Book giveaway: Food Atlas (2018)

Our final giveaway to celebrate 10 years of publishing is the colourful, visually stunning Food Atlas.

Food Atlas guides young readers and adults on a gastronomic world tour, with a smattering of cultural and geographical information thrown in. Gorgeous maps by renowned illustrator Febe Sillani detail the typical foods of the world, one country at a time. 

First published in 2017 by Dalcò Edizioni of Parma, Italy, this large hardback quickly became an international hit, translated into 18 languages and selling over 150,000 copies worldwide. 

It includes pages on Australia, New Zealand, but was not available here until Oratia published it with some local variations in October 2018.

Anzac biscuits, beech honey, Bluff oysters and boil-ups are the first of the foods on the New Zealand map, while the Australia spread covers a wide range of foods, wines, flora and fauna. Click here to find out more.

Readers of all ages Down Under can savour the tastes of the world through Food Atlas: from avocados to sausage rolls and baklava to pineapple lumps. 

Visit our Fb Page to be in to win a copy of Food Atlas. Prize available to New Zealand residents only. 

Competition closes on Tuesday 6 August, and winner announced on Wednesday 7 August.

Italian Presidential honour for Oratia's Alessandra Zecchini

Italian President Sergio Mattarella has awarded Alessandra Zecchini, Media Director and co-founder of Oratia Media, the title of Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia for services to Italian culture and foreign relations. 

Italian Ambassador Fabrizio Marcelli (right) awards the Cavaliere honour to Alessandra Zecchini on Sunday 28 October

The state honour — which translates as Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy — is bestowed on Italians and foreigners who have promoted relations between Italy and other countries. It also reflects on the promotion of Italian culture in the world. 

His Excellency Fabrizio Marcelli, Italian Ambassador to New Zealand, awarded the honour on Sunday at the annual Festival Italiano street festival in Newmarket, Auckland.

Born in Milan and raised in the province of Modena, Alessandra Zecchini immigrated to New Zealand in 1997, settled in West Auckland and founded Oratia Media with husband Peter Dowling in 2000.

The insignia for the Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy

As a writer and editor Zecchini has helped direct the company over many years, and contributed to publication of a number of Italian books in New Zealand. She has herself produced numerous articles about Italian food, culture and travel, and authored three recipe books. 

Zecchini has been widely active in the Italian community. She is a long-standing committee member and former President of the Società Dante Alighieri di Auckland, and a representative on the Com.It.Es Wellington. She has taught Italian language and culture at the Dante Society for over 20 years. 

Since 2006 she has been Director of the annual Festival Italiano Auckland, which is the country’s largest Italian cultural event, and among Auckland’s busiest ethnic festivals. 

She has promoted Italian cuisine widely, and founded the Slow Food Waitakere chapter,  now Slow Food Auckland, the country’s most active group of the Italian-based food network. 

Alessandra Zecchini, Media Director of Oratia Media

“I am greatly honoured to receive this recognition and thank all the wonderful Italian and New Zealand friends and family who have helped to make it all possible,” Zecchini said.

“The honour recognises the strong bonds between our countries, something we saw wonderfully at Sunday’s street festival.”

Putting food on the map, globally and locally

International bestseller featuring Australia, New Zealand and Fiji comes Down Under through Oratia Books ...

Publishing in Oceania on 3 October, this is a visually stunning, content-rich book that once you pick up, is hard to put down.

Anzac biscuits, beech honey, Bluff oysters and boil-ups are just the first of an array of foods on the New Zealand map inside international bestseller Food Atlas.

The Australia spread covers an array of foods and features, including Granny Smith apples and macadamia nuts, Fairy Bread and the Pie Floater, plus gourmet entries like Australian wine.   

Sampling foods and ingredients around the world, this big, beautiful atlas guides young readers and adults on an illustrated world voyage, with a smattering of cultural and geographical information thrown in.

Hand-illustrated maps show in detail the most typical fruits and vegetables, meat, fish and cheese, cereals, beverages, herbs and spices for each region. 

The contents page of Food Atlas

One country at a time, the world of food takes shape, bringing to life the gastronomical wonders of the Earth while celebrating our different tastes and creations.

