News Blog @ Wellington City Libraries

The judges for the 2013 Women’s Prize for Fiction (previously known as the Orange prize), have announced this year’s short listed finalists. The six authors chosen include Hilary Mantel for her Man Booker Prize winning novel Bring up the Bodies.
Also included is Zadie Smith for her novel NW that has recently been awarded the Royal Society of Literature’s Ondaatje Prize, for a book of any genre that brings to mind, the sense and spirit of a place. Zadie Smith was also named as one of Granta Magazine’s 20 most promising British novelists. The only two American writers included on the short list are A. M. Homes and Barbara Kingsolver. The winner will be announced on 5th June 2013.

The shortlist for the €100,000 International I. M. P. A. C. Dublin award has been announced. Selected by the judging panel, that includes the novelists, Patrick McCabe and Shamsie Kamila, from nominations chosen by over 170 libraries from around the world; this year’s shortlist of ten novels includes five in translation. Heading the short list is Haruki Murakami’s epic novel 1Q84. Also included is Irish writer Kevin Barry’s debut novel City of Bohane.
The winner will be announced on 6th June 2013 in Dublin and if it is a translated novel the translator will receive €25,000 from the total prize money.

Women’s Prize for Fiction has been announced. From 140 nominations 20 have been selected by the judges for the long-list. The novels selected include, The Forrests by Emily Perkins, Bring up the Bodies by Mann Booker Prize winner, Hilary Mantel, and Barbara Kingsolver’s Flight Behaviour. The long-list includes six debut novels and one written entirely in verse, The Marlowe Papers by Ros Barber.
This prize was previously know as the Orange Prize, but with the withdrawal of Orange company sponsorship, will be know for this year only as The Women’s Prize for Fiction being funded by several companies and individuals.
The Short-list will be announced on 16th April 2013 and the winner will be awarded the £30, 000 prize on 5th June 2013.

At a Gala Awards Presentation on the 28th February, Dame Anne Salmond was honoured as the 2013 New Zealander of the Year. This award is for a New Zealander who has made, according to the organisers of the award, “a significant contribution to our nation and makes us proud of our country and what can be achieved”. This year’s recipient is a well known author and we have in our collection her eight award winning books on the topics of Māori life and early contacts between Europeans and islanders in Polynesia. Anne Salmond is an eminent historian, writer and academic. She worked closely with Eruera and Amiria Stirling, Te Whaanau-a-Apanui and Ngati Porou elders, and this collaboration led to her first three books. Here are her books in reverse chronological order.

Bligh : William Bligh in the South Seas / Anne Salmond.
“Aphrodite’s Island is a bold new account of the European discovery of Tahiti, the Pacific island of mythic status in Western imaginings about sexuality, the exotic, and the nobility or bestiality of ’savages’. In this groundbreaking book, Anne Salmond takes readers to the centre of these societies’ shared history to furnish rich insights into Tahitian perceptions of the visitors while illuminating the full extent of European fascination with Tahiti. As she discerns the impact and meaning of the European effect on the island, she demonstrates how, during the early contact period, the mythologies of Europe and Tahiti intersected and became entwined.Drawing on Tahitian oral histories, European manuscripts and artworks, and collections of Tahitian artifacts, and illustrated with sketches, paintings, and engravings from the voyages, Aphrodite’s Island provides a vivid account of the Europeans’ Tahitian adventures. The book’s many compelling insights into Tahitian life will significantly change the way we view the history of this small island during a period when it became a crossroads for Europe.” (Syndetics summary)

The trial of the cannibal dog : Captain Cook in the South Seas / Anne Salmond.
“The Pacific voyages of James Cook sailed across perilous tropical seas, survived hurricanes and volcanic eruptions, discovered unknown lands and peoples and made their Captain an icon of imperial history.” “Yet, as Anne Salmond shows, the story of these epic South Sea journeys is far more than one of conquest and control. She has devoted a lifetime to the study of relations between Europeans and Polynesians, and this startling, rich, stylish book is the result. In Salmond’s account, Cook’s great voyages regain their dreamlike quality as they encounter the last major human communities untouched by wider worlds. Far from being little wooden islands of Englishness in a Polynesian sea, his ships and the men in them are as much changed by what happens as the islanders they meet. We see them alarmed and entranced by the islanders’ open sexuality, shocked by human sacrifice and cannibalism, but also forging relationships with Pacific Island friends and lovers, acquiring tattoos and learning to speak Polynesian languages, with Cook himself granted the status of high chief in many areas before his violent downfall.” (Book Jacket)

Between worlds : early exchanges between Maori and Europeans, 1773-1815 / Anne Salmond.
“This book follows on from ‘Two Worlds’ which covered the period from Abel Tasman’s visit to Cook’s in 1772, and explores the time from Cook’s second visit to the establishment of the first missionary settlement. It is in three parts: science and whakapapa; utu, law and commerce; and tapu and religion. It is illustrated with black and white images and maps, and includes an appendix detailing the many visits by European ships during the period.” (Syndetics summary)

