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. 

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

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

 

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

Telling the story of migration in latest addition to The NZ Series

New Zealand Migration

Philippa Werry

New book in NZ Series explores the history of our diverse migrant nation, from the first settlers to the latest arrivals

Despite all New Zealanders being either migrants or descendants of migrants, until now there has been no single book on the topic.

New Zealand Migration fills that gap for general readers, while also aligning with the new history curriculum. 

In concise chapters, Philippa Werry explores topics ranging from the first Polynesian navigators to European colonisers, Chinese immigrants during the gold rush to ten-pound Poms, Pacific Island communities to the impact of Covid-19 on immigration. 

Providing readers with a glimpse into the lives of migrants, the book is richly illustrated with fact boxes and images from the archives of libraries and museums, as well as local photographers.

Where did migrants come from and what brought them here? What challenges did they face on their way and once they settled in New Zealand? This book answers all these questions and more. 

 

‘I hope New Zealand Migration will contribute to greater understanding of our shared past, present and future,’ Philippa says. 

 

This is the seventh book in The NZ Series, which simply introduces a range of themes for general and school readers. 

Teacher resources for the series are available on the Oratia website, and the resource of New Zealand Migration will be available for the start of the school year in late January 2024.

The author

Philippa Werry has won various awards for her fiction and non-fiction books, most recently scooping the Young Adult Fiction Award at the 2023 NZCYA Awards for her novel Iris and Me. She is well known for books on New Zealand history, and Oratia published her picture book The Water Bottle in 2022. She lives in Wellington (philippawerry.co.nz). 

Publication: 14 November 2023  |  ISBN: 978-1-99-004239-3 | RRP $29.99

Paperback, 240 x 160 mm portrait, 100 pages, colour

Classic of New Zealand and Pacific writing returns in new edition

Vikings of the Sunrise

Te Rangi Hīroa (Sir Peter Buck)
Foreword by Paora Tapsell

One of the greatest accounts ever of Pacific settlement returns to print this week, with a new foreword, in our New Zealand Classics series.

Truly a masterpiece of Pacific studies, Vikings of the Sunrise  marks an attempt by the great Te Rangi Hīroa (Sir Peter Buck) to convey to a general reader ‘the settlement of Polynesia by a stone-age people who deserve to rank among the world’s great navigators.’ 

By every measure, this attempt succeeds — for the knowledge it conveys, its interweaving of legend and modern anthropology, its deep personal engagement, and the majesty of its prose. 

And it is also that rare thing, a study of Polynesia by a Polynesian, as anthropologist Paora (Paul) Tapsell notes in his new foreword: 

 

As a first-hand description of the Pacific of the late 1920s and early 1930s, it is essential reading, a popular work yet one compiled by a highly trained academic and sophisticated writer. 

The book ranges across the Pacific Ocean, considering the voyagers’ origins, their ships and motives for seeking new lands. 

It evaluates different routes, retells myths of migration including the Māui series, recounts the author’s visits to far-flung islands and atolls, and overall establishes the ‘vikings’ of the Pacific among the greatest-ever ocean navigators. 

First published in the US in 1938 (and 1958 in New Zealand), Vikings of the Sunrise is reproduced with photos and maps compiled by the author, as part of Oratia’s New Zealand Classics series. 

The author

Te Rangi Hīroa (Sir Peter Buck; Ngāti Mutunga, 1877–1951) led a busy and distinguished life — variously as an MP, leader of the Young Māori party, doctor, medical officer for Māori health, anthropologist and director of the Bishop Museum, Hawai’i. He was knighted in 1946 for services to science and literature. Recognised as one of this country’s greatest sons, his best-known books are Vikings of the Sunrise and The Coming of the Maori.

Publication: 18 October 2023 | ISBN: 978-1-99-004249-2 | RRP $49.99

 Paperback, 210 x 140 mm portrait, 392 pages, b&w with photo sections  

New children’s book empowers visually impaired character and celebrates diversity

Lucky Me 

Lawrence Schimel 
Illustrated by Juan Camilo Mayorga 

Publishing for World Sight Day and Blind Low Vision Week, Lucky Me tells the story of a boy who feels very lucky to have a brother like Mateo — who is visually impaired.

Bruno thinks his friend Sanjay is lucky: he has a pet iguana and his own room. Mateo is lucky too: he has a dog who helps him get around and he can read with his fingers in the dark.

Bruno doesn’t have his own room and he doesn’t have a pet. But he soon realises that he’s very lucky too, for his own special reasons.

Lucky Me tells a thoughtful story about the different abilities and strengths that make us unique. 

A disability means that Bruno’s brother does some things differently, but it does not hold him back. On the contrary – he can do amazing things that others can’t!

In the end, Bruno shows we all have something to feel lucky about. 

Written by Lawrence Schimel, the award-winning author of Bedtime, Not Playtime! and Early One Morning, the story is beautifully illustrated by Juan Camilo Mayorga.

Lucky Me was first published by the outstanding independent publisher Rey Naranjo in Colombia. 

Oratia is pleased to publish this English edition in association with Orca Books, Canada, as part of our Five Oceans collection, bringing important international books to Aotearoa.

The author

Lawrence Schimel is an American author and translator who writes in English and Spanish and has published over 120 books in a wide range of genres. He lives in Madrid, Spain, where he founded the Spanish chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers.

The illustrator

Juan Camilo Mayorga is a graphic designer and illustrator with a special interest in children's books. He lives near Bogotá, Colombia, and his works have been published locally and internationally. 

Publication: 12 October 2023 | ISBN: 978-1-99-004250-8 | RRP $25.99

 Hardback, 229 x 229 mm square, 32 pages, colour  

Seasonal fun awaits with the latest New Bum books

My Bum is SO SPOOKY! and My Bum is SO CHRISTMASSY!

Dawn McMillan

Illustrated by Ross Kinnaird

With trick or treating and Christmas shopping just around the corner, the hero of the New Bum! books is going all seasonal!

 

And when bestselling team Dawn McMillan and Ross Kinnaird get in on the act, fun takes over from Halloween frights and being polite to the rellies over Christmas lunch. 

In My Bum is SO SPOOKY!, a special pumpkin uniform gives Red Pants Boy what it takes to scare some lollies out of the neighbours. Then he and his vampire-costumed cousins round off the night with a ghostly surprise (no spoiler!). 

Meanwhile something isn’t right at Christmas. Our boy’s bum is too plain, and he imagines all the ways he could decorate it — with Christmas stockings, a tree, or snowflakes that glow in the night? 

Then he thinks again. Is having a decorated bum the most important thing at Christmas time? Santa may just have the answer in My Bum is SO CHRISTMASSY!

 

These seasonal specials hit the bookstores simultaneously in New Zealand, Australia, the US and the UK from this Monday 2 October. 

And in New Zealand they are available only via booksellers, as demand has exceeded our print runs already so there are none left at our distributors. Happy Halloween everyone!

The author

Dawn McMillan is the much-loved author of numerous children’s books including the previous books in the New Bum! series, Doctor Grundy’s Undies and the latest in her nature series, There’s a Moa in the Moonlight. She lives in Waiomu, north of Thames. 

The illustrator

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

Publication: 2 October 2023  |  RRP $19.99

ISBN: (Spooky) 978-1-99-004243-0  (Christmassy) 978-1-99-004227-0

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

How to be funny in te reo Māori | The Project NZ

Hona Black and his new book, Te Reo Kapekape: Māori Wit and Humour
on The Project NZ.