Book award winner

Auckland historian Dame Judith Binney’s Encircled Lands has been awarded the New Zealand Post Book of the Year. Encircled Lands explores the history of the Tuhoe people’s journey for autonomy. Dame Binney received $15, for her efforts, making a clean sweep of the non-fiction category, but more importantly she has given people a new understanding of New Zealand history. Judge Paul Diamond described the book, published by Bridget Williams Books, as one that will “profoundly change our understanding of our shared history” and an “exhaustive, comprehensive history of Te Rohe Potae o Te Urewera”. Other award winners included Brian Turner for poetry, Allison Wong for her book As the Earth Turns Silver, and Al Brown for his recipe book Go Fish: Recipes and Stories from the New Zealand Coast. Brown also won the People’s Choice award.