Liz Boase and Brian Kolia win 2025 ANZATS Book Prizes

Congratulations to University of Divinity faculty, Liz Boase and Brian Kolia who are the winners of the 2025 ANZATS Book Prize.

Launched in 2023, the ANZATS Book Prize runs every second year. It is an award for the best monograph in the general field of theology by scholars from Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. The prize contains two categories, emerging scholars and established scholars. In 2025, ten books published between mid- 2022 and the end of 2024 were submitted in each category and examined by the judging panel.

The winners in each category were announced and congratulated at the ANZATS Conference Dinner on Wednesday 2nd July. ANZATS President, the Reverend Dr Christy Capper, commended all authors on the impressive scholarly depth and quality of work in the 2025 submissions.

Reverend Dr Brian Kolia (UD Alum and Associate Teacher at Pilgrim Theological College) won the Emerging Scholars category, with Carrying Qoheleth’s Maotoa(House): An Australian-Samoan Diasporic Reading (SBL Press).

About his monograph, the judges said:

“Brian Kolia’s book stood out for the significance and innovation of its contribution and methodology. Kolia applies an innovative Pasifika perspective to the reading of Qoheleth, producing an intuitive diaspora reading that is convincing and leaves the reader wondering why they never noticed this natural aspect of the text before.”

Professor Liz Boase (Dean, School of Graduate Research) won the Established Scholars category, with Trauma Theories: Refractions in the Book of Jeremiah (Sheffield Phoenix). An examination of the use of trauma theory in biblical studies, using the Book of Jeremiah as a case study.

About her monograph, the judges said:

“It is a striking book which makes a significant contribution to the field while being accessible to the non-specialist. Boase illuminates text and theory with reference to the trauma which is still part of our world.”

Congratulations to Liz and Brian, as well as all authors who were shortlisted!