Laurence Fearnley has been nominated in the fiction section for her novel Edwin + Matilda (Penguin), Alison Ballance in the environment category for Southern Alps (Random House) and Aaron Kreisler in the illustrative category for Coma dot dogma.
The winners will be announced in Wellington on July 21.
The finalists are. -Fiction: The Blue, by Mary McCallum (Penguin Group); Edwin + Matilda, by Laurence Fearnley (Penguin Group); Luminous, by Alice Tawhai (Huia Publishers); Opportunity, by Charlotte Grimshaw (Random House).
Poetry: Cold Snack, by Janet Charman (Auckland University Press); A Long Girl Ago, by Johanna Aitchison (Victoria University Press); The Pop-Up Book of Invasions, by Fiona Farrell (Auckland University Press).
Biography: The Best Man Who Ever Served the Crown? A Life of Donald McLean, by Ray Fargher (Victoria University Press); The Life and Times of James Walter Chapman-Taylor, by Judy Siers (Millwood Heritage Productions); Waimarino County & Other Excursions, by Martin Edmond (Auckland University Press).
History: Age of Enterprise: Rediscovering the New Zealand Entrepreneur 1881-1910, by Ian Hunter (Auckland University Press); Devils on Horses, by Terry Kinloch (Exisle Publishing); Te Tau Ihu o Te Waka Volume II: Te Ara Hou - The New Society, by Hilary and John Mitchell (Huia Publishers).
Environment: Southern Alps, by Alison Ballance (Random House); The Surface of the Sea: Encounters with New Zealand's Upper Ocean Life, by Iain Anderson (Raupo Publishing); Wetlands of New Zealand, by Janet Hunt (Random House).
Illustrative: Aberhart, by Laurence Aberhart, with essays by Gregory O'Brien and Justin Paton (Victoria University Press); Bill Hammond: Jingle Jangle Morning, by Jennifer Hay, with Ron Brownson, Chris Knox and Laurence Aberhart; designed by Aaron Beehre (Christchurch Art Gallery); Comma dot dogma, edited by Aaron Kreisler (Umbrella).
Lifestyle and contemporary culture: InForm: New Zealand Graffiti Artists Discuss Their Work by Elliot O'Donnell (Raupo Publishing); Mau Moko: The World of Maori Tattoo, by Ngahuia Te Awekotuku (Penguin Group); Shot In New Zealand: The art and craft of the Kiwi cinematographer, by Duncan Petrie (Random House).
Reference and anthology: Look This Way: New Zealand Writers on New Zealand Artists, edited by Sally Blundell (Auckland University Press); A Nest of Singing Birds: 100 years of the New Zealand School Journal, by Gregory OBrien (Learning Media Ltd); The Transit of Venus, edited by Mary Varnham (Awa Press).
Laurence Fearnley