First published last year by Dalcò Edizioni – which is appropriately based in the Italian foodie haven Parma —Food Atlas has already been translated into 18 languages and sold over 150,000 copies worldwide.

Peter Dowling, Publisher of Oratia Books, closed the deal for Oceania rights with Paolo Dalcò, Publisher of  Dalcò Edizioni, at the Bologna Children's Book Fair in late March (pictured).

Paolo Dalcò (left) with Peter Dowlng at the Bologna Children's Book Fair 2018

Oratia has checked all the excellent material that the authors researched for Oceania.

Author Giulia Malerba lives in Parma, where she works as an author and editor of food books. Illustrator Febe Sillani is the celebrated author of over 80 children's books, many published internationally; she lives in Trieste, Italy.

Giulia Malerba

Febe Sillani

Now readers Down Under can also savour the tastes of the world: from cloudberries to tomatillos, samosa to quesadilla, and Baklava to Bløtcake. 

Publication Date: 3 October 2018 |  ISBN: 978-0-947506-51-3 |  RRP $39.99

Hardback, 370 x 270 mm, 72 pages colour

Remembering Dario Fo

Dario Fo – actor-playwright, comedian, singer, theatre director, stage designer, songwriter, painter, political campaigner and Nobel Prize winner – died on 13 October 2016 aged 90.

I was fortunate enough to meet him in 1989, when he was producing the play The Pope and the Witch at the Teatro dell'Arte in Milan, where my father Aldo and brother Marco worked. 

Thanks to my father I was able to sit discreetly in the back row of the theatre to watch the rehearsals, with Dario and his wife Franca Rame 'creating' the play, acting and directing it at the same time, tutoring and interacting with the numerous actors that surrounded them. 

Dario was a great man and a great writer too.

You can find a well written obituary in the Economist:

 http://www.economist.com/news/obituary/21708977-playwright-actor-artist-and-all-round-provocateur-was-90

And a more extensive one in the Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2016/oct/13/dario-fo-obituary

– Alessandra Zecchini

Milan: thousands attended the funeral of Dario Fo in Milan.
Photo courtesy of Marco Teatro

Photo courtesy of Marco Teatro

Kia Ora, the Italian documentary based on the book To the Gateways of Florence: New Zealand Forces in Tuscany 1944

In 1944 the New Zealand forces, with the Maori battalion, liberated Tuscany. Click on the link to watch the trailer of the Italian documentary Kia Ora, based on the book To the Gateways of Florence: New Zealand Forces in Tuscany 1944 published by Libro International. 

   http://vimeo.com/92906673

To the Gateways of Florence: New Zealand Forces in Tuscany 1944 

ISBN: 978-1-877514-23-4   | RRP $44.99

276 pages (20 colour), 12 contributors, 200 images

Click here to see this and other books by Libro International

Back to the Gateways of Florence

Libro International's 2011 book To the Gateways of Florence was feted by the Florence city council in the Palazzo Vecchio on 17 February.

Our friends and the book's editors Stefano Fusi and Jill Gabriel sent this clipping from the local Metropoli newspaper about the evening gathering, which also presented the Italian edition, I Giorni della Liberazione.

New Zealand Ambassador to Italy Trevor Matheson joined local political leaders for the book presentation.

To the Gateways of Florence (ISBN 978-1-877514-23-4) tells of the New Zealand force's key role in liberating Tuscany in the Second World War.

The book costs $44.99 and is available through Publishers Distribution Limited in New Zealand orders@pubdist.co.nz

Adding perspective for NZ book lovers

TITLE: Giotto

AUTHOR:

Francesca Flores d'Arcais

PHOTOGRAPHER: Elio Ciol

ISBN: 978-0-7892-1114-9

IMPRINT:

24 Ore Cultura & Abbeville Press

SRP: $195

SPECS:

330 x 280 mm portrait, jacketed

hardback, 392 pages 4 colour on

170 gsm matt art paper

RELEASING: April 2012

ORDERS:

Publishers Distribution Limited

Attn: Customer Services

Tel: 09 828 2999

Fax: 09 828 2399

E: orders@pubdist.co.nz

MARKETING:

Peter Dowling

Tel: 09 814 8993

Mob: 027 614 8993

E: peter@oratiamedia.com

The Italian master painter Giotto (1267–1337), one of the great innovators of perspective in painting, has a central place in Western art history. In Francesca Flores d'Arcais' Giotto, the painter's life and art are brought together in a beautiful, deluxe publication – in English but produced to the highest standards of art printing in Italy. Oratia Media has imported to New Zealand a one-off, strictly limited number of this large art book, which is full of colour reproductions.  

