New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults: YA Fiction Award
A note on the history of this award
Prior to 1993, there was no separate literary award in New Zealand recognising Young Adult fiction, but some winners of the Esther Glen Award for junior fiction would be considered part of the YA canon today. The YA Fiction Award proper came into existence in the year 1993 as part of the AIM Children’s Book Awards, and was known as the “Senior Fiction Award” from 1993-2004. In 1997, the AIM Children’s Book Awards became the New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards, and then it changed again to the New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults in 2004, at which time the “Senior Fiction Award” became the “Young Adult Fiction Award.”
The overall awards are now known as the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, and the Young Adult Fiction Award currently carries prize money of NZ$7,500. In its distinguished history, it has been won by a number of the greats of New Zealand literature, with luminaries like Margaret Mahy, Jack Lasenby, Kate De Goldi, Maurice Gee, Tessa Duder, Elizabeth Knox and more in its list of recipients.
We have most of the award-winning books in our collection — explore the full list below.