Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Publishing east and west meet at Istanbul Publishing Fellowship 2024


Publishers from 66 countries congregated last week for the 9th Istanbul Publishing Fellowship, one of the premier networking and rights opportunities in the international book world. 



I was privileged to be among the 258 foreign publishers and agents invited (and could lay claim to having travelled the furthest to get to Istanbul, the closest competitors having come from Brazil and Indonesia ...). 

Oratia's rights table at the Rami Library

Joining the visitors were 125 Turkish publishers and agents, affording a unique opportunity to talk books and rights in what is a buoyant market of 80 million people, and to network with many Middle Eastern, Central Asian and European colleagues

At the entrance to the spectacular Rami Library complex 

Held from 5 to 7 March in the historic Rami Library in Istanbul's Bayrampaşa district, the fellowship focused on one-to-one business meetings, alongside speaker sessions, a gala dinner and informal exchanges. 

Following disruptions over recent years due to Covid-19 and the tragic earthquakes of 2023, this year's event marked a welcome return to business as usual. 

With Turkish publisher Selahattin Arslan

Mexico featured as the focus country this year, and it was a pleasure to catch up with Mexican colleagues including former IPA president Hugo Setzer and Editorial Planeta rights coordinator for Latin America, Carol Reyes.


I learned a great deal from meetings with publishers from countries as diverse as Azerbaijan, Egypt, Greece, Japan and Slovenia, and meetings with Turkish publishers confirmed their country's reputation for being welcoming and open to new ideas.

Now to the pile of reading and follow-up that always ensues from such fertile exchanges.

At the Gala Dinner with publishing friends from Türkiye, Greece and Slovenia

I would hope that more publishers from Oceania can make the trip to Istanbul in future years, because the interest in our books is certainly keen — many of those I met are looking to bring new voices to their publishing lists, and have great curiosity about our corner of the globe. 

Fellows gathered on the event's last day

As a case in point, being in Istanbul happily coincided with publication by major publishing house Pegasus Yayınları of four books from our bestselling New Bum! Series by Dawn McMillan and Ross Kinnaird. 


It was a delight to receive samples of these Turkish editions and celebrate with Nazlı Gurkas of Black Cat Agency, who brokered this rights deal. 

My sincere thanks to the Istanbul Publishing Fellowship team for this valuable experience. 

The Turkish Press and Publishers Copyright and Licensing Society organised the event, with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

İstanbul'da tekrar görüşmek üzere!

- Peter Dowling, in Istanbul

Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Award-winning bilingual picture book now in new paperback edition

 

Whakarongo ki ō Tūpuna 
Listen to your Ancestors
BILINGUAL

Darryn Joseph
Illustrated by Munro Te Whata

Back in an attractive paperback edition is the award-winning book that helped launch Darryn Joseph as a leading author and promoter of children’s literature. 

 

Darryn had penned a score of readers for Māori immersion education, before Whakarongo ki ō Tūpuna / Listen to your Ancestors came as his first book for the general market, in 2019. 

 


That hardback book won the NZSA Heritage Book Award, Māori section in 2020, and is now available in a lower-priced paperback. 


Set in a school and a rest home, Darryn’s story follows a teacher giving life lessons to her students based on the example of Māori gods and ancestors.

 

As the story unfolds, the teacher ages and retires, and her granddaughter cares for her until her death. Her granddaughter also a teacher, then begins to pass on to her pupils lessons from the ancestors.



Beautifully illustrated by Munro Te Whata, the book dives deep into te Ao Māori, the connection to tūpuna and to the natural world, the concepts of aroha and manaakitanga.


 

Darryn has gone on to a range of collaborations and translations with noted author-illustrator Donovan Bixley, as well as judging for the New Zealand Book Awards and being a trustee of the Storylines Children’s Literature Trust. 


The authors



Darryn Joseph (Ngāti Maniapoto) is an author and language consultant who was for over 20 years a senior lecturer in Māori language at Massey University, Palmerston North. He is the author or translator of some 30 books, mainly for Māori immersion education. 




Munro Te Whata (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou, Niue) is an animator, artist and writer who has illustrated several books. He lives with this family in Auckland where he works in and teaches animation and illustration. 

Publication: 5 March 2024  |  ISBN: 978-0-947506-67-4  |  RRP $22.99

Paperback, 270 x 210 mm portrait, 32 pages, colour


Saturday, March 2, 2024

Eighth of the New Bum! books continues 'runaway success' of the international series


My Dad’s Runaway Bum!
Dawn McMillan
Illustrated by Ross Kinnaird

From the humble beginnings of a boy wondering why his bum has a crack, the 2012 book I Need a New Bum! has built a fan base of millions around the world, with six subsequent adventures published along with a number of bind-ups, sticker books and even a board game. 


My Dad’s Runaway Bum extends this hit series in another crazy escapade. Our hero. red-pants boy, is off on another bum-venture, but this time it’s not him that causes the trouble!

 

After eating too much cabbage and peas, Dad’s bum has had enough and blasts off in a cloud of smelly smoke. It takes off through the door, rolls ‘past joggers in tights, past bikers with lights’.

