Dowling to speak at Frankfurt Academy programme in Taipei

Peter Dowling is among the line-up of international speakers for a 2-day training programme being held at the Taipei International Book Exhibition (TIBE) this 10–11 February.

New Zealand is the Guest of Honour at the 2015 Exhibition, and the programme has been assisted by the Publishers Association of New Zealand.

Jointly organised by the Frankfurt Buchmesse’s Frankfurt Academy  and supported by Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture, the ‘Expanding Business’ conference aims to equip publishing professionals with answers to questions about change in the industry and networking opportunities with international players. 

Peter will be joining colleagues from Taiwan and Europe to discuss ‘Growing opportunities for independent publishers’ in a morning session on 11 February.

“It’s an honour to represent the New Zealand publishing industry at the seminar, in the year that our country is TIBE’s Guest of Honour,” he said. “I’m looking forward to a stimulating exchange of views at Taipei.”

For more information, see: www.tibefrankfurtacademy.net/?page_id=82.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Libro International

Meri Kirihimete me ngā mihi o te tau hou ki a koutou katoa

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all

We are now closed for the holidays and will reopen on 5 January 2015.

From Holy Socks by Dawn McMillan and Philip Webb

Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo

Manuia le Kerisimasi, ma le Tausaga Fou

Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année

新年おめでとうございます

Fröhliche Weihnachten
und ein gutes neues Jahr

¡Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo!

Bom Natal e Feliz Ano Novo

聖誕快樂 新年快樂

North & South sea story competition for young readers

Over this summer, North & South and Libro International will be running a competition for school-age writers, inspired by the November release of Out on the Water: Twelve Tales of the Sea, by Tessa Duder with illustrations by Bruce Potter.

Young storytellers aged 15 and under are invited to submit stories based around the sea (or lakes, for those living inland) of up to 1000 words, for a chance to win a school visit and writing advice by Tessa, along with signed copies of Out on the Water.

The deadline for entries is 16 February 2015. 

For competition details, check the January 2015 edition of North & South, on sale now.

Out on the Water at the Blake Regatta

Torbay Sailing Club hosted another fantastic two days of sailing for the Sir Peter Blake Regatta over the past weekend. Click here for the Blake Regatta site

Tessa Duder with renowned sailor and MC, Mark Orams

Tessa Duder attended the prizegiving on the Sunday afternoon, where she joined MC Professor Mark Orams to give away two signed copies of Out on the Water: Twelve Tales of the Sea to the young girl and boy sailors who had travelled the furthest to take part in the sailing.

This young winner had travelled from the Bay of Islands

Out on the Water includes a story based on a young Peter Blake sailing with his brother, and another about a girl's first Optimist regatta - something familiar to all the Green Fleet sailors on the weekend.

It was beautiful 'out on the water' at the Blake Regatta - well done to all the participants and the hard-working organisers

Ordering before Christmas

Libro International's distributors Publishers Distribution Limited (PDL) advise that they will be open until noon on 24 December, and can process all orders received before 10 a.m. that day. On 30 December PDL will be open in the morning only to process urgent orders; their offices will reopen on Monday 5 January 2015

The last times for orders to be received to arrive in store before Christmas are:

South Island 1 p.m. Monday 22 December

North Island 1 p.m. Tuesday 23 December

The Libro International and Oratia Media offices will be closed from Tuesday 23 December, and will reopen on Monday 5 January 2015.

Gallipoli makes the Top 100

Gallipoli: The New Zealand Story is one of the New Zealand Listener's top 100 books of 2014 - and one of only five listed in the Science, History & Social Issues category.

Congratulations to author Christopher Pugsley for this well-deserved recognition, and all the team who worked on the new edition of this great book.

The New Zealand Listener is also giving readers a chance to win this and the other 99 books; just click on the link below to enter:

http://www.listener.co.nz/comps/win-the-100-best-books-of-2014/

Out on the Water is launched!

