Book awards short list

Press, 14 September 1985, Page 20

Book awards short list

Ten books have been placed in the short list for the 1985 Wattie Book Awards which will be announced in Auckland on September 20. This year the awards amount to $12,000 with $7OOO for first place, $3OOO for second and $2OOO for third. Five of the 10 books are by South Island writers. They are “The Natural History of the Maori” by Margaret Orbell, “Blackball 08” by Eric Beardsley, both of Christchurch, “The Day Hemingway Died and Other Stories” by Owen Marshall (Oamaru), “A History of Otago” by Erik Olssen, and “Hemi’s Pet” by Joan de Hamel, both of Dunedin. There were 66 entries from 27 publishers for the awards (10 novels, seven collections of stories or poetry, five children’s books, and 45 non-fiction titles). The judges are David Elworthy,

a director of the Shoal Bay Press, Susan Kedgley, a film and television producer, and author Witi Ihimaera, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the short list prices of the 10 books range from $12.95 to $295. The full list with authors, publishers, and prices is: “Bread and Roses,” by Sonja Davies (ANZ, $16.95); “John Kinder: Paintings and Photographs,” by Michael Dunn (SeTo, $295); “The Envoy from Mirror City,” by Janet Frame (Hutchinson, $24,95); “New Zealand Yesterdays,” by Hamish Keith (Readers Digest, $39.95); “A History of Otago,” by Erik Olssen (Mclndoe, $39.95); “The Natural World of the Maori,” by Margaret Orbell and Geoff Moon (Collins/Bateman, $44.95); “Blackball 08,” by Eric Beardsley (Collins, $16.95 paperback); “Disorderly Conduct,” by Marilyn Duckworth (Hodder and Stoughton, $19.95 and $12.95); “Hemi’s Pet,” by Joan de Hamel and Christine Ross (Reed Methuen, $12.95); “The Day Hemingway Died and Other Stories,” by Owen Marshall (Mclndoe, $13.50).