2026 PANZ Book Design Awards are now open
By Ōtepoti He Puna Auaha | Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature | Posted: Wednesday Apr 29, 2026
Entries for the awards will close on Friday 29 May 2026
Entries for the 2026 PANZ Book Design Awards are now open, marking another year of celebrating excellence in book design across Aotearoa New Zealand.
The PANZ Book Design Awards were established to promote excellence in, and provide recognition for, the best book design in Aotearoa New Zealand.
This year the Best General Cover Award will replace Best Commercial Book for Adults. This change reflects the importance of the cover for non-illustrative books that are published into the trade at volume. The Best Cookbook category has also been updated to include lifestyle books. This category is now the Best Cookbook and Lifestyle Book Award. Eligible books include cookbooks, home and interior design, gardening, fashion, health and wellness.
Entries are judged in nine categories, Best Illustrated Book, Best Non-illustrated Book, Best Children’s Book, Best General Cover Award, Best Educational Book or Series – Primary, Best Educational Book or Series – Secondary or Tertiary, Best Cookbook and Lifestyle Book Award, Best Typography and Best Cover.
The winner of the coveted Gerard Reid Award for Best Book is chosen from the shortlist.
You can enter the PANZ Book Design Awards here.
A further award goes to the Aotearoa NZ Emerging Designer. We encourage you share these details with your eligible in-house and freelance designers. Entry to the Emerging Designer award is free and comes with a $1,000 prize for the winner. Eligibility is based on length of time in the book design industry. The designer must have been working in the book design industry for no more than 5 years as at 31 December 2025.
The entry form for the Emerging Designer award can be found here .
But it’s not just the judges who make the decisions, those attending the ceremony have the chance to vote for the winner of the People’s Choice Award on the awards night.
AI notice
While not applicable to the current (2026) Awards from 2027 PANZ will employ strict AI criteria to protect human creatives. The use of AI created or generated images in part or in whole, must be disclosed and may not be eligible from 2027 onwards.
Dates for your diaries:
Entries for the awards will close on Friday 29 May 2026.
The shortlist will be announced on Wednesday 29 July 2026 and the winners revealed at a spring ceremony in Auckland on Thursday 24 September 2026.
Remember to keep an eye on the PANZ Book Design Awards website www.bookdesignawards.co.nz for more news and details of the awards ceremony. All entry forms and criteria are also available on the website.