“Book of Year” award1. finalists named

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32700, 1 September 1971, Page 19

“Book of Year” award 1 . finalists named

The 10 New Zealand books from which the winner of the 1971 James Wattie “Book of the Year” award will be chosen, have been announced by the judges; the winner will be named at a luncheon in Christchurch on September 30.

The 10 books selected by the panel of judges, Messrs A. C. Brassington (Christchurch), R. Goodman (Auckland), and J. Kelleher (Wellington) are as follows: “Anthology of Twentieth Century New Zealand Poetry,” by Vincent O’Sullivan (Oxford University Press); “William Mason” by John Stacpoole (Oxford University Press); “Many a Glorious Morning” by David McLeod (Whitcombe and Tombs); “Portrait of a City” by Shona McFarlane (Whitcombe and Tombs); “William” and Mary Rolleston,” by Rosanund Rolleston (A. H. and A. W. Reed); “Contemporary Maori Writing” by Margaret Orbell (A. H. and A. W. Reed); “Decently and in Order” by G. W. A, Bush (Collins); “Gardening with New Zealand Plants, Shrubs, and Trees” by Muriel E. Fisher, E. Satchell, and Janet M. Watkins (Collins); “Mackenzie” by James McNeish (Hodder and Stoughton), and “An Ear of the Dragon” by Maurice Shadbolt (Cassell). The James Wattle award is the focal point of New Zealand Book Week which will open on October 1. Its announcement will be made by Sir James Wattie at the luncheon at which the guest speaker will be Professor W. R. Catton, professor of Sociology at the University of Canterbury. Book Week was initiated in 1963 by the then newly-

bounded New Zealand Book Publishers’ Association, but until 1968 there was no award for the best book representing the combined talents of author, editor, book designer, and printer. Members of the book publishers’ association are invited to submit a limited number of books for consideration each year, for the prize money of $650 for first, $350 for second, and $lOO for third