Global Literature in Libraries Initiative | Global Literature in Libraries Initiative

Japan’s “The Beast Player” and Finland’s “Maresi Red Mantle” Win 2020 GLLI Translated YA Book Prize

Posted on April 3, 2020April 4, 2020 by David Jacobson

Winners Feature Striking Young Women Protagonists from Across the Globe The Beast Player, by Japan’s Nahoko Uehashi (translated from the Japanese by Cathy Hirano; Henry Holt & Co.) and Maresi Red Mantle, by Finland’s Maria Turtschaninoff (translated from the Swedish by A. A. Prime; Pushkin Press/Abrams Books) are co-winners of the 2020 GLLI Translated YA … Continue reading Japan’s “The Beast Player” and Finland’s “Maresi Red Mantle” Win 2020 GLLI Translated YA Book Prize

Brazil’s Biblioteca Nacional and Translation Support Program

Posted on April 3, 2020April 3, 2020 by Basak Bingol Yuce

In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of translations from world literatures into English. This increase is, without a doubt, a result of the global interest in translated fiction. But in the case of Brazil, there is also another stimulus for the publishers around the world: Biblioteca Nacional’s Translation Support Program. … Continue reading Brazil’s Biblioteca Nacional and Translation Support Program

Welcome to the Brazilian Literature Month

Posted on April 1, 2020April 1, 2020 by Basak Bingol Yuce

April 2020 is the Brazilian literature month in Global Literature in Libraries Initiative. When things are falling apart in the world, we still believe in the power of literature to bond us together and provide a safe haven mentally. Throughout this month, I will present translated and untranslated works from Brazilian literature and try to … Continue reading Welcome to the Brazilian Literature Month

Goodnight kiwi – haere rā

Posted on February 29, 2020February 18, 2020 by librarybond

The kiwi is a remarkable bird. As Te Ara Encyclopedia explains, "The flightless, nocturnal kiwi is an oddity, and perhaps an unlikely choice for a national symbol. But the round body, long beak and short legs invite curiosity and affection – and it’s an easy bird to draw. It appears everywhere, on coins, stamps, shoe … Continue reading Goodnight kiwi – haere rā

Awards – recognition and publicity

Posted on February 28, 2020February 18, 2020 by librarybond

New Zealand has a number of Book Awards run by different organizations. It is a great way for me as an ex-pat to keep up to date with the best of New Zealand writing. Awards can be arbitrary and follow the whimsy of the awards panel but overall what they offer all of us is … Continue reading Awards – recognition and publicity

Kate de Goldi

Posted on February 27, 2020February 18, 2020 by librarybond

I think my all-time favourite writer for Young people is Kate de Goldi. I have had the privilege of hearing her speak a number of times, at conferences and hosted in the school libraries I have worked for. She is a writer who is generous with her time and in her promotion of other writers, … Continue reading Kate de Goldi

Gavin Bishop -NZ illustrator and writer

Posted on February 25, 2020February 18, 2020 by librarybond

Picture books inhabit that beautiful collaboration of the text being incomplete without the illustration and the illustration relying on the text for the fullness of comprehension. Gavin Bishop is an illustrator and writer whose contribution to New Zealand literature has been recognised by naming an award after him. In 2009 Storylines created the Gavin Bishop … Continue reading Gavin Bishop -NZ illustrator and writer

Patricia Grace

Posted on February 24, 2020February 18, 2020 by librarybond

I promised many days ago to return to Patricia Grace. This writer has been instrumental in the emergence of Maori writing since the 1970s. As a teacher and mother, she wrote in her 'spare time'. As explained on her Read NZ page her first book, Waiariki (1975), the first short story collection by a Māori woman writer, … Continue reading Patricia Grace

Sylvia Ashton Warner – learning to read

Posted on February 23, 2020February 18, 2020 by librarybond

I read "Teacher" (1963) by Sylvia Ashton Warner, while at secondary school and found it inspirational. This was a memoir about her life as a teacher, a profession which Warner was very reluctant to enter. Her mother had been a teacher and the sole income earner for her large family. The family had to move from … Continue reading Sylvia Ashton Warner – learning to read

School Journals

Posted on February 22, 2020October 7, 2021 by librarybond

While Michael King was able to trace a widely held misbelief about the discovery of New Zealand back to a School Journal publication I want to draw your attention to this amazing resource and to explain why they have actually done much more good than harm. It was first published on May 9th 1907 and … Continue reading School Journals