HarperCollins Publishers, one of the world’s largest consumer book publishers, today announced a global campaign celebrating two centuries of publishing in commemoration of the company’s 200th anniversary. The centrepiece of the yearlong celebration is a website, www.hc.com/200, that showcases HarperCollins’s storied history and influence on readers of all ages around the world. ‘We’re excited to celebrate this milestone anniversary and give thanks to the employees, authors, librarians, booksellers, and consumers who’ve been instrumental in helping HarperCollins become a part of the global literary culture over the last 200 years,’ said Brian Murray, CEO of HarperCollins Publishers. ‘Our goal today is unchanged from what our founders set out to achieve two centuries ago—to help authors and their works reach their fullest potential and widest readership. We hope to continue to entertain, educate, and inspire generations of readers for centuries to come.’ ‘We are proud of the provenance of HarperCollins and the works of our great writers and editors that have echoed through the centuries and will resonate for centuries to come,’ said Robert Thomson, chief executive of News Corp, of which HarperCollins is a subsidiary. ‘For HarperCollins, the past is a prelude to a profoundly successful future. James Kellow HarperCollins Australia & New Zealand CEO said, ‘We are incredibly proud of our global literary history. 200 years of publishing is an incredible achievement. We are no less proud of our local contribution as one of New Zealand’s oldest publishing companies. The company opened its doors in New Zealand in 1888 and over the years has contributed generously to the country’s literature with authors as diverse as Ngaio Marsh and Margaret Mahy, and books such as Delinquent Days by John A Lee, and Peter Mahon’s Verdict on Erebus. We love a good story, we care passionately for writers and readers, and we look forward to upholding this fine tradition into the future.’ HarperCollins, the publisher of Mark Twain, the Brontë sisters, Thackeray, Dickens, H. G. Wells, Agatha Christie, J. R. R. Tolkien, George R.R. Martin, C. S. Lewis, Banjo Patterson, Henry Lawson, May Gibbs, and many more, has a long and rich history, which book lovers can interact with via a wide array of exclusive content available now at www.hc.com/200. Visitors to the site can delve into the literary heritage of HarperCollins, and will discover everything from images of captivating artefacts from the company’s archives, to a collection of iconic HarperCollins books, to short stories that illustrate significant moments in the company’s history. Content will also be shared on the company’s global social media accounts, and readers everywhere are invited to join the conversation online using #hc200. The anniversary website includes five key sections: The HarperCollins 200 Curated with the help of booksellers and librarians from around the world, The HarperCollins 200 is a global collection of 200 iconic HarperCollins titles—beloved books that have inspired, informed, entertained, and endured. Titles from the collection, published by HarperCollins divisions around the world, include: · Moby-Dick (Herman Melville, 1851) · The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis, 1950) · Charlotte’s Web (E. B. White, 1952) · The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho, 1993) · A Game of Thrones (George R. R. Martin, 1996) Timeline Journey through key moments in HarperCollins history, from its humble beginning as a small printing business in New York City to its current role as a global publishing powerhouse operating in 18 countries. Stories These short snippets delve deeper into significant moments in HarperCollins history, lending further detail to noteworthy moments, innovations, and authors in the company’s evolution. Inside the Archives This collection of high-resolution images of artifacts from the HarperCollins archives includes original story notes from authors; correspondence between HarperCollins executives and authors; vintage photographs; original manuscripts; and first editions. Highlights include: a sympathy telegram to Coretta Scott King the day after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.; a letter from Agatha Christie sharing her opinions on a publicity blurb and her book cover; and an original sketch suggested by Syd Hoff for Danny and the Dinosaur Why I Read HarperCollins asked its authors from around the world why they write, why they read, and what books have influenced them. Dozens shared their thoughts, including Jackie French, Richard Fidler, Tara Moss, and Donna Hay. Visitors to the website will also be encouraged to join the conversation and share their own experiences and passion for reading via social media using the hashtag #hc200. The website will be a springboard for activities created by local teams across the globe and designed to bring the 200th anniversary to life in each market. They include a campaign to support literacy and reading, charity projects, and an exhibition of historical items at the Columbia University Rare Book and Manuscript Library in New York City. Follow HarperCollins on social media to stay up to date with the latest anniversary activities. About HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers is the second largest consumer book publisher in the world, with operations in 18 countries. With two hundred years of history and more than 120 branded imprints around the world, HarperCollins publishes approximately 10,000 new books every year in 17 languages, and has a print and digital catalogue of more than 200,000 titles. Writing across dozens of genres, HarperCollins authors include winners of the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the Newbery and Caldecott Medals, and the Man Booker Prize. HarperCollins, headquartered in New York, is a subsidiary of News Corp (NASDAQ: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) and can be visited online at corporate.HC.com |
Two people’s love of children’s literature has fertilised the growth of The Sapling, a brand-new website dedicated entirely to celebrating children’s books.
With the website launching today, 6 March, Jane Arthur and Sarah Forster are excited to be bringing their passion project into the world.
