Annual awards for literary achievement that recognise New Zealand writers who have made a notable contribution to New Zealand literature in the genres of fiction, non-fiction and poetry.
See previous Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement winners
Amount
$60,000 in each category
Artforms
On this page
- Who can be nominated
- Make a nomination
- How award recipients are selected
- Recipients for 2025
- Who to contact
Who can be nominated
Nominees must:
- be a living New Zealand writer whose work has received acclaim and been acknowledged by their peers and the general public
- be a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident
- not be a previous recipient of the award in any genre - see all previous recipients
One award is made annually in each of the three categories:
- Fiction: any genre including novels, short stories, plays and children’s fiction.
- Non-fiction: any non-fiction discipline is acceptable with the quality of the work being the main determinant.
- Poetry.
Acclaim and acknowledgement of the writer in a category will be shown by having:
- written a body of work that has received national acclaim
- received a major fellowship, residency, book award or international recognition
- shown leadership in the New Zealand literary sector.
Make a nomination
Complete and submit the nomination form by 1 PM, 2 July 2025.
Nomination form: Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement 2025
Anyone can make a nomination and writers can nominate themselves.
You can only submit one nomination for each award.
Nominations need to include:
- your name and contact details as the person making the nomination
- the name and details of the person you are nominating
- which award you are nominating them for
- why the person you are nominating should receive the award (up to 500 words).
How award recipients are selected
Nominations are assessed by a panel of peer assessors who are senior writers and literature practitioners.
The panel makes recommendations to the Arts Council to approve.
Recipients for 2025
Recipients of the 2025 Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement will be celebrated at an in-person event (date to be announced).
We will publicly announce the award recipients later in the year via a news item on our website, a media release and on our social media channels.
We will also list award recipients on our website.
Results - Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement
Who to contact
For more information email pmawards@creativenz.govt.nz
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