Aotearoa/New Zealand

This chapter discusses the history of publishing, particularly of the English-language novel, in Aotearoa/New Zealand since 1950. It begins with a review of the local book scene during the period 1950–1965, when aspiring novelists faced many publication difficulties, such as the dominance of the local fiction market by British publishers and the power of publishers to fix and determine retail prices and bookseller discounts. It then turns to the years 1965–1980, when serious literary novels began to attract attention, and the 1980s, when New Zealand fiction gained overseas recognition after the 1984 novel the bone people by Keri Hulme won the 1985 Booker Prize. The chapter also examines important developments in the 1990s, such as the emergence of small independent publishers like Tandem Press and the proliferation of book festivals, and since 2000, including the expansion of internet bookselling and the rise in popularity of e-books.