A stunning line-up of books feature as this year’s finalists in the Reference & Anthology and the Environment sections. This week we give you a breakdown of both sections, point you to some more information and invite you to enter the giveaway on NZLive.com.

It’s now only three weeks until the gala dinner at the Wellington Town Hall where the winners will be announced. The winner in each category receives a prize of $5,000. Each category winner is eligible for the Montana Medal for non fiction or the Montana Medal for poetry or fiction, both of which carry a prize of $10,000.

Reference & Anthology

Look This Way: New Zealand Writers on New Zealand Artists edited
by Sally Blundell (Auckland University Press)

Sally Blundell has been a freelance journalist for nearly 20 years. She has written for a range of magazines specialising in art, literature and education. Her written work includes previews, reviews, artist profiles and articles. She is currently completing a PhD in English Literature at the University of Canterbury.

“What is it about a particular work of art that seizes your attention? That holds your gaze, pulls you back again and again? In Look This Way, 17 writers answer these seemingly straightforward questions, each writing on a New Zealand artist of their choice. They tell stories, find treasures and make connections but above all they look hard at the art works and engage with the artists, while inviting the reader to share their perspective.”

See which authors and artists are featured in Look This Way
Read a Look This Way review at Beattie’s Book Blog
Buy Look This Way at Time Out Bookstore

A Nest of Singing Birds: 100 years of the New Zealand School Journal
by Gregory O’Brien (Learning Media Limited)

Gregory O’Brien was born in Matamata in 1961, grew up in Auckland, and has lived in Wellington since 1989, where he divides his time between literary and visual arts projects. His book about contemporary art for young people, Welcome to the South Seas, won both the non-fiction section of the New Zealand Post Book Awards 2005 and the Elsie Locke Medal. He has edited numerous anthologies and has published poetry, fiction, art criticism, and essays on New Zealand culture. His most recent publications are a book of poems, Afternoon of an Evening Train (2005), a memoir, News of the Swimmer Reaches Shore (2007) and Back and Beyond: New Zealand painting for the Young and Curious, a follow-up to Welcome to the South Seas, published in May 2008 by Auckland University Press.

“A Nest of Singing Birds: 100 years of the New Zealand School Journal celebrates, in lively words and gorgeous images, the publication that over the last hundred years has shaped the country we live in – and the luminaries of New Zealand arts and letters who have featured in it.”

Check out the School Journal
See the online exhibition ‘Singing Birds’
Buy A Nest of Singing Birds at Madras Cafe Books

The Transit Of Venus
by Mary Varnham (Awa Press)

Mary Varnham is a writer and editor, and the publishing director of Awa Press. A former columnist for Wellington’s Evening Post, she founded Awa Press in 2003 to publish high-quality contemporary non-fiction. Her previous books include Heading Nowhere in a Navy Blue Suit and Beyond Blue Hills. She presently divides her time between Wellington and Tokyo.

On 8 June 2004, the planet Venus moved across the face of the sun. This rare historic event last took place 121 years before. In June 2012, Venus will again traverse the sun, providing an amazing spectacle to people on Earth. In this book, scientists and historians write of the extraordinary impact these cosmic events have had on the exploration and colonisation of our own planet.

Buy The Transit of Venus from The Women’s Bookshop
More information on NZ’s Awa Press
Learn more about the 2004 Transit of Venus

Environment

Southern Alps
by Alison Ballance (Random House NZ)

Alison has a BSc in zoology from Auckland University, and an MSc(Hons) in zoology from Massey University. She worked as a park interpreter in Mount Aspiring and Fiordland National Parks, and for DOC and DSIR before starting work for the television production company Natural History NZ Ltd in 1990. She has produced and directed 15 wildlife documentaries for broadcasters such as National Geographic and Discovery Channels. She has made films on animals such as weta, kakapo and tigers, and on places ranging from Mongolia to Ecuador’s Andes. She is currently working on her 25th book.

“Follow the path of an icicle, unravel the complexity of an alpine garden, become part of the birth and death of a stand of beech trees and wonder at early efforts to explore, cross and climb the backbone of the country – the Southern Alps. This literary and photographic exploration reveals intimate insights alongside the vastness of our most phenomenal landform.”

Read an article by Alison Ballance about her affair with the Southern Alps
Buy Alison Ballance’s Southern Alps at TheNile.co.nz

The Surface of the Sea: Encounters with New Zealand’s Upper Ocean Life
by Iain Anderson (Raupo Publishing)

Iain Anderson (PhD, ME, BE) is a Principal Investigator for the Auckland Bioengineering Institute, Senior Lecturer, with the Department of Engineering Science, The University of Auckland and a scientist (adjunct) with the Earth and Oceanic Sciences Research Institute (EOS) of the Auckland University of Technology. He is an avid underwater photographer and photojournalist with over 35 years diving experience. Since 1997 he has contributed over 60 articles for Dive New Zealand. He has also produced articles for New Zealand Geographic and other journals. His books include: “A Photographic Guide to New Zealand Sea Shells” with Margaret Morley (New Holland Publishers, 2004) and “The Surface of the Sea “ (Raupo NZ Publishers, 2007).

Born in Dundee, Scotland, Iain now lives in Titirangi, Auckland and shares a house with his son who is completing a BSc with The University of Auckland.

“In The Surface of the Sea, Iain Anderson’s text, thoroughly vetted by scientists from around the world who are specialists in their fields, is accompanied by his astounding photographs. Introducing readers to things familiar and no-so-familiar, Iain explains why, how and when these creatures can be seen, and provides a wondrous and delightful adventure into the seas that surround New Zealand.”

See some of the beautiful images from The Surface of the Sea
Buy ‘The Surface of the Sea’
Read a review of Iain Anderson’s book

Wetlands of New Zealand
by Janet Hunt (Random House)

Janet Hunt is the author of A Bird in the Hand, winner of the non-fiction category and Book of the Year award at the 2004 NZ Post Children’s and Young Adults Book Awards; From Weta to Kauri, shortlisted for the same awards in 2005; and Hone Tuwhare: A Biography. Janet currently works from Waiheke Island as a graphic designer and writer.

“Beautiful and yet fragile – the story of wetlands in New Zealand is one of celebration and sorrow. This book takes us on a journey through a selection of these special landscapes, from the internationally acclaimed to the humble and lesser-known; from high mountain tarn to bog, swamp and tidal flat on the coast; from isolated pristine wildernesses to working wetlands in cities.”

Buy Janet Hunt’s Wetlands of New Zealand at Manaaki Whenua Press
Read about NZ wetlands on the encyclopedia of New Zealand
Read more about author Janet Hunt

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