Judges have announced the finalists in five categories in Massey University's Nga Kupu Ora Aotearoa Maori Book Awards 2014.
The awards have been held annually since 2009 to formally recognise Maori literature. Massey University director Maori Associate Professor Te Kani Kingi said six years on it was even more important
for the awards to be held given the recent announcement about the future of the New Zealand Book Awards being under threat.
This year 16 books are finalists in the arts, biography and history, fiction, non-fiction, and te reo Maori categories.
"It is heartening to see such a strong line-up of finalists and also a growth in the number of publishers," Dr Kingi said.
"Books by 12 publishers have been shortlisted this year including two universities, one in New Zealand - Otago - and one overseas, the University of Minnesota. Two of the books are self-published."
