Well, it’s all over. Even Kim Hill talking to the winners finished an hour ago. And the news is: the 2005 Deutz Medal for Fiction or Poetry has been won by Patricia Grace for her novel Tu (Penguin Books). This is the second major award in a month for Patricia – a mere 12 days ago she was made one of the latest member of the Arts Foundation's Icon Artists. I smell a Damehood, or whatever you call it. The judges said of Tu:

It is a work which cements her place as one of our finest contemporary writers and is a worthy winner of this prestigious award.

There were two runners up; no surprises: Mansfield by C K Stead (Vintage), and Tarzan Presley by Nigel Cox (Victoria University Press).

The Montana Medal for Non Fiction and the History category was awarded to Douglas Lloyd Jenkins for his utterly fantastic book At Home: A Century of New Zealand Design (Godwit). The judges had this say of At Home:

… fascinating, absorbing, and convincing; a book whose rigorous research, fluent and witty writing and handsome production would make it impressive in any part of the world.

The coveted Readers' Choice Award, won last year by historian Michael King, went to Julie Le Clerc and John Bougen for their book, Made in Morocco: A Journey of Exotic Tastes and Places.

The rest of the list of winners is as follows:

Poetry category winner
Nice morning for it, Adam by Vincent O'Sullivan (Victoria University Press)

Biography category winner
Chronicle of the Unsung by Martin Edmond (Auckland University Press)

Reference & Anthology category winner
The New Zealand Oxford Dictionary edited by Tony Deverson & Graeme Kennedy (Oxford University Press)

Lifestyle & Contemporary Culture category winner
Hip Hop Music in Aotearoa by Gareth Shute (Reed Publishing)

Environment category winner
Tiritiri Matangi: A Model of Conservation by Anne Rimmer
(Tandem Press)

Illustrative category winner
Handboek: Ans Westra Photographs by Luit Bieringa and Lawrence McDonald
(BWX (Blair Wakefield Exhibitions))

All category winners are awarded $5,000. The winners of the Deutz Medal for Fiction or Poetry and the Montana Medal for Non Fiction were each presented with an additional prize of $10,000, and the Readers' Choice Award gets $1,000.

Best First Book awards

New Zealand Society of Authors Hubert Church Best First Book Award for Fiction
Julian Novitz for his collection of short stories, My Real Life and Other Stories (Vintage). The judges said:

authentic stories, funny, affectionate, poignant, and imbued with a sense of wonder at the weirdness and inadequacy of everyday life.

The New Zealand Society of Authors Jessie Mackay Best First Book Award for Poetry
Sonja Yelich for Clung (Auckland University Press):

Yelich is endlessly inventive … This is a collection rich with verbal wit and sharpness … anarchic and subversive humour.

The New Zealand Society of Authors E H McCormick Best First Book Award for Non Fiction was presented to Douglas Wright (yay!) for his memoir, Ghost Dance (Penguin Books). Judges:

It's hugely readable; it's brave, engaging and funny. Qualities rarely attributed to any book, let alone the first one.

Each of these first-time authors was presented with $1,000.

Reviewer or Review Page Awards

Best Review Page or Programme Award

North & South magazine. The judges said North & South's book review pages made a visual impact that will increase reading across a wide cross-section of New Zealanders, and that they achieved a superb balance between New Zealand and international writing.

Reviewer of the Year

Wellington writer, Tony Simpson.

So there you go. Rush out; buy madly; go to Fiji, your bedroom or a spot by the fire; read and read and read. What rich talents we have – for such a small country, and all.