20 Best New Zealand Books of the 21st Century
This is one of the 759 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.
About this list
The Conversation, 20 Books
As no New Zealand books appeared in the NYT list of best 21st century works The Coversation proceeded to create their own New Zealand list.
"... we worked with The Conversation’s NZ editor Finlay Macdonald, a former book publisher and Listener editor. Together, we asked more than 20 local literary experts to each share their favourite NZ book of the century."
This list was originally published in 2024 and was added to this site over 1 year ago.
| Rank | Book | Authors | Year | Country | Language | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7983 | The Rocky Shore | Jenny Bornholdt | 2009 | New Zealand | English | |
| 8837 | The Axeman's Carnival | Catherine Chidgey | 2023 | New Zealander | English | |
| 9298 | The Imaginary Lives Of James Poneke | Tina Makereti | 2018 | New Zealand | English | |
| 3272 | The Luminaries | Eleanor Catton | 2013 | New Zealand | English | |
| 8381 | Towards Another Summer | Janet Frame | 2007 | New Zealander | English | |
| 9988 | Unsheltered | Clare Moleta | 2018 | Unknown | English | |
| 7635 | The Big Music | Kirsty Gunn | 2012 | New Zealander | English | |
| 7982 | Ruahine | Ngahuia Te Awekotuku | 2003 | Unknown | English | |
| 8994 | Delirious | Damien Wilkins | 2012 | New Zealand | English | |
| 9279 | Kurangaituku | Whiti Hereaka | 2022 | New Zealander | English | |
| 11188 | Little Doomsdays | Nic Low, Philip Dadson | Unknown | Unknown | ||
| 11188 | How Did I Get Here | Ben Brown | Unknown | English | ||
| 11188 | Allen Curnow | Elizabeth Caffin, Terry Sturm | Unknown | English | ||
| 9145 | Bugs | Whiti Hereaka | 2013 | New Zealand | English | |
| 7991 | Greta And Valdin | Rebecca K Reilly | 2021 | Unknown | English | |
| 11188 | A Song From The Antipodes | David Kārena-Holmes | Unknown | Unknown | ||
| 10862 | Poukahangatus | Tayi Tibble | 2022 | New Zealand | English | |
| 2912 | Tu | Patricia Grace | 2004 | New Zealand | English | |
| 7893 | Playing God | Glenn Colquhoun | 2002 | New Zealand | English | |
| 8715 | Gifted | Patrick Evans | 2010 | New Zealand | English |