New Format, New Sponsor for New Zealand's Big Book Awards

(First spotted at Beatties Book Blog)

Once there were Watties, then Montanas, now New Zealand's big book awards are sponsored by New Zealand Post I wonder what they'll be called (Posties? Craig Innes'?).

Just what the New Zealand Post Book Awards will look like in 2010 is clearer today with the announcement of a streamlined format with, "Fewer categories, more judges and bigger prizes."

Books will be judged in four main categories: Poetry, Fiction, Illustrated Non-fiction and General Non-fiction, with a finalist list of 16. A ‘Book of the Year‘ will be chosen from the finalists.

With fewer categories, the prize pool has been substantially increased, with the overall winner of ‘Book of the Year’ receiving $15,000. Winners of the four Category Awards will each receive $10,000, the Māori Language Award $10,000, Readers’ Choice Award $5,000, and the winners of the three NZSA Best First Book Awards, $2500.

For a comparison with the old Montanas, Emily Perkins received $15,000 as this year's Montana Medal winner for Fiction/Poetry ($10,000 for medal + $5,000 for category winner). And gone are the Environment, History, Reference and Anthology categories (perhaps 'subsumed within Illustrated Non-fiction and General Non-fiction is more correct than 'gone'...).