KEY POINTS:

• New to the New Zealand market, English-language art books from Italy

• Features 210 full colour reproductions, 95 b&w, 2 fold-out images tracking Giotto’s career

• Sumptuous book that makes an unforgettable gift and a definitive reference for art lovers

THE BOOK:

The Italian great master, Giotto (1267–1337), ranks among the foremost creators of Italian art, and the greatest innovators in using perspective. This deluxe work leads the reader chronologically along Giotto's artistic path, with extensive and detailed views of his most important periods in Assisi, Padua and Florence. Organised around beautiful colour reproductions, the book aims to let Giotto's works speak for themselves, highlighting fascinating details thanks to the many photographs taken especially for this volume by Elio Ciol.

THE AUTHOR AND PHOTOGRAPHER:

Francesca Flores d'Arcais is a professor of medieval and modern art history at the School of Letters and Philosophy of the University of Verona, Italy, and an acknowledged expert on Giotto. Elio Ciol (born 1929) has established his place over a long career as one of Italy’s pre-eminent art photographers.

The book will release in April 2012; to pre-order your copy, contact PDL at:

Publishers Distribution Limited

Attn: Customer Services

Tel: 09 828 2999  Fax: 09 828 2399 E: orders@pubdist.co.nz


Click here to preview the first 95 pages of this book in Italian.

To the Gateways of Florence New Zealand Forces in Tuscany, 1944

M E D I A    R E L E A S E

24 August 2011

To the Gateways of Florence

New Zealand Forces in Tuscany, 1944

Edited by Stefano Fusi

For 50 years after the end of the Second World War, most people in the Chianti region between Florence and Siena did not know that New Zealand forces had been the ones to liberate them from Nazi German occupation in the summer of 1944.

It took research by Stefano Fusi, then mayor of Tavarnelle (near Florence), and his New Zealand wife Jill Gabriel, to affirm that the liberators had been not Americans but soldiers of the 2^nd New Zealand Division, many of whom never made it home.

Now those sacrifices, and the bonds they forged between New Zealand and Italy, are being celebrated in a new book – To the Gateways of Florence: New Zealand Forces in Tuscany 1944.

Launched at functions in Wellington, Christchurch and Auckland over the next fortnight, To the Gateways of Florence remembers the men of the 28^th Maori Battalion and 21^st Infantry Divisions who showed immense tenacity in battle, and compassion to the Italian people that is warmly remembered to this day.

A delegation composed of Stefano Fusi  (now a Florence Provincial councillor), Jill Gabriel, Sestilio Dirindelli (current mayor of Tavarnelle) and his wife Gianna has come to New Zealand in order to launch the book.

“Sharing our history has helped forge a deep friendship with the New Zealand people who live so far away from Tuscany and from the Chianti area, but to whom, for obvious reasons, we feel so close,” says Fusi.

“Our friendship has strengthened over time and has also been sealed by the decision made by the municipalities of Tavarnelle Val di Pesa and Scandicci to erect two monuments to the fallen New Zealanders.”

Translated from a 2009 Italian book, To the Gateways of Florence enables New Zealanders to read Italian historians analysing New Zealand’s pivotal role in Tuscany, alongside contributions from three of our own leading military historians – Christopher Pugsley, Monty Soutar and Jeffrey Plowman

The testimonies, diaries and letters of the New Zealand soldiers are matched by moving testimonies from the Italian civilians who lived through the battles that decided the war.

One contributor, Franca Ferrantini, recalls singing for New Zealand soldiers at Florence’s Hotel Baglioni: “I send dear thoughts to all those boys from way back then on the other side of the world.”

Publishers Peter Dowling and Alessandra Zecchini committed to translating the work after attending commemorations in the Chianti region on Anzac Day (also Italy’s Liberation Day) in 2010.

“We were overwhelmed by the warm welcome and the efforts that had gone to honouring the New Zealand soldiers,” Dowling recalls.

