Tuesday, August 31, 2010

The NZ Post book awards

After the awards were presented in Auckland on Friday night, my wife observed that the winning authors and books represented four of New Zealand’s major ethnic groups: Maori, Pacific Island, Chinese and Southern Man.

It was a good night, the best and by far the most glamorous book awards I have been to. Four hundred people, half in black tie and the other half in posh frocks, and the Great Room of the Langham Hotel looked spectacular

The evening was slightly hijacked by Tuhoe, who had been allocated two minutes but took about 20. There was singing, a long speech in Maori then a brief version in English; when Judith Binney’s Encircled Lands won its category, there was a haka. It must have been a nightmare for the organisers and for Jennifer Ward-Lealand, the unflappable MC – the final award had to be made by 10.30 p.m. to make the late-night news – but I thought it was great. There was a lovely tone to it all. Often at occasions like this the Maori component feels tacked-on for appearances’ sake, but this was the real deal, a totally Maori moment, totally on their terms. You’d have to be obstinately monocultural to object.

The same goes for Pip Desmond’s acceptance of her Best First Book award for Trust, which is about women in gangs. She too had been allocated two minutes but took a lot longer. When she came up on stage she had a support group of five of the women in the book. Talk about staunch – and one of them had a guitar so we knew what was coming. After Pip finished thanking everyone, they sang beautifully – in Maori, of course, and in three-part harmony, with Nicola Legat of Random House (on stage as the publisher) gamely singing along with them. It was a wonderful moment, and again only a curmudgeon would object. It must have been a huge challenge for the five women to be there in such an alien environment – they were a long way from home in every way. 

These interruptions were unscheduled and unpredictable so it is a tribute to the organisers, and to Jennifer, that they were absorbed so smoothly into the evening’s programme. I feel quite privileged to have been there to witness them.


UPDATE: There is a more official account of the evening from Booksellers NZ here, with some great photos. As you can see, Brian Turner scrubbed up well, and MC Jennifer Ward-Lealand scrubbed up spectacularly. Lovely photos of the Best First Book winners too.

3 comments:

Stephanie said...

I am so looking forward to reading the Tuhoe book. I've just finished one on Best and Tutakangahau and it left me wanting MORE! And I am so glad it won the top prize as I found the Salmon one tough going, so though I didn't finish it.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for such a detailed account. I was a bit mystified by oblique comments elsewhere, but then realised the criticisms (link below) come from a purely sales and marketing oriented perspective, which isn't a consideration in who actually wins the awards ("monetizing" the results is the job of marketing people, afterwards.) The awards celebrate the content and contribution to the culture rather than the ring of cash registers.

http://beattiesbookblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/new-zealand-post-book-awards-bouquets.html

Stephen Stratford said...

Stephanie, I hope you don't find Encircled Lands tough going. It is dense at times, but it is a great story. And it isn't just history - it is still live. As we could see on the night in what the Tuhow people said.

Anonymous, thanks, I hadn't seen that comment which doesn't reflect my experience of the evening or of anyone I have spoken to about it. And what it says about the book is absolutely from sales/marketing - and that is emphatically not what the awards are about. Of course booksellers are happy if commercial titles - e.g. Go Fish - win prizes but you don't hand out awards for shifting units.

I have a good friend in the retail side of the book trade and she has always been scornful of the book awards, questioning the point of them because, for her, sales are the only measure. That's fine - for her, sales really are the only measure. But that attitude implies that Dan Brown should win the Nobel.