Toi Te Mana and Sight Lines take home both illustrated non-fiction awards at the 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.

We are proud to celebrate our two award-winning books from last night's Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. Toi Te Mana: An Indigenous History of Māori Art, by Deidre Brown and Ngarino Ellis with Jonathan Mane-Wheoki, won the BookHub Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction, and Sight Lines: Women and Art in Aotearoa, by Kirsty Baker, won the Mātātuhi Foundation Best First Book Award / Judith Binney Prize for Illustrated Non-Fiction. 

Congratulations to all the winners and finalists! For more information, visit the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards website.

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Comments from the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards:

Art historians Deidre Brown (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu) and Ngarino Ellis (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou) have won the BookHub Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction at the 2025 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards for Toi Te Mana: An Indigenous History of Māori Art – a landmark title 12 years in the making.

Published by Auckland University Press, Toi Te Mana is a six-hundred-page comprehensive survey of Māori art, from Polynesian voyaging waka to contemporary Māori artists.

Illustrated Non-Fiction category convenor of judges Chris Szekely says Toi Te Mana is a book of enduring significance with international reach.

‘Toi Te Mana is extensively researched and thoughtfully written, casting a wide inclusive net. The result is a beautifully designed visual tour de force, and a cultural framework that approaches toi mahi with intelligence and insight.

‘It is dedicated to the late Jonathan Mane-Wheoki (Ngāpuhi, Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Kurī), one of the three authors responsible for this magnum opus. Congratulations to Professors Deirdre Brown and Ngarino Ellis for carrying the baton to completion, a herculean task akin to the mahi of Maui himself,’ says Mr Szekely.