 

But our hero and his bum-less Dad are hot on its tail, following its smelly trail. And soon, the police get in on the c(h)ase …

Will Dad get his bum back or will he stay forever bum-less, with his backside locked up in jail?


The hilarious rhymes of Dawn McMillan and comical drawings of Ross Kinnaird crack up readers once more in this wild bum-chase. 


 

This eighth in the bestselling New Bum! series will be in bookstores from 5 March in New Zealand and Australia, with publication also in the US and Canada, the UK and Ireland.


The authors


Dawn McMillan is the much-loved author of many children’s books, including  I Need a New Bum!My Bum is SO SPOOKY!There’s a Moa in the Moonlight and Colour the Stars. She lives in Waiomu, north of Thames. 


Ross Kinnaird is an illustrator and graphic designer whose books have been published in many countries, many of them in collaboration with Dawn. He lives close to the water on Auckland’s North Shore.


Publication: 5 March 2024  |  ISBN: 978-1-99-004254-6 | RRP $21.00

Paperback, 230 x 215 mm portrait, 32 pages, colour

Monday, February 5, 2024

Bilingual picture book tells uplifting story of gender fluidity and the power of poi


Rere Atu Taku Poi!/Let My Poi Fly!

Tangaroa Paul

Illustrated by Rebecca Gibbs

Debut author pens inspiring picture book based on their own journey to performing the poi


Publishing this week as part Pride Month, Rere Atu Taku Poi!/Let My Poi Fly! is the story of a boy who learns that being different takes courage and makes us who we are.




Rangi loves doing haka but performing poi is his favourite — even though his classmates say this artform just for girls. When the lead poi performer falls sick before a school performance, Rangi has to take her place. 

 

How will the other students and audience react – ‘Surely a boy can’t lead the poi?’  As Rangi steps on stage, the familiar movements of poi take him from scared and unsure to standing as his authentic self.



‘As a child I knew I was different, but I struggled to find answers. Kapa haka and poi were the only ways in which I felt the connection between my culture and my self,’ Tangaroa says. 

 

‘This book, and Rangi’s journey of expressing who they are, is all about being bright, brave and
beautiful!’


Written in te reo Māori and English (te reo appears first on the pages), Tangaroa’s story is beautifully illustrated by Rebecca Gibbs. 


Creative New Zealand generously supported publication of the book, which was created in collaboration with Auckland Libraries Ngā Pataka Kōrero o Tamaki Makaurau.




A teacher resource for the book is available on the Oratia website. And scanning the QR code on the back cover takes you to YouTube videos with Tangaroa reading the book in Māori and English, and a poi performance.

To see an interview with Tangaroa, click on this link

The authors


Tangaroa Paul (Te Whare Tawhito o Muriwhenua), a poi expert who identifies as gender-fluid, is a lecturer in te reo Māori at the Auckland University of Technology, where they have recently submitted a doctoral thesis in gender studies. Rere Atu Taku Poi! is Tangaroa’s first book.



Rebecca Gibbs (Rongowhakaata) has been a primary school teacher and gained a Bachelor of Design (VisCom) in 2015, since when she has worked in illustration and publishing. She lives in Christchurch.


Publication: 8 February 2024 | ISBN: 978-1-99-004248-5 | RRP $22.99

Paperback, 270 x 210 mm portrait, 32 pages, colour

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Publishing with partners: Oratia keeps commissioned work to the fore

‘We couldn’t be more thrilled with the book we launched as a celebration of our 50th anniversary... Thank you, Oratia Media — you are an amazing company to work with.’

    Bruce Pilbrow, CEO, Spirit of Adventure Trust

Oratia Media started life in 2000 as a publishing services business, and along with our own books continues to partner with organisations to bring their stories to publication.

Most recently, in November 2023 we published Roger McDonald’s A Spirit Companion as a commission from The Spirit of Adventure Trust for  its 50-year celebrations.

Roger’s superb stories of those who have sailed and supported ‘the Spirit’ spring from the page with their accompanying drawings by Sue Fisher — telling of lives changed by youth voyages and love of the sea.

‘We couldn’t be more thrilled with the book we launched as a celebration of our 50th anniversary,’ says Bruce Pilbrow, the Trust’s CEO.

‘The result is truly world class. Thank you, Oratia Media — you are an amazing company to work with.’

Oratia loved working with the Spirit team, and thank Stephen Fisher and the Trust board for putting their confidence in us to take their book from a manuscript to printed book.

The result is a beautiful production that has crossed over into the retail market, with copies on display in bookstores across the country over the 2023–24 summer.


Other commissioned publications Oratia managed last year were the Waitakere Ranges Protection Society’s print and ebook Making a Stand, and the Samoan-English picture book O Leilani ma lona Fale’oloa/Leilani’s Shop for Auckland Libraries.

Clients for whom we have produced quality books over the years include companies like Civic Assurance and Goodman Fielder, charities (The Tindall Foundation, the Order of St John), community groups and government agencies such as the New Zealand Geographic Board.

Oratia’s services range from writing, editing, proofreading and design through to print management and ebook conversion, all to the highest standards.

For more about our commission and partner publishing services, check out https://www.oratia.co.nz/services/ or email info@oratia.co.nz. 