Sarah says, “With funding from Creative NZ, and a very successful crowdfunding campaign behind us, we are in an amazing space to really change the conversation about children’s literature in New Zealand. We deeply believe that it should be valued far more than it currently is – and over 140 Boosted campaign donors, giving $12,000, agree with us.”
There are 11 articles completed, edited and going live today, and there will be 4-5 articles per week as the online magazine continues.
Jane notes, “We’re aiming to become the primary place to find reliable, robust discussions about diverse, quality new children’s literature.”
The focus will be on New Zealand children’s literature, but they won’t be ignoring the international scene. In particular, they will have regular interviews with an Australian author or illustrator.
“While I love the essay Miriama Kamo has written about Pounamu Pounamu, the piece I am really jumping up and down about sharing with the wider world is a fantastic interview between Gavin Bishop and David Elliott about Elliott’s brilliant Snark,” says Sarah. “Two top-ranked author-illustrators talking shop: how awesome is that?!”
Jane says, “We’re excited to become a platform for new voices as well as the established experts. I’m really proud of snaffling award-winning emerging young poet and essayist Nina Powles for regular essays about books that influenced her childhood.Her first piece about Hermione from the Harry Potter series is poetic, smart and political; it’s a must-read.”
So go now and check out www.thesapling.co.nz. If you are passionate about children’s books, it might just have exactly the conversation you are looking for.
ENDS
Either Sarah or Jane are available for interview. Just call Sarah on 021 1767684, or contact us via editors@thesapling.co.nz. We are both Wellington-based.
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Four of the country’s most respected novelists are in the running for New Zealand’s richest fiction writing prize with today’s announcement of the 2017 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards shortlist.
Commonwealth Prize-winning novelist Catherine Chidgey’s The Wish Child is one of the contenders for the $50,000 Acorn Foundation Fiction Prize, as are multi-award winning writer Owen Marshall’s Love as a Stranger, critic, poet and novelist C.K. Stead’s The Name on the Door is Not Mine, and critically acclaimed poet and novelist Emma Neale’s Billy Bird.
The prize, now in its second year, is awarded through the generosity of one of the Acorn Foundation’s donors.
The Acorn Foundation Fiction Prize judges’ convenor, Bronwyn Wylie-Gibb, says all four finalists demonstrate compelling writing, surprising plots, sudden poignancies, sharp humour and beautifully observed characters. “These are the books that we loved, that provoked, that excited us, and that we are still thinking about.”
For the first time in the history of the New Zealand Book Awards, an international judge will assist in selecting the winner of the fiction category.
Distinguished Canadian writer Madeleine Thie will be the first to assume this role. New Zealand Book Awards Trust chair, Nicola Legat, says this country’s writers have long wished for an international view of their books, and having an international judge will now be a permanent feature of this award.
Ms Legat further reports that judges across all categories found selecting a shortlist in a very tight longlist field difficult. “The overall standard of publishing in New Zealand in the last year was so very high.”
In the Poetry category, the finalists are Tusiata Avia’s Fale Aitu | Spirit House; Hera Lindsay Bird’s Hera Lindsay Bird; Andrew Johnston’s Fits & Starts, and Gregory Kan’s This Paper Boat.
The Poetry convenor, Harry Ricketts, says that each finalist was highly accomplished, ambitious, demanding and rewarding. “The quality of long-listed collections by experienced poets was extremely high, so too that of first-timers. And the collections, so striking, so innovative, were so distinctive in poetics and in content. Each [of the four finalists] pushes you outside your comfort zone, adjusts your expectations, sends you back to discover new things about the poems, about yourself reading them.”
The finalists in the Illustrated Non-Fiction category are Barbara Brookes’ A History of New Zealand Women; Warren Moran’s New Zealand Wine: The Land, the Vines, the People; Peter Simpson’s Bloomsbury South: The Arts in Christchurch 1933-1953, and Ann Shelton: Dark Matter edited by Zara Stanhope.
“Stylish production enhanced the aesthetic appeal of the Illustrated Non-Fiction shortlisted books, with crisp photography and fascinating historical images complemented by great design,” says the convenor, Linda Tyler. “They each showcase the skills of Aotearoa New Zealand’s writers, editors, designers, printers and publishers, presenting aspects of our life and culture in original and compelling ways,” she says.
The General Non-Fiction category’s finalists are Anthony Byrt’s This Model World: Travels to the Edge of Contemporary Art; Adam Dudding’s My Father’s Island; Ben Schrader’s The Big Smoke: New Zealand Cities, 1840-1920, and Ashleigh Young’s Can You Tolerate This? Convenor Susanna Andrew says the judges chose the books that thrilled them with their vigour, originality and wisdom. “These four stood apart from the rest from the very start for their honesty and prose style and for being alive to the very art of writing.”
The winner of this category will receive the inaugural Royal Society Te Apārangi Award for General Non-Fiction.
The 16 finalist books were selected by four panels of three specialist judges and were drawn from 40 longlisted titles out of a total of 150 entries.
