We can hardly believe it- December is upon us which means just one thing... the Kid's Lit Quiz Night! Get a team together or come and make up one with others on the night. We'll provide the yummy nibbles and dish out spot prizes. A great evening for lovers of Children's Literature and a fun night out. Click the image on the right to bring it up in a larger window, print it out, stick to your fridge, brush up your trivia and tinsel and come along!
$10 at the door. RSVP to the.wcba@gmail.com or the Children's Bookshop ph: 3873905
The winner of this year's Jack Lasenby Award is Sand King by Peter Friend,a story set around a sand-castle competition at LyallBay. The judges felt that although some of the other pieces were more polished, the imagination expressed in Sand King, the strength of the voice and even the writing style were more expressive and had a spark that other stories were missing. Sand King was not without faults, but the heart of the story was strong, it was imaginative in a way that few of the entries were, and it left a lot for the reader to infer.
The judges also decided to highly commend three other stories, which were (in no particular order): Boxing On by Kathy Taylor, Tararua Biscuits by Robin Fleming and Pop and the Crusty Demon by Sharon Stratford. These were all heartwarming and appealing stories based around realistic relationships.
About the Judges
Vince Ford
Vince Ford is an award winning Children’s Book writer and a 2008 Judge for The New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards. His latest work,theChronicles of Stone series is a departure from his previous work. Set in the Ice Age in the States it follows the journey of twins, Souk and Trei, as they strive to capture secrets that could change the lives of their people. In the words of Graham Beattie, "I foresee a big, promising international future for the Chronicles of Stone trilogy and for Vincent Ford as a writer for teenagers and beyond. Be sure to bring it before any teenage readers you know, they will not be disappointed."
Philippa Werry
Philippa is a children’s writer who has written over 100 stories, plays, poems and articles for the School Journal and other educational publishers. Her stories have also been broadcast on National Radio. The great chocolate cake bake-off (Scholastic, 2007) was included in the Storylines list of notable books for 2007. Her most recent book, Enemy at the Gate (Scholastic, 2008) is a children’s novel set in Wellington at the time of the1936 polio epidemic.
Margaret Cahill
Margaret is a children's series editor at Learning Media where she reads and assesses a great many children's stories every year. She is the editor of Greg O'Brien's Montana Award winning history of the School Journal,
A Nest of Singing Birds.
Margaret is a past convenor of the WCBA, an occasional writer, and an enthusiastic champion of children's literature.
The Goethe-Institut New Zealand is delighted to present the exhibition:
Contemporary Picture Book Illustrationfrom Germany on its tour of Australia, Bangkok and New Zealand. The artists presented cover a wide spectrum of contemporary illustrational art, from water colour and collage to digital experiments. Sometimes naïve, sometimes sceptical, sometimes cheeky, but always delightful, the 13 perspectives give a fascinating insight into the work of leading German illustrators and book designers. With their individual styles and artistic vocabularies they have contributed to the growing success and recognition of picture book illustration from Germany on an international scale. The exhibition will be shown in Wellington, Dunedin and Christchurch.
The Goethe-Institut together with the Children’s Book Associationwould like to invite you and your partner to the opening of the exhibition in Wellington.
Champ the Chopper fans don’t have long to wait now – a new children’s picture book illustrated by the award-winning Weta special effects workshop is due out soon.
The second book in the series about a little rescue helicopter, Kids to the Rescue is written by local author Rebekah Palmer with illustrations done by Weta artist Daniel Falconer.
The picture book will be launched at the WetaCave in Camperdown Rd, Miramar, Wellington, on Saturday October 11 at 2pm. (For directions and details see www.wetanz.com/cave.)
The first book in the series, Champ the Chopper, has proved very popular with pre-schoolers and early readers, says author Rebekah Palmer. “It’s great for getting kids into reading, especially young boys. They love those helicopters!”
“Weta Workshop is thrilled that this series is continuing,” says Richard Taylor. “These stories remind me of the excitement I used to feel as a young boy watching Thunderbirds. Rescue stories are great for providing kids with positive action.”
An animated television series based on the characters is currently in development.
The books are available from all good booksellers as well as through the Life Flight Trust, which operates the real rescue helicopter for the Wellington region.
Here is an opportunity to attend a writing workshop in Wellington specifically for emerging writers in the Children’s Book genre, led by internationally published children’s book author, creative writing teacher and manuscript assessor, Fleur Beale.
When: Sunday October 5th 2008, 9.30am-4pm Where: The Arts Centre, Abel Smith St, Wellington Cost: $50 (includes morning and afternoon tea) Limited spaces- for bookings and more information, (including assessment of writing sample) email:the.wcba@gmail.com or write to us at P.O Box 1242 Wellington by September 20th
N.B a $20 deposit will be required and the workshop will be filled on a first come first served basis- bookings essential.
New Zealand writers should be the stars of our literary industry.
And what better way than to promote our writing over the ditch? As part of New Zealand Book Month, Sophie Hamley of The Cameron Creswell Agency in Sydney is visiting our fair shores and NZBM and NZSA along with The New Zealand Book Council invite you to attend a light lunch to discuss the Australian publishing scene, and answer your questions. This is a great opportunity for Wellington writers to meet an Australian literary agent and discuss opportunities and developments internationally. Do you want closer ties to Australian agents and publishers? Are you aware that you can submit to agents in Australia and, indeed, anywhere overseas? She’s interested to hear how you feel about rights and what's happening in the industry from your perspective.
International Literary Exchange Luncheon Saturday 30th August Te Whaea – National Dance and Drama School – Studio One. Hutchinson Road, Newtown, Wellington. $3 contribution at the door A light lunch will be served from 11.45am to start discussions at 12noon.
Sophie Hamley has worked in the print and online publishing industries since leaving school. She started by doing her time in the bookselling trenches while at university and then, after a year working in children’s books in Vancouver, BC, went to HarperCollins Publishers Australia, starting as an editorial assistant. From there she moved to Penguin, and then into the online world for several years, at the Seven Network, Massive Interactive and CCH. After deciding to move back to books, she worked as a senior editor at HarperCollins across a wide variety of titles, before becoming senior literary agent at The Cameron Creswell Agency in May 2006.
The Cameron Creswell Agency: The film agency, Cameron's, was established 32 years ago; Rosemary Creswell merged her eponymous literary agency with Cameron's in the 1980s to form The Cameron Creswell Agency. The agency looks after writers of all descriptions — book authors, playwrights and screenwriters for film and TV — as well as other individuals in creative fields, mainly film, television and theatre. This year the literary division has seen the publication of six first novels, as well as children's and non-fiction titles. The client list is eclectic, covering both literary and 'commercial' writers, and many different genres. Our authors are published across the full spectrum of Australian publishing houses, both large commercial houses and independents.
