Steve Brawnius

The Occam New Zealand National Book Awards are the big event of the year in New Zealand literature and this year is going to have a kind of a cliffhanger aspect to it in particular because of the involvement of Jacinda Ardern and her memoir A Different Kind of Power.

You know, it's a cliche to say, but equally true, she is this divisive figure.

Not only lunatics hate her.

Some rational people with intelligent notions of the economy in particular do not like her.

So yeah, such a high-profile person, such a world figure.

And here she is, she's got a book in the dear old Occam New Zealand National Book Awards.

She is not your normal, average, gifted, unknown New Zealand author.

This is somebody mega.

And here she is competing with Naomi, Tina and Peta for this award.

You should all take note of that and have a look at how it's going to go down.

I assume that she would.

However, in the Reading Room newsletter, which went out this morning, I exclusively reveal that Dame Jacinda will not be attending the awards, which I find very surprising.

I have to say it's disappointing.

Everyone else will be there.

She had a prior commitment.

I questioned that and the word came back from official channels.

that before she learned she was on the shortlist, she had booked an event in Australia tied in with her upcoming book that she has written, a guide for teenagers.

That book, by the way, is not published in Australia until the first week of June, so that's three weeks away.

Oh, you know, I'm extremely reluctant to be one of those generally hideous troop of people who are critical of Jacinda Ardern.

I was very friendly with her when she was a prime minister and knew her a long time before that.