The 2017 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards finalist titles are:
ACORN FOUNDATION FICTION PRIZE
- The Wish Child by Catherine Chidgey (Victoria University Press)
- Love as a Stranger by Owen Marshall (Vintage, Penguin Random House)
- Billy Bird by Emma Neale (Vintage, Penguin Random House)
- The Name on the Door is Not Mine by C.K. Stead (Allen & Unwin)
POETRY
- Fale Aitu | Spirit House by Tusiata Avia (Victoria University Press)
- Hera Lindsay Bird by Hera Lindsay Bird (Victoria University Press)
- Fits & Starts by Andrew Johnston (Victoria University Press)
- This Paper Boat by Gregory Kan (Auckland University Press)
ILLUSTRATED NON-FICTION
- A History of New Zealand Women by Barbara Brookes (Bridget Williams Books)
- New Zealand Wine: The Land, the Vines, the People by Warren Moran (Auckland University Press)
- Ann Shelton: Dark Matter, edited by Zara Stanhope and managing editor Clare McIntosh (Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki)
- Bloomsbury South: The Arts in Christchurch 1933-1953 by Peter Simpson (Auckland University Press)
ROYAL SOCIETY TE APĀRANGI AWARD FOR GENERAL NON-FICTION
- This Model World: Travels to the Edge of Contemporary Art by Anthony Byrt (Auckland University Press)
- My Father’s Island by Adam Dudding (Victoria University Press)
- The Big Smoke: New Zealand Cities, 1840-1920 by Ben Schrader (Bridget Williams Books)
- Can You Tolerate This? By Ashleigh Young (Victoria University Press)
The winners (including of the four Best First Book awards) will be announced at a ceremony in the Aotea Centre on Tuesday May 16, 2017, held as the first public event of the Auckland Writers Festival. The awards ceremony is open to the public. Tickets to the event can be purchased via Ticketmaster once festival bookings open on Friday 17 March.
The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are supported by Ockham Residential, Creative New Zealand, the Acorn Foundation, Book Tokens (NZ) Ltd and the Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi.
ENDS
For interview opportunities, author images, book cover images and further information please contact: Penny Hartill, director, hPR 09 445 7525, 021 721 424, penny@hartillpr.co.nz
www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards
https://www.facebook.com/NewZealandBookAwards/
@theockhams #theockhams
Editor’s Notes
Madeleine Thien (Canada) is the author of the story collection Simple Recipes (2001), and three novels, Certainty (2006); Dogs at the Perimeter (2011), shortlisted for Berlin’s International Literature Prize and winner of the Frankfurt Book Fair’s 2015 Liberaturpreis; and Do Not Say We Have Nothing which was shortlisted for the 2016 Man Booker Prize.
The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are the country’s premier literary honours for works written by New Zealanders. First established in 1968 as the Wattie Book Awards (later the Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards), they have also been known as the Montana New Zealand Book Award and the New Zealand Post Book Awards. Awards are given for Fiction (the Acorn Foundation Fiction Prize), Illustrated Non-Fiction, General Non-Fiction (the Royal Society Te Apārangi Award for General Non-Fiction) and Poetry. There are also four Best First Book Awards and, at the judges’ discretion, a Māori language award. The awards are governed by the New Zealand Book Awards Trust (a registered charity). Members of the Trust are Nicola Legat, Karen Ferns, Paula Morris, Catherine Robertson, Stella Chrysostomou, David Bowles, Pene Walsh and Melanee Winder. Creative New Zealand is a significant annual funder of the awards. The Trust also governs the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults and Phantom Billstickers National Poetry Day.
Ockham Residential Limited is Auckland’s most progressive developer. Founded in 2009 by Mark Todd and Ben Preston, Ockham describes itself as an urban regenerator, a company that loves Auckland, and that wants to see its built environment become as beautiful and as world-class as its natural landscape. The business has ambitions wider than profitability: the company has also established the Ockham Foundation, an education-focused charity, to promote original thinking and critical thought — two key elements of public discourse — via education. It works with the University of Auckland to fund First Foundation Scholars studying science, it also funds two postgraduate scholarships in statistics and it also works with Nga Rangtahi Toa’s work with at risk youth.
The Acorn Foundation is a community foundation based in the Western Bay of Plenty, which encourages people to leave a gift in their wills and/or their lifetimes to support their local community forever. Donations are pooled and invested, and the investment income is used to make donations to local charities, in accordance with the donors’ wishes. The capital remains intact. Since it was established in 2003, Acorn has distributed over $3.6 million, and it currently has invested funds of $16.7 million. Community foundations are the fastest growing form of philanthropy worldwide, and there are now 13 throughout New Zealand. The Book Awards’ $50,000 fiction award, known as the Acorn Foundation Fiction Prize, has been provided through the generosity of one of the Foundation’s donors, and will be awarded to the top fiction work each year, in perpetuity.
Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi offers expert advice to government and the public, recognises excellence in research and scholarship in science, technology and humanities, promotes science and technology education, publishes peer-reviewed journals, administers funds for research and fosters international scientific contact and co-operation.