Zecchini, whose late father fought for the partisans in the mountains to the north of Tuscany, says that the book embodies the close bonds that sprang up between Italians and Kiwis in the course of the Second World War.

A rich selection of photographs and memorabilia from archives in New Zealand and Italy illustrates the work.

To the Gateways of Florence will be launched at the following events:

·      Wellington, 26 August: Te Papa Store

·      Christchurch, 1 September: University Bookshop Canterbury,

·      Auckland, 8 September: Council Chamber, Auckland Town Hall

Release Date:  26 August 2011  | ISBN: 978-1-877514-23-4   | RRP $44.99

276 pages (20 colour), 12 contributors, 200 images

Stefano Fusi is in New Zealand until 10 September.

For an interview, images, launch details or a review copy, contact:

Isabell Zitzelsberger 09 814 8993

Peter Dowling  027 614 8993

Libro International, a division of Oratia Media

www.librointernational.com   |    www.oratiamedia.com

From the Turin International Book Fair

The Salone Internazione del Libro Torino is Italy’s major book fair, held at the Lingotto Fiere in Turin for five days every May.

Attended by over 300,000 book lovers, with exhibits from Italian publishers large and small, a packed programme of writer presentations, a special kids’ pavilion and live broadcasts from Rai TV and radio – it makes for an amazing hive of cultural activity.

Taking place alongside the Salone was the International Book Forum, the business side of the fair, which brought together over 800 professionals to talk book, film and broadcast rights. Oratia Media took its table there to pursue our objectives of taking New Zealand authors to the world and developing Libro International’s presence in Italy.

Although there was a healthy showing of Indian publishers – India being this year’s guest country – we were certainly the only publisher from anywhere further east.

It’s always hard to quantify immediately how much business will come out of a trade fair. All the same, after more than 20 meetings, lots of useful encounters and hours spent browsing stands, I’m confident that we have some exciting opportunities.

A few initial take-outs:

- A lot of curiosity about New Zealand but few immediate prospects for books linked to South Pacific culture in Europe

- Openness to dealing with writers in areas that are less region specific, particularly children’s books, education, business and biography

- A flat or contracting book market is afflicting everyone, particularly the UK, US and Spain …

- … but not India, where economic growth and valuation of literacy is stoking demand for printed matter, with a readiness to take risks

- Ebooks? Not a lot in the Italian market just yet, though Giunti announced at the fair it would soon start selling the first ebook in Italy with an online catalogue of 400 titles to follow.

- Per capita book sales in Italy are creeping up again. They say Italians don’t read much, but judging from the crush at many of the stalls, it would seem fairer to say that those who do read, read a lot.

- Goodwill: the relatively small size of the IBF made it easy to rub shoulders and make acquaintances, and the food and wine was outstanding. In Turin there is such a thing as a free lunch!

It’ll be worth being back next year.

http://www.ibf.it

http://www.salonelibro.it/

From the International Book Forum organisers:

Si è chiusa la nona edizione dell'IBF. Appuntamento al 2011, dal 12 al 14 maggio

L'edizione 2010 dell’Ibf – International Book Forum, la business area del Salone Internazionale del Libro dedicata allo scambio di diritti editoriali e audiovisivi per la traduzione e l’adattamento, registra un nuovo record di presenze. Oltre 800, di cui 120 invitati in collaborazione con l'Istituto nazionale per il Commercio Estero (ICE), gli operatori professionali provenienti da oltre 30 paesi (ad esempio Argentina, Brasile, Canada, Egitto, Germania, Messico, Romania, Russia, Stati Uniti, Svezia) tra agenti letterari, responsabili dei diritti, produttori e scout editoriali per il cinema, la televisione e il multimediale che, infatti, hanno animato durante i tre giorni (da giovedì 13 a sabato 15 maggio) i 200 tavolini allestiti presso il Centro Congressi del Lingotto, quartier generale delle operazioni b2b del Salone Internazionale del Libro di Torino, per un totale di oltre 7500 incontri (1500 in più rispetto al 2009).

Bonds of Blood and Memory

New Zealand serviceman gave their lives to help liberate Italy from Nazi occupation in World War 2. One town in Tuscany has made a special effort to remember that fact.