Two worlds : first meetings between Maori and Europeans, 1642-1772 / Anne Salmond.
“This book is a provocative synthesis of two previously seperate views of the dramatic action-packed first meetings of Māori and Europeans in New Zealand. The result is a work of trail blazing significance in which many popular misconceptions and bigotries to do with common perceptions of traditional Māori society are revealed. It also opens up new possibilities in the international study of European exploration and ‘discovery’.” (Adapted from front cover)

Eruera, the teachings of a Maori elder / Eruera Stirling as told to Anne Salmond.
“The book is concerned to preserve the traditional knowledge Eruera Stirling had himself received from tribal elders. There is an outline tribal history, and an account of life in his youth. Concepts such as mana, matauranga and whakapapa are discussed, as well as recent important events in New Zealand race relations. The book won the Wattie Book Award in 1981. ‘Two Worlds’, Anne Salmond’s most recent book, won a Wattie Award and the New Zealand Book Award for non-fiction in 1991.” (Syndetics summary)

Amiria : the life story of a Maori woman / Amiria Manutahi Stirling ; as told to Anne Salmond.
“Amiria Manutahi Stirling was born at Taumata-o-mihi, a small settlement near Ruatoria on the East Coast. She was a member of the Ngāti Hinekehu sub-tribe of Ngāti Porou. In 1918 her elders arranged her marriage to Eruera Stirling of Te Whānau-ā-Maru in the Bay of Plenty, a match aimed at strengthening traditional links between two groups. The story of her life and marriage is told in this book.” (Adapted from back cover)

Hui : a study of Maori ceremonial gatherings / Anne Salmond.
“This book introduces us to all aspects of the hui and its significance for the Māori. It is a definitive study of ceremonial gatherings and the riruals that are the life blood of the marae. She presents a comprehensive account of Māori ceremonial gatherings for the formal student of ethnology and anthropology and provides absorbing reading for the lay person, Māori and Pākehā, with an interest in Māoritanga.” (Adapted from front cover)

American writer and poet Kevin Powers has won the £10,000 Guardian First Book Award for his debut novel, Yellow Birds. Born in 1980, he enlisted in the United States Army at seventeen, where he spent the next seven years, with his last year serving on a one-year tour in Iraq. His much acclaimed, contemporary war novel, Yellow Birds, is based on his experiences in Iraq, and the problems of readjustment when back in civilian life.

The shortlists for the Costa Book Awards 2012 have recently been announced. There are five categories; First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children’s Book, each have four finalists with the winner receiving £5,000. The overall winner, Costa Book of the year will receive £30,000. There were 550 entries all meeting the criteria, of being writers based in the United Kingdom and Ireland and were all published in the last year.
This year there are 2 graphic novels short listed, one in fiction, Days of the Bagnold Summer by Joff Winterhart and one in biography, Dotter of Her Father’s Eyes by Mary Talbot and Bryan Talbot. A major break through for this genre.

The winner of this year’s £30,000 Dylan Thomas Prize is debut novelist, 28 year-old Maggie Shipstead for her novel titled, Seating Arrangements. The prize for young writers originally known as the Dylan Thomas Award was established by the University of Wales in the 1980’s and was awarded bi-annually. It was discontinued due to lack of funds and was revived in 2004 and now seeks excellence in the full spectrum of literary published work, including stage plays, screenplays, poetry, prose and short stories.
Maggie Shipstead is a graduate of Harvard and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her novel tells of patriarch Winn Van Meter’s preparations for his daughter’s wedding. It is set on a fictional island off New England.

The 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to Chinese writer Mo Yan. This is the first time a Chinese writer has achieved such recognition for an outstanding body of work in literature. Born in 1955, he left school in at 12 during the Cultural Revolution. He began writing and published his first novel, in 1981 when he was a soldier. Eventually he became a teacher and in 1991 received his Masters Degree in Literature from Beijing Normal University. He uses magic realism to merge contemporary life and history with folk tales and social commentary. His most well known work, Red Sorghum published in 1987 and translated into English in 1993, was adapted to film. Big Breasts and Wide Hips, a novel with only one male hero, was published in 1996 and translated into English in 2005. His most recent novel to be translated into English is Life and Death are Wearing Me Out, published in Chinese in 2006 and translated in 2008.

The short list for the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel, established in 2010, has been announced. The four novels are:

• Collecting Cooper by Paul Cleave
• Luther: The calling by Neil Cross
• By Any Means by Ben Sanders
• Bound by Vanda Symon

The winner selected by the judging panel will receive a handcraft Trophy, a set of Ngaio Marsh novels and $1000, with the announcement and presentation on 1st September. Exciting!

The winners of the 2012 Eisner Awards have been announced. These annual awards are given for 49 categories, from Best Writer to Best Publication Design, and include Best Webcomic, Best Cover Artist and Best New series. The Eisner Awards were established in 1988, and are named after the late writer and artist Will Eisner.

Best Artist/Writer was awarded to Craig Thompson for his graphic novel Habibi.
Best Limited Series was awarded to the graphic novel, Criminal: the Last of the Innocent.
Best Reality-Based Work was awarded to Green River Killer: A True Detective Story.
Mark Waid was awarded the Best Writer, Best Continuing Series and Best Single Issue for Irredeemable, Incorruptible (Boom) and Daredevil respectively.