Creative New Zealand has been a sustaining partner of New Zealand’s book awards for decades. Creative New Zealand encourages, promotes and supports the arts in New Zealand for the benefit of all New Zealanders through funding, capability building, an international programme, and advocacy. It offers financial support for emerging and established artists, art practitioners, groups and organisations, and provides training and online resources to help artists and practitioners develop professionally, grow audiences and markets, and manage their organisations. It also supports internships and national touring to help develop New Zealand arts. Creative New Zealand provides a wide range of support to New Zealand literature, including funding for writers and publishers, residencies, literary festivals and awards, and supports organisations which work to increase the readership and sales of New Zealand literature at home and internationally.
Book Tokens (NZ) Ltd underwrites the sale of book tokens within New Zealand. It is administered by Booksellers New Zealand.
This year’s Ockham New Zealand Book Awards judges, in alphabetical order, are: Susanna Andrew, Tom Brooking, Paul Diamond, Morgan Godfery, Bronwyn Labrum, Vivienne Plumb, Jill Rawnsley, Harry Ricketts, Steven Toussaint, Linda Tyler, Peter Wells and Bronwyn Wylie-Gibb. For more about the judges, go to: http://www.nzbookawards.nz/new-zealand-book-awards/2017-awards/judges/.
Penny Hartill
Director
P: 09 445 7525
M: 021 721 424
T: @pennyhartill
CLNZ has launched a new $25,000 Writers’ Award, offered to writers of a wide range of non-fiction genre, including writers of educational material. The Award enables the successful applicant to devote time to a specific writing project.
2016 APPLICATIONS FOR THE WRITERS’ AWARD ARE NOW OPEN.
We encourage non-fiction writers from all genres to consider applying for this new award. Applicants must be New Zealand citizens or permanent residents and writers of proven merit. Applicants must submit details of a planned project to a selection panel and applications must be received by 4.00pm on Thursday 23 June 2016.
The winner of this year’s award will be announced at the New Zealand Society of Author’s National Writers Forum to be held in Auckland on 17th and 18th September 2016.
Full application details for the 2016 CLNZ Writers’ Award are available on their website or call 0800 480 271 for more information.
Don’t miss your opportunity to embark on that project you know is waiting for you!
Copyright Licensing New Zealand has announced the appointment of Dunedin crime writer Vanda Symon to the position of Chair of the Board. Ms Symon takes over from Adrian Keane, Owner and Chief Executive of Edify Ltd, who has held the position since 2012.
CEO of CLNZ, Paula Browning, says the appointment of an author of Ms Symon’s experience and international success is timely given the strategic challenge facing CLNZ in the short to mid-term.
“The government is currently undertaking a study of the creative industries use of copyright and design. It is critical that the report produced by the study recognizes the importance of creators – writers, musicians, artists and others – and their absolute right to earn a living from their work. CLNZ being led by someone with Vanda’s vast knowledge of the business of writing is vital for the organisation to succeed in influencing future government policy.” Ms Symon will be supported by Emeritus Professor Pat Walsh, former Vice Chancellor of Victoria University, who steps in to a new role as Deputy Chair. Emeritus Professor Walsh, who is also a published author, has extensive governance experience including being the current Chair of Agri One. Ms Symon is looking forward to bringing her knowledge and experience of being a working writer establishing and maintaining a career in the arts, and her background of being a New Zealander with Pacific roots, to the role. She also acknowledged Mr Keane’s leadership in the past 4 years, particularly during the period that CLNZ was party to a Copyright Tribunal reference with Universities New Zealand. “Adrian’s in-depth knowledge of the value and use of content in an education setting was vital to achieving the agreement that we now have in place with the universities”.
ENDS
For more information please contact Paula Browning at CLNZ : paula@copyright.co.nz or
0274843495
About Copyright Licensing New Zealand Limited
CLNZ is a not for profit organisation jointly owned by the New Zealand Society of Authors (NZSA) and the Publishers Association of New Zealand (PANZ). The CLNZ license provides advanced permission to copy, scan and share more copyrighted material from books, journals, periodicals and newspapers than the 3% of a work education institutions are allowed to copy under the Copyright Act. The licenses also give education institutions broad legal protection against copyright breaches. Net proceeds from all of CLNZ’s licenses are paid out to the authors and publishers whose work is copied by licensed institutions.
Media release – embargoed until 12.01am, Thursday 3 December 2015
Twenty-five years ago, renowned novelist, historian playwright and film-maker Peter Wells launched his short story collection, Dangerous Desires, the country’s first gay themed work published with the author’s actual name; today he launches the country’s inaugural LGBTIQ Writers Festival – samesame but different.
Mr Wells, who co-founded The Auckland Writers Festival, says samesame but different is a celebration of difference and a statement of confidence in how far we have come as LGBTIQ New Zealanders.
Peter Wells
“Samesame but different will be broad in scope, featuring some of Aotearoa New Zealand’s top writers and will also focus on new LGBTIQ voices, introducing emerging talent.
“Audiences can expect interviews, panels and discussions on a broad number of issues affecting our lives.
“Intelligent, funny, smart and controversial, samesame but different seeks to broaden the audience beyond core LGBTIQ to include friends, family and those interested in celebrating difference.”
