Rachel Buchanan, author of Te Motunui Epa, has been announced as the co-winner of the 2023 Ernest Scott Prize!
The prestigious prize is awarded annually to the most distinguished written contribution to the history of Australia or New Zealand, or to the history of colonisation. Rachel Buchanan shares the award with Alan Atkinson for Elizabeth and John: The Macarthurs of Elizabeth Farm.
On Te Motunui Epa, the judges said, 'this book demonstrates a deep engagement with a Te Ao Māori worldview and challenges orthodox views of perspective, voice and the narrative form itself. This book is an exemplar of modern history writing in Aotearoa New Zealand; it is also elegant and sophisticated and a cracking good read.'
Te Motunui Epa was recently shortlisted for the Booksellers Aotearoa Award for Illustrated Non-Fiction at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.
Rachel Buchanan is the third consecutive BWB author to share the prize, following from Hirini Kaa with Te Hāhi Mihinare in 2021 and Lucy Mackintosh with Shifting Grounds in 2022.
Ned Fletcher's The English Text of the Treaty of Waitangi was shortlisted for the 2023 prize, with the judges calling it 'an important and substantial book ... sure to become a landmark text in Treaty of Waitangi and international treaty scholarship.'
Read the full Ernest Scott Prize announcement here.