A monumental history of New Zealand's mounted and armoured forces comes to fruition

Those Who Have the Courage

The History of the Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps and predecessor forces

Matthew Wright

Across more than 160 years, the Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps and its predecessor forces have served and reflected our evolving nation. 

 

This richly illustrated work, painstakingly compiled by historian Matthew Wright, captures the drama of this key part of our armed forces. 

The book goes on sale on 3 April at good booksellers nationwide.

 

Opening with New Zealand’s turbulent colonial era and its volunteer cavalry, the book progresses through to the Boer War, the professionalisation of the services on the eve of the First World War, and the mounted experience in Gallipoli and Palestine. 

Wright goes on to examine the way New Zealand developed its use of armour during the Second World War, and the battles fought by the new armoured forces in North Africa, Italy and the Pacific. 

 

That leads to an examination of the people and fortunes of the Royal New Zealand Armoured Corps itself from 1947, in what has been a roller-coaster ride through the shifting sands of politics and economic constraint, including operations in Bosnia, East Timor and Afghanistan. 

 

Plentiful photographs and detailed maps distinguish this handsome hardback, along with extended appendices.

As Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro writes in the foreword: ‘Those Who Have the Courage will be a valuable resource for anyone who is interested in the military and social history of New Zealand’.

The author

Matthew Wright is the prolific author of over 60 books on a wide range of topics for all ages, principally on New Zealand history. A respected historian, he is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. His other works with Oratia are Freyberg, The New Zealand Wars and The New Zealand Experience at Gallipoli and the Western Front. Matthew lives in Wellington (see matthewwright.net).

Publication: 3 April 2024  |  ISBN: 978-1-99-004255-3 | RRP $95.00

Jacketed hardback, 280 x 200 mm portrait, 648 pages, colour and b&w

 

Publishing east and west meet at Istanbul Publishing Fellowship 2024

Publishers from 66 countries congregated last week for the 9th Istanbul Publishing Fellowship, one of the premier networking and rights opportunities in the international book world. 

I was privileged to be among the 258 foreign publishers and agents invited (and could lay claim to having travelled the furthest to get to Istanbul, the closest competitors having come from Brazil and Indonesia ...). 

Oratia's rights table at the Rami Library

Joining the visitors were 125 Turkish publishers and agents, affording a unique opportunity to talk books and rights in what is a buoyant market of 80 million people, and to network with many Middle Eastern, Central Asian and European colleagues

At the entrance to the spectacular Rami Library complex 

Held from 5 to 7 March in the historic Rami Library in Istanbul's Bayrampaşa district, the fellowship focused on one-to-one business meetings, alongside speaker sessions, a gala dinner and informal exchanges. 

Following disruptions over recent years due to Covid-19 and the tragic earthquakes of 2023, this year's event marked a welcome return to business as usual. 

With Turkish publisher Selahattin Arslan

Mexico featured as the focus country this year, and it was a pleasure to catch up with Mexican colleagues including former IPA president Hugo Setzer and Editorial Planeta rights coordinator for Latin America, Carol Reyes.

I learned a great deal from meetings with publishers from countries as diverse as Azerbaijan, Egypt, Greece, Japan and Slovenia, and meetings with Turkish publishers confirmed their country's reputation for being welcoming and open to new ideas.

Now to the pile of reading and follow-up that always ensues from such fertile exchanges.

At the Gala Dinner with publishing friends from Türkiye, Greece and Slovenia

I would hope that more publishers from Oceania can make the trip to Istanbul in future years, because the interest in our books is certainly keen — many of those I met are looking to bring new voices to their publishing lists, and have great curiosity about our corner of the globe. 

Fellows gathered on the event's last day

As a case in point, being in Istanbul happily coincided with publication by major publishing house Pegasus Yayınları of four books from our bestselling New Bum! Series by Dawn McMillan and Ross Kinnaird. 

It was a delight to receive samples of these Turkish editions and celebrate with Nazlı Gurkas of Black Cat Agency, who brokered this rights deal. 

My sincere thanks to the Istanbul Publishing Fellowship team for this valuable experience. 

The Turkish Press and Publishers Copyright and Licensing Society organised the event, with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

İstanbul'da tekrar görüşmek üzere!

- Peter Dowling, in Istanbul

Award-winning bilingual picture book now in new paperback edition

 

Whakarongo ki ō Tūpuna 
Listen to your Ancestors
BILINGUAL

Darryn Joseph
Illustrated by Munro Te Whata

Back in an attractive paperback edition is the award-winning book that helped launch Darryn Joseph as a leading author and promoter of children’s literature. 

 

Darryn had penned a score of readers for Māori immersion education, before Whakarongo ki ō Tūpuna / Listen to your Ancestors came as his first book for the general market, in 2019. 

 

That hardback book won the NZSA Heritage Book Award, Māori section in 2020, and is now available in a lower-priced paperback. 

Set in a school and a rest home, Darryn’s story follows a teacher giving life lessons to her students based on the example of Māori gods and ancestors.

 

As the story unfolds, the teacher ages and retires, and her granddaughter cares for her until her death. Her granddaughter also a teacher, then begins to pass on to her pupils lessons from the ancestors.

Beautifully illustrated by Munro Te Whata, the book dives deep into te Ao Māori, the connection to tūpuna and to the natural world, the concepts of aroha and manaakitanga.

 

Darryn has gone on to a range of collaborations and translations with noted author-illustrator Donovan Bixley, as well as judging for the New Zealand Book Awards and being a trustee of the Storylines Children’s Literature Trust. 

The authors

Darryn Joseph (Ngāti Maniapoto) is an author and language consultant who was for over 20 years a senior lecturer in Māori language at Massey University, Palmerston North. He is the author or translator of some 30 books, mainly for Māori immersion education. 

Munro Te Whata (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou, Niue) is an animator, artist and writer who has illustrated several books. He lives with this family in Auckland where he works in and teaches animation and illustration. 

Publication: 5 March 2024  |  ISBN: 978-0-947506-67-4  |  RRP $22.99

Paperback, 270 x 210 mm portrait, 32 pages, colour

Eighth of the New Bum! books continues 'runaway success' of the international series

My Dad’s Runaway Bum!
Dawn McMillan
Illustrated by Ross Kinnaird

From the humble beginnings of a boy wondering why his bum has a crack, the 2012 book I Need a New Bum! has built a fan base of millions around the world, with six subsequent adventures published along with a number of bind-ups, sticker books and even a board game. 

My Dad’s Runaway Bum extends this hit series in another crazy escapade. Our hero. red-pants boy, is off on another bum-venture, but this time it’s not him that causes the trouble!

 

After eating too much cabbage and peas, Dad’s bum has had enough and blasts off in a cloud of smelly smoke. It takes off through the door, rolls ‘past joggers in tights, past bikers with lights’.

 

But our hero and his bum-less Dad are hot on its tail, following its smelly trail. And soon, the police get in on the c(h)ase …

Will Dad get his bum back or will he stay forever bum-less, with his backside locked up in jail?

The hilarious rhymes of Dawn McMillan and comical drawings of Ross Kinnaird crack up readers once more in this wild bum-chase. 

 

This eighth in the bestselling New Bum! series will be in bookstores from 5 March in New Zealand and Australia, with publication also in the US and Canada, the UK and Ireland.

The authors

Dawn McMillan is the much-loved author of many children’s books, including  I Need a New Bum!, My Bum is SO SPOOKY!, There’s a Moa in the Moonlight and Colour the Stars. She lives in Waiomu, north of Thames. 

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

Publication: 5 March 2024  |  ISBN: 978-1-99-004254-6 | RRP $21.00

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