning and include Oturehua poet Brian Turner for his work Just This and Michael Harlow, of Alexandra, for The Tram Conductor's Blue Cap.
The third poetry finalist is Bernadette Hall for The Lustre Jug.
Owen Marshall, of Timaru, is one of three finalists in the fiction category for Living as a Moon.
Convener of judges, Stephen Stratford said selecting three fiction finalists from such a strong field was cause for much debate.
"We agree that each of these three finalist books is convincing, compelling, superbly crafted and contributes distinctively to New Zealand's literature."
The judging panel included Dunedin nature writer and photographer Neville Peat, short story writer and novelist Elizabeth Smither, writer and educationalist Charmaine Poutney and writer, historian and broadcaster Paul Diamond.
The winners will be announced in Auckland on August 27.
The finalists are. -Fiction: As the Earth Turns Silver, by Alison Wong; Limestone, by Fiona Farrell; Living as a Moon, by Owen Marshall.
Poetry: Just This, by Brian Turner; The Lustre Jug, by Bernadette Hall; The Tram Conductor's Blue Cap, by Michael Harlow.
General non-fiction: Aphrodite's Island, by Anne Salmond; Beyond the Battlefield: New Zealand and its Allies, 1939-1945, by Gerald Hensley; Cone Ten Down: Studio pottery in New Zealand, 1945-1980, by Moyra Elliott and Damian Skinner; Encircled Lands: Te Urewera, 1820-1921 by Judith Binney; The Invention of New Zealand Art and National Identity, 1930-1970, by Francis Pound.
Illustrated non-fiction: Art at Te Papa, edited by William McAloon; Go Fish: Recipes and stories from the New Zealand Coast, by Al Brown; Maori Architecture: From fale to wharenui and beyond, by Deidre Brown; Marti Friedlander, by Leonard Bell; Mrkusich: The Art of Transformation, by Alan Wright and Edward Hanfling.
Also announced yesterday were the winners of the New Zealand Society of Authors (NZSA) Best First Book Award.
The winners were: Fiction, Anna Taylor (Wellington) for Relief; poetry, Selina Tusitala March (Waiheke Island), Fast Talking Pl; nonfiction, Pip Desmond (Wellington), Trust: A True Story of Women and Gangs.
Each NZSA Best First Book Awards category winner received $2500.
