New Zealand’s First Popular Science Book Prize – Winner Announced

Friday 15 May 2009

Celebrated author Richard Dawkins announced the winner of New Zealand’s first prize for popular science writing last night. Speaking by video link from Britain to an audience of 800 at the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival, Richard Dawkins declared The Awa Book of New Zealand Science to be the inaugural winner of the Royal Society of New Zealand Science Book Prize.

The book is a hardback anthology of writings about discoveries made by New Zealand scientists, edited by Rebecca Priestley and published by Wellington based Awa Press. The prize was judged by science and literature experts from three New Zealand universities and selected from a shortlist of five titles. The judges described the winner as ‘scientific enchantment: a time machine that takes us into the times, the words, the minds, the passions and the discoveries of New Zealand scientists, and produces thrill after thrill of recognition, surprise and inspiration’.  Rebecca Priestley receives $10,000 and Awa Press $2,500.

Chief Executive of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Dr Di McCarthy, would like to see the prize become a regular fixture in New Zealand’s book publishing landscape.  The award was established as a celebration of the burgeoning genre of popular science writing and as an encouragement to current and aspiring writers in New Zealand.  ‘There is no reason why, in the future, New Zealand authors cannot produce an international popular science best seller’, says Di McCarthy.

The event with Richard Dawkins was compered by Radio New Zealand National host Sean Plunket and was the first time the research and education networks JANET (UK) and KAREN (NZ) have combined their resources to bring such a high quality video link to a public audience. Internationally video link is becoming a popular way for authors to present their work to far flung audiences. Journalist George Monbiot meets all of his international commitments by video link for environmental reasons, and Booker Prize winning author Margaret Atwood took part in two events at the Dubai Literature Festival by video link due to time pressures earlier this year.

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NOTES:

The award announcement takes place at approximately 9.30pm, Friday 15 May 2009, at the Auckland Writers and Readers Festival event with Richard Dawkins at the ASB Theatre in the Aotea Centre.

The Science Book Prize judges are Professor Jean Fleming (University of Otago), Associate Professor Harry Ricketts (Victoria University of Wellington), and Professor Brian Boyd (The University of Auckland). 

The four other shortlisted books were Falling for Science by Bernard Beckett (Longacre Press), Hot Topic: Climate Change and the Future by Gareth Renowden (AUT Media), In Search of Ancient New Zealand by Hamish Campbell and Gerard Hutching (Penguin), and the Montana Medal winning Wetlands of New Zealand by Janet Hunt (Random House).

Professor Richard Dawkins is a renowned evolutionary biologist and outspoken atheist. His books include The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion. The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution which will be published later this year.

Contact: Faith Atkins on 021 177 8779 or see www.royalsociety.org.nz for book descriptions and author biographies.