Montana New Zealand Book Award for Poetry

The Montana New Zealand Book Award for Poetry is one category of the New Zealand Post Book Awards, given out annually. The award carries a $5,000 prize for each winner of the category awards, including the award for poetry.

"The purpose of this award is to reward literary excellence in poetic works. The winning book will, in the opinion of the judges, be a significant addition to the literature of New Zealand. Included in this category will be selections and collections of poetry."

"The judges consider each book as a whole while giving particular attention to specific elements, including enduring literary merit, overall quality of authorship, illustrations, design and presentation, impact on the community, and the promotion of entertainment, cultural and educational values.

"General judging criteria apply to all books submitted, regardless of the category they are submitted under."

Awards are made in eight categories: Fiction, Poetry, History, Biography, Reference & Anthology, Lifestyle & Contemporary Culture, Environment and Illustrative

Montana Wines is the main sponsor of the awards. Other sponsors are Creative New Zealand, the Book Publishers Association of New Zealand, the New Zealand Society of Authors and Book Tokens (NZ) Ltd.

Formed in 1996, the set of national awards combines the Montana (previously Goodman Fielder Wattie) Book Awards and the New Zealand Book Awards. The awards for poetry follow.

The Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards ran from 1968-1993. Originally called the Wattie Awards, they changed their name when the Wattie Company merged with Goodman Fielder. First, second and third place were awarded, and books were not divided by genre but competed in a single category. In 1994, the Award was continued under the new name "Montana Book Awards", and the awards were made in three categories: fiction, non-fiction and poetry.

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