The Ockhams 2025 Fiction Longlist
The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards longlist for 2025 has been announced - congratulations to all of this year's nominees!
The Ockhams 2025 Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction longlist has just been announced and what an eclectic, wildly diverse and fabulous list it is. It is safe to say that, as fitting of New Zealand’s top fiction award, a wide range of issues are explored in the longlisted books, including displacement, the aftermath of colonisation, the effects of intergenerational trauma and dealing with experience of acquiring a disability later in life. And the various authors approach their subjects in an equally diverse range of styles from dark comedy to realism, or lyrical poetic prose. Evidence, if any was needed, that Aotearoa’s literary world is thriving and vibrant.
We wish to extend our congratulations to all the nominated authors, and we don’t envy the judges' job of boiling the list down to a shortlist and then the overall winners. The quality and calibre of all the finalists is quite exceptional and the longlisted novels are all available to borrow from Wellington City Libraries.
You can also see Carl Shuker and Tina Makereti in author panel discussions at our upcoming Ngaio Marsh Mystery in the Library events:
- Nefarious Newtown: Friday 11 April at Newtown Library
- Capital Crimes: Thursday 1 May at Karori Library
Full details at the links below!
Below is the full longlist for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction:
All That We Know by Shilo Kino (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Maniapoto)
Amma by Saraid de Silva
Ash by Louise Wallace
At the Grand Glacier Hotel by Laurence Fearnley
Delirious by Damien Wilkins
Kataraina by Becky Manawatu (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Māmoe, Waitaha)
Poorhara by Michelle Rahurahu (Ngāti Rahurahu, Ngāti Tahu–Ngāti Whaoa)
Pretty Ugly by Kirsty Gunn
The Mires by Tina Makereti (Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Rangatahi-Matakore, Pākehā)
The Royal Free by Carl Shuker