Kiran Dass
“Growing up, I spent many hours in the Ngāruawāhia public library where my sister was a librarian…
I can also still remember my sense of excitement when my Lucky Book Club book orders arrived at primary school. That anticipation, the thrill of having a new book to read, has never left me. I’ve been immersed in books for a long time now. I was a bookseller for fifteen years, until recently, and I work as a book reviewer and author interviewer for print and radio. It’s almost a kind of madness! I’m constantly reading and keeping an eye on what is being published here and internationally, and I love spreading the word about what I think are the best books.
I’m the convening judge for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction at this year’s Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. Of course, what makes a great book can be subjective but I think reviewing books, and selling them, has given me a solid understanding of what books work and why. Over the last three years I’ve also been a judge for the Publishers Association of New Zealand (PANZ) Book Design Awards. Both judging experiences have been a great way to exercise my critical faculties and champion good books.
I loved every minute of judging this year’s Ockhams. Name a style of fiction and I’m sure we read an example of it in the 50-odd books that were submitted to the fiction category. Not once did it feel like a slog, despite the time and care required to closely read so many books. Judging was a collaborative process, I worked alongside co-judges Claire Finalyson and Paul Little. We shared our ideas and worked through our assessments together, and I now have two new friends! While I was already an avid reader of New Zealand fiction, with a long list of favourite authors (too many to list here, sadly) one of the wonderful things about being a judge was that it forced me outside my usual interests, to read novels that I might not otherwise have picked up. And in many cases, I was glad for it. It’s good to be challenged and surprised.
The longlist for this year’s Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction makes a brilliant reading list, there’s a book on it for practically any reader. And if there’s something on there you haven’t read, I recommend you dive in!
Art produced here has a distinctly New Zealand atmosphere, world view or voice. It can’t really be emulated. It’s special. And it’s constantly growing and shifting – I think New Zealand fiction, for example, is going from strength to strength. Over the last few years it has felt like there has been a real jolt of vibrancy and freshness with new ideas and voices. I love that there is more diversity in the voices being published but there is always room for more, so writers and publishers, I say, keep it coming!”
Kiran Dass is a writer, reviewer and convening judge for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction, Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2021.