Kirsty Gunn

Books on prize lists

• Pretty Ugly

  Written in English

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  NZ Book Awards 2025 · Shortlist

  Pretty Ugly

  Pretty Ugly

  Kirsty Gunn · 64 when first published

  Short stories

  AIAI-generated summary:Thirteen stories set in New Zealand and Britain follow people pressed to the limit of what they can endure, driven by secrets, jealousy and hatred, among burning wind turbines and mutated salmon.

• The Big Music

  Written in English

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  NZ Book Awards 2013 · ★ Winner

  The Big Music

  The Big Music

  Kirsty Gunn · 52 when first published

  Novel · 471 pages · Family

  AIAI-generated summary:In the hills of the Scottish Highlands a man from a long line of pipers is dying, and in his last days he works on a pipe tune meant to define his life, while his family's tangled past gathers around him.