Samesame but different features: broadcaster Alison Mau, actor and playwright Victor Rodger, Whaitiri Mikaere aka Deisel Dyke Poet, novelist Witi Ihimaera, Labour party politician Grant Robertson, Metro magazine editor Susannah Walker, Home magazine editor Jeremy Hansen, YA novelist Paula Boock, novelist Stevan Eldred Grigg, biographer Joanne Drayton, memoirist, dancer and choreographer Douglas Wright and playwright Aroha Awarau.
Samesame but different runs 12-14 February 2016 at AUT in central Auckland and is part of the Auckland Pride Festival. Go to www.samesamebutdifferent.co.nz for the full programme. For tickets go to https://www.iticket.co.nz/go-to/same-same-but-different-lgbtqi-writers-festival
Auckland Pride Festival curator Ta’i Paitai acknowledges Peter Wells for organising the inaugural samesame but different Literary Festival.
“Featuring some of New Zealand’s esteemed writers, this event brings together artists and audiences for what will be one of the ‘not to be missed’ highlights of Auckland Pride Festival 2016,” says Mr Paitai.
Mr Wells says written and spoken language became useful weapons, honed during his secondary school years.
“I was always a very timid boy after I was bullied at Mt Albert Grammar. But I have to thank them, because I became a writer, as I could say on paper what I couldn’t say out loud.
“But when I am faced with an audience at festivals, I always have an involuntary reaction. For one moment the audience turns into the boys at MAGS and I close down. I learnt to get past this moment of primal fear and in fact I began to feel the enormous freedom of being able to say exactly what I wanted. I developed what is called ‘a sharp tongue’.
“This is one of the motivations behind me putting together, with a group of people, the country’s first LGBTIQ Writers’ Festival.
A sharp tongue has its uses,” says Peter Wells.
Dangerous Desires by Peter Wells was published in 1991 and won the Reed New Zealand Book Award. It became a bestseller and was published in New York and London. Niki Caro made her first feature film Memory & Desire from one of its stories.
Samesame but different LGBTIQ Writers’ Festival is enormously grateful to funding and support from Creative New Zealand, The Wallace Foundation, AUT and GABA.
ENDS
For interview enquiries or further information please contact: Penny Hartill, director hPR, 09 445 7525, 021 721 424, penny@hartillpr.co.nz
www.samesamebutdifferent.co.nz
https://www.iticket.co.nz/go-to/same-same-but-different-lgbtqi-writers-festiva
Fiona Mackie, Kathy Aloniu and Melinda Szymanik have been appointed as judges of the 2016 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.
The judging team will deliberate over an expected 150 entries in five categories: Picture Book, Illustration, Junior Fiction, Non-fiction and Young Adult Fiction. They will select five finalists, then a winner in each category.
Te Rangi Rangi Tangohau, Lawren Matrix, and Mereana Taungapeau have been appointed as judges for Te Kura Pounamu – the award that recognises and celebrates books written or translated into te reo Māori.
The supreme winner, drawn from the winners of the six categories, will be declared the 2016 Margaret Mahy Book of the Year.
Between them the judges have huge experience of reading, enjoying and working with books for children and young adults.
“The New Zealand Book Awards Trust is delighted to have such excellent judges for the 2016 awards,” says its chair Nicola Legat. “These judges stand out as having remarkable experience and expertise across many aspects of children’s literature.”
The finalist authors in the awards will embark upon a nationwide author tour, in the week prior to the awards being announced at a ceremony to be held in Wellington in August.
The New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults is sponsored by Creative New Zealand, Hell Pizza, Book Tokens Ltd and Copyright Licensing Limited New Zealand (CLLNZ). They are also supported by the Fernyhough Education Foundation and Nielsen Bookdata. The awards are administered for the New Zealand Book Awards Trust by the New Zealand Book Council.
To find out more about the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, please visit http://bit.ly/1N779df.
ENDS
For further information please contact:
Nicola Legat
Chair
New Zealand Book Awards Trust
nmlegat@gmail.com
ph: 021 958 887
Judges Background Information – Additional information
Convenor of judges Fiona Mackie has 30 years’ experience across the education and libraries sectors, having worked as a teacher, a reference librarian, the Social Sciences Selector and the New Schools Advisor while at the National Library. She is a Past President of SLANZA — the School Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa — and is currently the teacher-librarian at Pinehurst College in Auckland.
Riki-Lee Saua (Ngāpuhi, Te Roroa, Tainui) is the Te Kura Pounamu Award Coordinator. Riki-Lee has worked in a number of Māori-specific roles at Auckland Libraries and Massey University Library. Currently she is a Subject Librarian at Manukau Institute of Technology in Otara, Auckland and is also a member of Te Rōpū Whakahau, the professional association for Māori who work in libraries, archives and information services.
Kathy Aloniu’s love of children’s literature comes from a rewarding 14 years spent as Manager of Children’s Services at the Invercargill Public Library. Kathy is currently City Team Leader at Dunedin Public Libraries and is an associate of the Libraries and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (LIANZA). In 2012 Kathy was part of the LIANZA Children’s Book Awards judging panel.