Sunday, January 21, 2024

Chennai International Book Fair fellowship brings the world to Tamil writing

Attending the second Chennai International Book Fair (CIBF 2024) in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu has been an eye-opening and stimulating start to the year. 

The fair kindly invited me to join along with more than 30 publishers from around the globe, joining hundreds of colleagues from Tamil Nadu and across India.


Based on the theme 'Bringing the world to Tamil, taking Tamil to the world', CIBF 2024 tapped the rich literary history of Tamil, a classical language with a history stretching back thousands of years.

Chennai is also home to a host of large and small publishers producing books in Tamil and other southern Indian languages, as well as English.

Opening on Tuesday 16 January after a colourful welcome, the fair provided national stalls for the invited publishers, along with a large stand for guest of honour Malaysia.


Over the three days I held several dozen meetings with agents, publishers, service providers and authors, sharing the Oratia Books list and considering their works for translation. 

Among the books I profiled were The Grandmothers of Pikitea Street by Indian-Kiwi author Renisa Maki and Malcolm Paterson's The River in our Backyard, which features Tamil language and characters.

Our hard-working stand helper, Sabreen Fatima

With Daya Subramanian, managing editor of Mumbai-based Daffodil Lane Books

Visiting Higginbothams, India's oldest bookstore, in central Chennai

Our international group was able to visit the public book fair being run simultaneously at another location in the city, as well as the impressive Higginbothams, India's oldest bookstore, in the Anna Salai district.

The panel discussion 'Translating Cultures: Inward and Outward'

On Wednesday I was part of a panel discussion on translation, moderated by Dejan Trajkoski (Prozart Media, North Macedonia) with Milena Ascione (BooksAgent, France), Sulaiman Adebowale (Amalion, Senegal) and Rajeev Dhar Joshi (Kathalaya, Nepal).

The 2024 CIBF fellows

A huge vote of thanks to the fellowship organisers Senthil Nathan and Ilangoven Chinnusamy, who put a massive amount of voluntary work into getting the fellows to Chennai from around the world and making this a memorable experience. 

With CIBF fellowship organiser Senthil Nathan

I look forward to following up on the many contacts made, and to helping bring Tamil books to New Zealand and New Zealand books to Tamil.

The Indian national anthem sung at the closing ceremony on Thursday

— Peter Dowling, Publisher, Oratia Books

Monday, December 11, 2023

Ko Tenga o Waikuta


Here’s a welcome addition to the ranks of children’s books in te reo Māori, produced by the whānau of frequent Oratia contributor and translator Kanapu Rangitauira.
Ko Tenga o Waikuta is a full Māori translation of the book Tenga of Waikuta (1992), written by the late educationalist Kelvin Smyth with photos the renowned Ans Westra, who passed away this year.
Ko Tenga o Waikuta presents a visual diary of a day in the life of Tenga Rangitauira, a seven-year-old Māori boy from Rotorua — describing his family, kura, and friends, as well as cultural activities including tangihanga (funeral ceremony) and the famous love story of Hinemoa and Tutanekai.
To get your copies (priced at $20, plus $9 freight), contact tengaowaikuta@gmail.com



 

Tuesday, November 14, 2023

Fifty years of the Spirit of Adventure captured through the eyes of those who sailed

A Spirit Companion

Celebrating the first 50 years of the Spirit of Adventure Trust

Roger McDonald

Sweeping stories of the sea and personal growth from those who have sailed the iconic Spirit of Adventure

‘All a trainee needed to feel — could not help feeling — was that their feet were on the decks of something pretty big, and change was happening all around them just by the motion that happened when the wind blew.’

 

In A Spirit Companion, distinguished writer Roger McDonald relays stories from some of the tens of thousands whose lives have been touched by ‘the Spirit’. Through their eyes we share the unique experiences fostered over 50 years aboard Spirit of Adventure and Spirit of New Zealand Te Waka Herenga Tangata ō Aotearoa.

The voices speak in these pages — teenagers who had never sailed and were now atop a mast; Lou Fisher, who set up the Spirit of Adventure Trust, and son Stephen who has guided it for 46 years; crew and captains who piloted the Spirit ships; volunteers who give back, many after completing their own ten-day training voyage. 



As Roger writes, his book embraces ‘
a mix of past and present episodes, about seventy in total, based on recorded interviews, a few dips into the archive, and a dash of sailing experience. It’s not a history. It’s reportage. It’s not chronological …’

This highly original volume, illustrated with line drawings, forms part of the 50-year celebrations of the Spirit of Adventure Trust in November and December this year. 

The author

Roger McDonald is an acclaimed Australian novelist and non-fiction writer. Among his ten novels are The Ballad of Desmond Kale, winner of the Miles Franklin Award, Mr Darwin’s Shooter and A Sea-Chase. Linked to the Spirit of Adventure Trust by family, Roger divides his time between Waiheke Island and rural New South Wales, and is a keen sailor.


Publication: 14 November 2023 | ISBN: 978-1-99-0042 | RRP $60.00

 Hardback, 220 x 170 mm portrait, 344 pages, 2 colour

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