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