Melinda Szymanik is a highly regarded writer of children’s fiction. Her books include Jack the Viking, The Were-Nana and A Winter’s Day in 1939. Recipient of the University of Otago College of Education Creative New Zealand Children’s Writer’s Residency in 2014, Melinda recently completed a Diploma in Children’s Literature from the University of Canterbury.
Te Rangi Rangi Tangohau (Te Aitanga ā Hauiti, Te Whānau ā Apanui, Ngāi Tahu, Ngāi Tuhoe) is Principal Librarian Children’s Services at HB Williams Memorial Library, Gisborne. Te Rangi Rangi continues to ‘raise reading levels’ for kura kaupapa Māori children participating in the Kiki Taumata programme. The programme is conducted in te reo Māori and supported by senior students.
Lawren Matrix (Ngāi Tuhoe, Ngāti Koura) is the Children’s Librarian at Te Matariki Clendon library in Auckland. Lawren is responsible for the provision of Māori-specific programming, story-time visits and other programmes designed for children and youth on behalf of Auckland Libraries. Lawren has strong connections with Māori and Pasifika community groups in the Clendon and the wider Auckland area.
Mereana Taungapeau (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Wai) is Heritage Programme Adviser, Māori, at the Alexander Turnbull Library. Mereana is involved in a number of outreach programmes responsible for connecting Māori children, youth and adults to library collections. Mereana has wide experience of delivering library outreach programmes for local kōhanga reo and kura kaupapa Māori.
Media release – STRICTLY EMBARGOED UNTIL 12.01AM THURSDAY NOVEMBER 26, 2015
New Zealand’s Book Awards Announce First-Ever Longlist
The 2016 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards’ inaugural longlist reveals a rich collection of works reflecting cultural and historical diversity and deeply rewarding poetry and prose from authors and illustrators all over the country.
There are 40 long-listed works; ten each from the four award’s categories – illustrated non-fiction, general non-fiction, poetry and fiction.
New Zealand Book Awards Trust chair Nicola Legat says the increasing number and calibre of locally published works is behind the introduction of a longlist.
“Authors have asked for a longlist for many years and it emerged as a clear preference after consultation with the wider literary community.
“A longlist more equitably showcases a wider number of books in a strong publishing environment where there is very close competition. It is a demonstration of how vital New Zealand literature is and how talented our writers are.”
The books were selected by four panels of specialist judges and are drawn from a record number of 240 entries.
“We thank our judges for their sterling work in creating this longlist. Their job has been especially challenging this year given the entry period represents a bumper crop of absolutely outstanding New Zealand books, published across all categories. There will be especial interest in the fiction prize given that the eventual winner will be awarded the Acorn Foundation Literary Award, worth $50,000,”says Ms Legat.
The 2016 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards longlisted titles are:
Fiction:
The Antipodeans by Greg McGee (Upstart Press)
Astonished Dice: Collected Short Stories by Geoff Cochrane (Victoria University Press)
The Back of His Head by Patrick Evans (Victoria University Press)
Chappy by Patricia Grace (Penguin Random House)
The Chimes by Anna Smaill (Hodder & Stoughton)
Coming Rain by Stephen Daisley (Text Publishing)
The Invisible Mile by David Coventry (Victoria University Press)
The Legend of Winstone Blackhat by Tanya Moir (Penguin Random House)
The Pale North by Hamish Clayton (Penguin Random House)
Reach by Laurence Fearnley (Penguin Random House)
Illustrated Non Fiction:
Zealandia: Our Continent Revealed by Nick Mortimer and Hamish Campbell (Penguin Random House)
My Family Table: Simple Wholefood Recipes from ‘Petite Kitchen’ by Eleanor Ozich (Allen & Unwin)
Hello Girls and Boys! A New Zealand Toy Story by David Veart (Auckland University Press)
Tuatara: Biology and Conservation of a Venerable Survivor by Alison Cree (Canterbury University Press)
Real Modern: Everyday New Zealand in the 1950s and 1960s by Bronwyn Labrum (Te Papa Press)
Coast. Country.Neighbourhood.City edited by Michael Barrett (Six Point Press)
Te Ara Puoro: A Journey into the World of Māori Music by Richard Nunns (Potton and Burton)
New Zealand Photography Collected by Athol McCredie (Te Papa Press)
Tangata Whenua: An Illustrated History by Atholl Anderson, Judith Binney, Aroha Harris (Bridget Williams Books)
Tramping: a New Zealand History by Shaun Barnett and Chris MacLean (Potton and Burton)
General Non Fiction:
Maurice Gee: Life and Work by Rachel Barrowman (Victoria University Press)
Terrain: Travels through a deep landscape by Geoff Chapple (Penguin Random House)
The Villa at the Edge of the Empire: One Hundred Ways to Read a City by Fiona Farrell (Penguin Random House)
Māori Boy: A Memoir of Childhood by Witi Ihimaera (Penguin Random House)
Lost and Gone Away by Lynn Jenner (Auckland University Press)
Kitchens: The New Zealand Kitchen in the 20th Century by Helen Leach (Otago University Press)
Panguru and the City, Kāinga Tahi, Kāinga Rua: An Urban Migration History by Melissa Matutina Williams (Bridget Williams Books)
Outcasts of the Gods? The Struggle over Slavery in Māori New Zealand by Hazel Petrie (Auckland University Press)
Journey to a Hanging by Peter Wells (Penguin Random House)
The Healthy Country? A History of Life and Death in New Zealand by Alistair Woodward and Tony Blakley (Auckland University Press)
Poetry:
The Art of Excavation by Leilani Tamu (Anahera Press)
Shaggy Magpie Songs by Murray Edmond (Auckland University Press)
How to be Dead in a Year of Snakes by Chris Tse (Auckland University Press)
The Night We Ate the Baby by Tim Upperton (Haunui Press)
Otherwise by John Dennison (Auckland University Press)
Mr Clean & The Junkie by Jennifer Compton (Mākaro Press)
Song of the Ghost in the Machine by Roger Horrocks (Victoria University Press)
Tender Machines by Emma Neale (Otago University Press)
The Conch Trumpet by David Eggleton (Otago University Press)
Dear Neil Roberts by Airini Beautrais (Victoria University Press)
The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards shortlist will be announced on 8 March 2016, and the winners (including the four Best First Book Awards and a Māori Language award) will be announced at a ceremony on May 10 2016, held as the opening night event of the Auckland Writers Festival.
