Fiction finalists are Anne Kennedy's romance The Last Days of the National Costume, The Bright Side of my Condition by Charlotte Randall, which tells the story of four escaped Norfolk Island convicts, and Damien Wilkins' Max Gate - on the death of Thomas Hardy.
Four poetry finalists include two first-time authors - Caoilinn Hughes for Gathering Evidence and Marty Smith with Horse with Hat.
Judges of this year's annual awards are artist Dick Frizzell, Radio New Zealand presenter Kim Hill, poet and novelist Elizabeth Smither, literary critic Peter Simpson and broadcaster Miriama Kamo. Kamo said the judges congratulated all the finalists on their achievements in being named on the awards' shortlist.
The overall winner of the New Zealand Post Book of the Year award, announced on August 27, will receive $15,000.
Last year's winner was The Big Music by Kirsty Gunn.
Entries are now open for the people's choice category. Readers can vote on the awards' website, or in bookstores.
On the web
booksellers.co.nz/awards
nzherald.co.nz
Read the latest on literature at tinyurl.com/heraldbooks