James George (Nga Puhi) Hummingbird, James's second novel, was chosen as Whitcoulls Bookshop's Book of the Month in May 2003. This level of reader acclaim continued with the novel being shortlisted in 2004 for the Montana Book Awards and later that year shortlisted in the prestigious Tasmanian Government Pacific Fiction Prize. James attended the Awards in Tasmania. In the last month James has been invited by the French Government to tour France, and attend a number of literary events. This is as a result of the success of his novel Hummingbird and the fact that it is being considered for translation into French.