To read about the longlisted titles go to http://booksellers.co.nz/awards/new-zealand-post-book-awards/about-the-awards
The Fiction category is judged by distinguished writer Owen Marshall CNZM; Wellington bookseller and reviewer Tilly Lloyd, and former Director of the Auckland Writers Festival and former Creative New Zealand senior literature adviser Jill Rawnsley.
The Poetry Prize is judged by former Auckland University Press publisher Elizabeth Caffin MNZM; James K Baxter expert Dr Paul Millar, of the University of Canterbury, and poet and University of Auckland academic Dr Selina Tusitala Marsh.
The General Non-Fiction Prize is judged by Metro Editor-At-Large Simon Wilson; Professor Lydia Wevers, literary historian, critic and director of the Stout Research Centre at Victoria University of Wellington, and Dr Jarrod Gilbert, a former Book Awards winner for Patched: A History of Gangs in New Zealand, of the University of Canterbury.
The Illustrated Non-Fiction Prize is judged by former publisher Jane Connor, publisher of the magisterial The Trees of New Zealand, which won the Book of the Year award in 2012; Associate Professor Linda Tyler, Director of the Centre for Art Studies at The University of Auckland, and Leonie Hayden, the editor of Mana magazine.
ENDS
For interview opportunities, author images, book cover images and further information please contact: Penny Hartill, director, hPR 09 445 7525, 021 721 424, penny@hartillpr.co.nz
Editor’s Notes:
The New Zealand Book Awards are the country’s premier literary honours for works written by New Zealanders. First established in 1968 as the Wattie Book Awards (later the Goodman Fielder Wattie Book Awards), they have also been known as the Montana New Zealand Book Awards and the New Zealand Post Book Awards. The honours, now given for Fiction, Illustrated Non-fiction, General Non-Fiction and Poetry, as well as for Best First Book and Māori language, are governed by the New Zealand Book Awards Trust (a registered charity). Creative New Zealand is a significant annual funder of the awards.
Ockham Residential Limited is Auckland’s most progressive developer, founded in 2009 by Mark Todd and Ben Preston. They describe themselves as urban regenerators, who love Auckland, and who want to see Auckland’s urban built environment become as beautiful and as world class as its natural landscape. Their Ockham Foundation is a generous donor to schools and universities.
The Auckland Writers Festival is the largest literary event in New Zealand and the largest presenter of New Zealand literature in the world. Now in its 15th year, it hosts more than 150 writers from New Zealand and abroad over six days. Festival attendance increased 17 percent in 2015, to more than 62,000, following a 55 percent increase in 2014.
The Acorn Foundation is a community organisation based in the Western Bay of Plenty, which encourages people to leave a gift in their wills and/or their lifetimes, supporting their local community forever. Donations are pooled and invested, and the investment income is used to make donations to local charities, in accordance with the donors’ wishes. The capital remains intact. Since it was established in 2003, Acorn has distributed over $2.4million, and this year expects to distribute a further $500,000. It currently has invested funds of $13million. www.acornfoundation.org.nz, or www.nzcommunityfoundations.org.nz
Media Release – Monday November 23, 2015
The Michael King Writers’ Studio trust is very happy to announce the appointment of Ka Meechan as the new Executive Director of the Writers’ Centre.
Ka has comprehensive knowledge of the international book trade from over 30 years of experience working in New Zealand, the UK and Australia. She has travelled extensively during her career working with clients and partners across the globe.
In August 2013 Ka left her role as Managing Director, Asia Pacific with Nielsen Book Services where she was responsible for revenue and client management across the range of bibliographic information and retail sales monitoring services in the Asia Pacific region encompassing Australia, New Zealand and the Asian countries bordering the Pacific.
