Beaming in via her Waterview bubble, Kiran spoke to Rachel and Tess on 95bFM’s Loose Reads about how she is reading her way through the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction shortlist. Kiran reviewed shortlisted title Auē by Becky Manawatu.
Kiran says about Auē:
”If bookshops were currently open and I was on the shop floor right now, Auē is the book I would be putting into everyone’s hands because it’s a knockout of a book and I want everyone to read it! I finished reading Auē at 2.30am with my heart thumping in my chest as I accelerated towards the end. And it’s so powerful that I spent the next day in a kind of “book hangover” state. While it deals with domestic violence, gang culture, the marginalised, and fractured families, it is ultimately beautifully pitched and evoked, full of hope, friendship and tenderness. This is the kind of uniquely gritty New Zealand social realism that I’m thrilled to see being published, and I think people will still be talking about Auē in decades to come…”
The three other shortlisted titles are A Mistake by Carl Shuker, Halibut on the Moon by David Vann, and Pearly Gates by Owen Marshall. Kiran recommends squizzing the shortlist - there’s something for almost any fiction reader!
More information about the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards can be found here. And as a special bonus, check out Kiran’s playlist to accompany Auē below!
