Book award win choice, says dictionary man

Winning the reference and anthology section of the New Zealand Book Awards on Monday night was sweet as, corker, choice, beaut and extra curly.
Those were the New Zealandisms used by Professor Graeme Kennedy to describe the win by The New Zealand Oxford Dictionary, which he co-edited with Tony Deverson.
There has only been one previous win by a dictionary, in 1978.
Prof Kennedy is the New Zealand Dictionary Centre's senior research fellow and lives in Wellington.
He was brought up in Wanganui and credits an inspirational Wanganui Technical College teacher, the late Gordon Saunders, with some of his interest in language. He said many people had contributed to the quality of the award-winning dictionary, including workers at the dictionary centre and people throughout the country who had written in with new words or variations of meaning.
One of the award's judges said the dictionary, which contains 12,000 New Zealandisms, was a reference work of outstanding quality that would be of enduring value to New Zealanders. It was the natural and unanimous choice of the judging panel.
Prof Kennedy said the award dinner on Monday night was a champagne-filled gala occasion. He fielded a lot of phone calls yesterday and also took part in a panel discussion with the rest of the winners, hosted by Kim Hill. It was broadcast by Radio New Zealand last night.
He and his fellow editor would be splitting the $5000 prize money, "a nice little perk". Prof Kennedy had already started spending his share ? on other award-winning books.
He had bought Patricia Grace's fiction winner, Tu, a conservation book about Tiritiri Matangi Island and Gareth Shute's Hip Hop Music in Aotearoa.
The hip hop book might reveal some new New Zealandisms that could become part of the next dictionary he is involved with.
The current edition would probably be out of date in about eight years and words for the next were already being collected on a database.
His mother, Mary Kennedy, 90 and living in Gonville, heard about her son's success in a 7am phone call yesterday morning. She said she was "so excited and proud".
"He doesn't make a big fuss, although I know he was pleased.
"He's a great lad? He has worked hard at what he has done."
Prof Kennedy wasn't the only success among her children and grandchildren. They included teachers, lawyers and a scientist who would be going to Antarctica in the coming summer.
Mrs Kennedy has lived in the same house for 67 years, and began her working life as a housemaid. But her "average family" had travelled the world.
"They've been all over the place? It's so lovely. It's just a pity their dad's not here to enjoy it all."