The NZ book awards season has really kicked off in earnest today, but alongside the grown-up awards (The Ockhams) generating a lot of talkonline, it’s also the day that both the Storyline Notable Books 2020 and the Storylines manuscript award finalists have been announced! We’ve pulled together a list of all of the manuscript finalists in one place – these are writers to watch out for in the future. For more details on each category, there are links to the Storylines website.
Joy Cowley Award for a picture book manuscript
Blue canoe and a cockatoo by Melanie Koster from Christchurch
The brilliant plan that Stan had by Melanie Koster from Christchurch
Grandpa versus swing by Tania Sickling from Snells Beach
Lollicops and slobbers by Melanie Woolford from Henderson
Scamper, scarper, flee by Juliette MacIver from Porirua
More information on the Joy Cowley Award on the Storylines website
Tom Fitzgibbon Award for a junior fiction manuscript
A recipe for disaster by Belinda O’Keefe from Christchurch
The clash of the cousins by Louise Shaw from Geraldine
George and Daisy by Chrissie Walker from Christchurch
More information on the Tom Fitzgibbon Award on the Storylines website
Tessa Duder Award for a young adult fiction manuscript
Displaced by Cristina Saunders from Havelock North
Lose-Lose by Amy Martin from Ohaupo
Fatty & Skinny by Karen Nimmo from Wellington
The Forever Forest by Sonya Wilson from Auckland
More information on the Tessa Duder Award on the Storylines website
Te Kāhurangi Kāterina Te Heikōkō Mataira Award for a manuscript in te reo Māori
Ko Matariki te Whaea by Charlotte Manga from Mt Eden, Auckland
Piri rāua ko Māta – 2007 by Kahurangi Douglas from Karori, Wellington
Ngā Ngeru o te Tiriti o Pāia by Amiria Stirling from Aro Valley, Wellington
More information on the Te Kāhurangi Kāterina Te Heikōkō Mataira Award on the Storylines website
Janice Marriott Mentoring Award for a junior fiction manuscript
Kakapo Keeper by Gay Buckingham from Dunedin
The Bata Bullet Kid by Aimee Elliott from Taupō
Holding the Horse by Janine Williams from Whangārei
More information on the Janice Marriott Mentoring Award on the Storylines website