Lawrence & Gibson is an independent publisher founded in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, New Zealand in 2005.Lang, Sarah (2014) 'Uber Cool and has a social conscience' Capital Magazine April pp. 60-62 The organisation functions as a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

worker collective A worker cooperative is a cooperative owned and Workers' self-management, self-managed by its workers. This control may mean a firm where every worker-owner participates in decision-making in a democratic fashion, or it may refer to one in which ...

where profits are split 50/50 between author and publisher. Their most notable releases are Richard Meros' '' On the condition and possibilities of Helen Clark taking me as Her Young Lover'' (2005) and Brannavan Gnanalingam's ''Sprigs'' (2020). As of 2023, the collective is steered by Murdoch Stephens (co-founder),

Brannavan Gnanalingam Brannavan Gnanalingam (born 20 October 1983, Sri Lanka) is a New Zealand author and practicing lawyer with the New Zealand firm Buddle Findlay at its Wellington office. Biography Gnanalingam was born in Sri Lanka and grew up in Lower Hutt. His ...

(2011) and Thomasin Sleigh, all of whom have released multiple titles with the collective.

Notable authors

Notable authors include Richard Meros, William Dewey,

, Thomasin Sleigh,

Murdoch Stephens Murdoch ( , ) is an Irish/Scottish given name, as well as a surname. The name is derived from old Gaelic words ''mur'', meaning "sea" and ''murchadh'', meaning "sea warrior". The following is a list of notable people or entities with the name. ...

Alice Tawhai Alice Tawhai is the pen name of a New Zealand fiction writer. She is of Tainui and Ngāpuhi Ngāpuhi (or Ngā Puhi) is a Māori iwi associated with the Northland region of New Zealand and centred in the Hokianga, the Bay of Islands, and Whang� ...

, Tīhema Baker, Rhydian Thomas, and Sharon Lam. The Dominion Post described it as one of the capital city's most promising independent publishers.

Publications and awards

In 2016, Gnanalingam's ''A Briefcase, Two Pies and a Penthouse'', which was long-listed for novel of the year in New Zealand's Ockham Book Awards. The following year, his novel ''Sodden Downstream'' was short-listed for the

Ockham New Zealand Book Awards The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are literary awards presented annually in New Zealand. The awards began in 1996 as the merger of two literary awards events: the New Zealand Book Awards, which ran from 1976 to 1995, and the Goodman Fielder W ...

novel of the year. Both of their 2017 novels - ''Milk Island'' and ''Sodden Downstream'' - received critical acclaim. ''Milk Island'' was judged as the fifth best book of 2017 by

the Spinoff ''The Spinoff'' is a New Zealand online magazine and news website that was founded in 2014. It is known for current affairs coverage, political and social analysis, and cultural commentary. It earns money through commercial sponsorship and su ...

, while ''Sodden Downstream'' was described by the same publication as 'surely the best local novel of 2017 by a long stretch. No other novel comes close to achieving such a close examination of life in New Zealand right now.' The 2019 release of ''Lonely Asian Woman'' by Sharon Lam marked the twenty-fifth publication from the collective. The novel was long-listed for the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards novel of the year. In 2020, the publisher and founder of Lawrence & Gibson, Murdoch Stephens revealed himself as the author behind the Richard Meros novels. Concurrently, the collective released a debut novel under Stephens' own name ''Rat King Landlord''. Gnanalingam's sixth book with the collective, ''Sprigs'', was released to widespread acclaim in 2020. It was short-listed for the best fiction of the year and described by The Spinoff as "having that rare thing in a novel: impetus" . The success of the novel led to Gnanalingam authoring a fortnightly column in the

Sunday Star-Times The ''Sunday Star-Times'' is a New Zealand newspaper published each weekend in Auckland. It covers both national and international news, and is a member of the New Zealand Press Association and Newspaper Publishers Association of New Zealand. ...

. ''Sprigs'' won the

Ngaio Marsh Award The Ngaio Marsh Awards (formerly Ngaio Marsh Award), popularly called the Ngaios, are literary awards presented annually in New Zealand to recognise excellence in crime fiction, mystery, and thriller writing. The Awards were established by jour ...

for best work of crime fiction in the 2021 ceremony.

Notable authors

Publications and awards

References

External links