For the past two years Ka has worked with the Publishers Association of New Zealand (PANZ). Most recently she organized the PANZ International Summit in May and the PANZ Book Design Awards in July. She also project managed the Visiting Author component of New Zealand’s Guest of Honour programme at the Taipei International Book Exhibition (TIBE) in February 2015.
Ka says: I am very much looking forward to working with the Michael King Writers’ Studio Trust to build on the successes achieved over the last ten years.
Catriona Ferguson, Chair of the Trust says “Ka will bring energy and enthusiasm along with vast experience of the literature sector to the Trust. We are thrilled that she has accepted the role of Executive Director”.
As the first national writers’ centre in Aotearoa New Zealand, the Trust’s mission is to support quality New Zealand writing and the development of New Zealand writers. The centre is based in the old Signalman’s House on Takarunga Mt Victoria, Devonport, Auckland.
Ka will take up her appointment on Tuesday 01 December 2015.
For further information, please call Ph/fax: 445 8451
Tania Stewart, Administrator Mobile: 021 106 3837
Email: assistant@writerscentre.org.nz
Congratulations to all winners!
Media release: 20 November 2015
NZ teachers help select best educational resources for 2015
2015 CLNZ Education Award winners named
Locally relevant, New Zealand content has won the vote of teachers around the country as well as awards from a panel of education experts. The recipients of the 2015 CLNZ Education Awards were announced at a ceremony in Auckland last night.
The CLNZ Education Awards are a celebration of the excellent resources New Zealand companies have recently released in the New Zealand education market. In 2015, classroom teachers from across New Zealand joined forces with a judging panel of education experts to add their choice of the best resources to the judge’s selection of award winning educational resources.
The CONNNECTORS Fiction Series (Global Ed), which uses a reciprocal reading approach to encourage reading development, was named Best Resource in Primary for 2015 by the judging panel. The judges commended the series for its use of stories and contexts that engage a diverse range of students and challenge their thinking. These attributes and the commercial success of the series developed for the UK market also saw CONNECTORS Fiction named as the 2015 Best Resource for Export – demonstrating that excellent NZ content also performs very well in overseas education markets.
Winner of Best Resource in Secondary and, according to the judging panel, in a league of its own as a resource that can be used by teachers across a variety of disciplines, was Tangata Whenua: An Illustrated History (Bridget Williams Books). Visually rich, Tangata Whenua charts Māori history from ancient origins to present day.
Working with Māori children with special education needs: He mahi whakahirahira (NZCER Press) won the award for Best Resource in Higher Education. The book explores physical disability, intellectual disability, vision and hearing impairment, autism spectrum disorder, and giftedness from a Māori perspective as well as the key components of culturally responsive, evidence-based, special education practice.
The Te Reo Singalong Books (The Writing Bug) were named the Best Resource in Te Reo Māori. This series impressed the judges as well as the Te Reo Tuatahi teaching network who were consulting judges in this category. Matariki, a title in this series was also the favourite of teachers across New Zealand who voted in the Teachers’ Choice element of the awards. Matariki was voted Teachers’ Choice: Best Resource in Te Reo Māori for 2015. ‘Great and user-friendly’ commented one voting teacher.
The Teachers’ Choice award for Best Resource in Primary was presented to NZ Curriculum Mathematics: Connecting all Strands (Caxton Educational). Voting teachers commented that the resource ‘adds an extra dimension to my numeracy programme’ and ‘is awesome for allowing students to self-direct their own learning and connect numeracy with other strands.’
The Teachers’ Choice award for Best Resource in Secondary was awarded to ESA Publications’ custom workbooks. Secondary school teachers who voted in the Teachers’ Choice survey were impressed by these resources and some suggested areas they would like to see further study guides and workbooks created for, including transitioning ESOL students to mainstream environments.
Best Resource in Primary
CONNECTORS Fiction Series, Jill Eggleton and Tracy Strudley, Global Ed
Best Resource in Secondary
Tangata Whenua: An Illustrated History, Atholl Anderson, Judith Binney and Aroha Harris, Bridget Williams Books
Te Reo Māori
Te Reo Singalong Books, Sharon Holt, The Writing Bug
Higher Education
Working with Māori children with special education needs: He mahi whakahirahira, Jill Bevan-Brown, NZCER Press
Best Resource for Export
CONNECTORS Fiction Series, Jill Eggleton and Tracy Strudley, Global Ed
Teachers’ Choice: Best Resource in Primary
NZ Curriculum Mathematics: Connecting All Strands, M.J. Tipler and S.C. Timperley, Caxton Educational
Teachers’ Choice: Best Resource in Secondary
ESA Custom Learning Workbooks, ESA Publications
Teachers’ Choice: Best Resource in Te Reo Māori
Te Reo Singalong Books: Matariki, Sharon Holt, The Writing Bug
The 2015 judging panel – click here to read full biographies for each judge
Andrew Cowie
Angela Fitchett
Dr Jenny Robertson
David Glover – consulting judge, export
Brenda McPherson and the Te Reo Tuatahi teaching network – consulting judges, Te Reo Māori
For more information please contact:
Ann Sprosen, CLNZ, phone 64 9 486 6250; email ann@copyright.co.nz