Congratulations to Tessa Duder on the launch of Out on the Water last night at Takapuna Library. With over 80 guests in attendance, Tessa's long-time nautical consultant John Duder officially launched this collection of 12 tales of the sea, with lovely illustrations by Bruce Potter. (Thanks to John, all of the stories and illustrations should be spot on in sailing terms!)

Tessa reads from the story 'Crossing the Ditch'

A dedicated writer, writing dedications

Our appreciation to Helen Woodhouse, Lisa Dam and the Friends of Takapuna Library for hosting the event, Whitcoulls Takapuna for selling books on the night, and all those who came out to help get Tessa's book on the water.

Helen from Takapuna Library gets her copy

Yvette and Tim from Whitcoulls Takapuna

Follow this link for more about Out on the Water

Out on the Water launches this Thursday 6 November

Monday, 3 November 2014

Out on the Water

Twelve Tales of the Sea

 

Tessa Duder; illustrated by Bruce Potter

New collection evokes the adventure of sailing and the sea for younger readers

Renowned children’s author Tessa Duder and illustrator Bruce Potter have combined to produce a stirring collection of twelve stories about kids out on the water around New Zealand.

The stories in Out on the Water range from a girl’s experience of her first Optimist regatta to a boy learning the ropes on a tall ship from Sydney to Auckland in the 1880s.

Each story features a full-page line drawing, and weaves into the text a rich thread of sailing words and knowledge (helped by a glossary of language of the sea).

This is Tessa Duder’s first fiction for young adults in over ten years. Her most recent young adult non-fiction is The Story of Sir Peter Blake – and one of the new stories is a fictionalised account of Peter Blake and brother Tony on an after-school sail across Waitemata Harbour.

In the book’s introduction, Tessa writes how the book answers the request from a grandson for stories about children going sailing. “So here are twelve stories about young people having a wide range of experiences on the water – inshore as crew or skipper, or as crew on offshore voyages.”

Tessa, who lives on Auckland’s North Shore, is a keen sailor with a long-standing commitment to the sport in New Zealand, from tutoring Optimist sailors to her work for the Spirit of Adventure Trust.

Out on the Water will be launched in Takapuna, Auckland this Thursday 6 November. Bruce, who lives in Alexandra, will also be available for media, and will be in Wellington during this week.

Publication Date: 6 November 2014  |  ISBN: 978-1-877514-75-3  |  RRP $29.99

Paperback, 234 x 153 mm, 152 pages b&w with line drawings

Tessa Duder

Bruce Potter

Takitimu: A History of Ngati Kahungunu

Takitimu

A History of Ngati Kahungunu

J.H. Mitchell

Handsome new edition of major tribal history

is available from tomorrow

One of the pillars of Maori tribal history will be published tomorrow in a new hardback edition.

Takitimu, which was originally published in 1944, tells the story of the Takitimu canoe’s migration from the Pacific Islands to Aotearoa, and of the descendants born in New Zealand who became Ngati Kahungunu – the peoples centred around the Hawke’s Bay and Wairarapa who now make up New Zealand’s third-largest iwi.

Author J.H. Mitchell (Tiaki Hikawera Mitira) died shortly after Takitimu was released, and bequeathed royalties from the work towards a scholarship for graduating students at Wairoa College.

Libro International publisher Peter Dowling worked with the trustees of the J.H. Mitchell Takitimu Memorial Scholarship Trust, led by Wairoa’s Deputy Mayor Denise Eaglesome-Karekare, on the new edition – and will continue to pay royalties to the scholarship fund.

The 2014 book is a facsimile edition that preserves the original contents, with the quality hardback binding and a brilliant new jacket that befit a work of this mana.

Takitimu will keep this important history available to a new generation of descendants. It is available through all good booksellers nationwide.

Release Date: 23 October 2014  |  ISBN: 978-1-877514-72  |  RRP $80

Hardback, 240 x 150 mm, 312 pages, b&w with photo and whakapapa sections

To arrange an interview with Denise, images or a review copy, contact:

Peter Dowling   027 614 8993 or peter@oratiamedia.com

Libro International, a division of Oratia Media

www.librointernational.com   |    www.oratiamedia.com