For decades after Tavarnelle Val di Pesa was liberated in August 1944, locals believed their liberators were Americans. It was only due to the efforts of former Tavarnelle mayor Stefano Fusi and his New Zealand wife Jill Gabriel that the true story came to be told – that soldiers from the 2^nd New Zealand Division, and specifically from the 28^th Maori Battalion, had been the troops to force the German retreat.

Marking Liberation Day in Tavarnelle

Last year the story of that liberation came to be told in a fine book published by Editore NTE, I Giorni della Liberazione: Le truppe neozelandesi da San Donato all porte di Firenze. The book collects contributions from New Zealand and Italian historians and testimonies of those who lived through those days of death and destruction.

At the invitation of Stefano and Jill, we attended the ceremonies to mark Liberation Day in Tavarnelle on 25 April — the date of Anzac Day in New Zealand and Australia. The coincidence of dates doesn’t seem so much by chance when you are there, such is the feeling of fraternity between our nations and people. A few days later, we were privileged to visit the current exhibition of photographs relating to the liberation at the beautiful Palazzo Medici Riccardi in the heart of Florence.

Libro International is committed to working with Stefano, Jill and NTE to make I Giorni della Liberazione available in English in 2011.

‘Questo volume è il frutto felice di un bel rapporto di amicizia e fratellanza … Un’amicizia che è solo l’ultimo episodio di un rapporto speciale che si è stabilito fra i nostri Comuni, i nostri territorio, con la Nuova Zelanda.’

‘This volume is the happy fruit of a positive relationship based on friendship and fraternity… A friendship that is merely the latest episode in a special relationship that has been established between our territory and New Zealand.’

- Stefano Fusi, from the introduction to I Giorni della Liberazione

At the Eighth Army … Various exhibition in Florence, left to right: Stefano Fusi, Florence provincial councillor; Jill Gabriel, one of the book’s translators; Fabrizio Nucci, publisher, Editore NTE; Peter Dowling of Libro International; Tavernelle mayor Sestilio Dirindelli; Gianna Magnani and Angela Mori of Tavernelle council, who also worked on the book.

http://www.gonews.it/articolo_54064_programma-celebrazioni-aprile.html

From Silence to Voice in Turin

The impressive Mole Antonelliana, architectural symbol of Turin

I’ve just returned from an invigorating visit to Turin, where our author Paola Della Valle is based.

Paola finished her doctorate on the history of Maori literature at the Università degli Studi di Torino in 2007, and has now transformed that into a book for a school and university readership. Due out from Libro International in October, From Silence to Voice (ISBN 978-1-877514-11-1) will be the first book-length history to look at representations of Maori, and the emergence of Maori writers, in New Zealand.

Turin is a cultured city of porticoes, elegant cafés and bookstores. From 13–17 May it plays host to the annual Salone Internazionale del Libro di Torino (http://www.salonelibro.it/ ) – Italy’s largest book fair, open to both book professionals and the general public.

After this first taste of the city, we’ve committed to being back for the book fair. It will provide an unequalled opportunity to talk books with publishers, agents, booksellers and authors from all over Italy as well as international visitors (India is this year’s feature country).

So there’ll be more news from Turin next month.

Ciao

Peter

Author Paola Della Valle on home ground

Putting the Libro back into Europe

The view from our window, Boario Terme, Valcamonica

For the next four months Libro International is working from the beautiful Italian town of Darfo Boario, north-east of Milan.

Having a firm base in New Zealand, it’s now time to ground the other arm of our Kiwi-Italian company where it belongs. After all, our name comes from the Italian word for ‘book’.

For 2010 we have two firmed-up releases with a distinctive ‘Kiwitalian’ flavour – a pioneering history of Maori literature by Torino-based writer Paola della Valle, and a celebration of grappa being produced in collaboration with Distilleria Bottega, one of Italy’s greatest grappa distilleries.

We’ll be at the London Book Fair from 19–21 April, taking NZ and Italian authors to the world, and will work to build the Italian business once back in the beautiful Val Camonica.

Ciao

Peter & Alessandra

Italy mobiles:

Peter - 345 0936547

Alessandra - 345 0929872

Running man, rock drawing, Capo di Ponte, Valcamonica