Le Quesnoy authority and author Christopher Pugsley features on TV3 this Anzac Day

The taking of Le Quesnoy by Kiwi troops in the dying days of the First World War will feature in a new documentary on TV3 on Anzac Day.

Author Christopher Pugsley features in the documentary, to screen at 7.30 a.m. this Saturday 25 April (and from 8.30 a.m. on TV3+1).

Pugsley's dynamic book on the taking of the French town, Le Quesnoy 1918, was published in an updated edition in March.

Anzac Day celebrations this year have been severely curtailed by restrictions in place to limit the spread of Covid-19.

Broadcast and online coverage will therefore be ever more vital. 

Christopher has offered his reflections on the Anzac Day in a time of pandemic in the Auckland Museum's Online Cenotaph. 

Christopher Pugsley

Fortunately, online book sales will resume from 28 April, so our distributors PDL can ship out orders made via your local bookseller; check here for a list of independent bookstores.

Oratia shortlisted for 2020 BOP Bologna Prize, Best Children's Publisher in Oceania

Covid-19 may have caused the cancellation of this year's Bologna Children's Book Fair but the show goes on, with a virtual fair and rights exchange starting online from 4 May — and a continuation of its prestigious prizes.

It's thus a thrill to see Oratia Books shortlisted in the Oceania section of the BOP – Bologna Prize for Best Children's Publishers of the Year.

The prize is described as “an extraordinary occasion to highlight publishers at the forefront of innovation in their activity for the creative nature of the editorial choices they have made during the previous year.”

Six prizes are awarded by geographical area. This year Wellington's Huia Publishers is shortlisted with Oratia in the Oceania section, alongside three Australian publishers. 

Click here to see all the regional shortlists.

Exhibitors who were to take part in the 2020 fair are able to vote for their favourites in the award in the next ten days. 

Winners will be announced online on 4 May. 

Books from shortlisted publishers including Oratia on display at Bologna in 2018

Congratulations to the team who make our children's book shine, led by Editorial Director Carolyn Lagahetau, with designers Cheryl Smith and Sarah Elworthy.

Thank you to the talented children's authors and illustrators whose new books we published in 2019: Trish Bowles, Melanie Drewery, Tracy Duncan, Gordon Ell, Sarah Ell, Darryn Joseph, Ross Kinnaird, Dawn McMillan and Munro Te Whata.

And a special note of appreciation to Elena Pasoli and her amazing team at the Bologna Children's Book Fair, who have worked incredibly hard during the terrible days of epidemic in Northern Italy to ensure the spirit of the fair lives online. Siamo con voi!

— Peter Dowling, Publisher, Oratia Books

Oratia Books Catalogue 2020 showcases 12 new titles

The Oratia Books Catalogue 2020 is out now in digital form. 

The catalogue presents the 12 new titles we will publish in this, the 20th year in business for Oratia Media. 

Because of restrictions in place during the present Covid-19 lockdown, sales and distribution of books are on hold and some of our planned release dates have shifted. 

We will wait to print the catalogue until the schedule is confirmed, and when we're actually allowed to print again!

But rest assured we will see all these books to publication, and continue to expand our overall list both in print and digitally this year and beyond. 

The catalogue introduction follows; click here to view the whole thing.

The year 2020 sees another milestone for Oratia Media — August marks 20 years since we set up the company to supply publishing and media services internationally. The nikau palm logo that our media director Alessandra Zecchini designed back in 2000 is reflected in the cover photo, taken outside our office in leafy Oratia.

Twenty years on, we’re still proudly assisting organisations and individuals to publish their books, while developing the list that we launched in 2009. This year will bring 12 additions to Oratia Books, along with renovation of our growing backlist.

Responding to the welcome upsurge in Māori-language learning, 2020 kicks off with David Kārena-Holmes’ handy guide, Te Reo Māori: The Basics Explained. Bilingual editions of 12 Huia Birds/12 Manu Huia, Tim Tipene’s newest ‘modern myth’ in Rona Moon, and Dawn McMillan’s charming There’s a Weta on My Sweater offer plenty of language enrichment for younger readers.

Also for the kids is the rollicking yarn The Longdrop (familiar to anyone who’s had a Kiwi family holiday), a stunning take on the universe in Space Maps, and a delightful new character from bestselling duo Dawn McMillan and Ross Kinnaird in Sir Singlet. For slightly older readers there’s the third in The NZ Series: Rush to Riches is a lively illustrated account of the colonial rushes for kauri and gold.

Our adult non-fiction is strongly told and illustrated, ranging from the nostalgic photo-led Life with Cars to the classic paintings of women bearing chin and lip tattoos in Te Kuia Moko. Ron Crosby has condensed his seminal The Musket Wars into a brilliant new history, while Matthew Wright gets to the heart of a New Zealand legend in Freyberg.

Publishing has changed a lot over the past 20 years, yet today books remain as vital as ever to our understanding of the world around us. Read on to discover more about books from Oratia.