Four books. Only four, yet all have been on the awards radar and some have received great honours indeed. We can but speculate what else the late Siobhan Dowd might have written had her life been longer. But we can celebrate these four marvellous books and the richness that her writing has brought to young adult literature. The first Carnegie Medal to be awarded posthumously was for this week’s featured title, Bog Child (2007), which was finished three months before Siobhan Dowd’s death.
After ten years of Discworld, Terry Pratchett (Sir Terence Pratchett) has created a very differentworld in Nation (2008). Set in n a parallel universe rather like our 19th century South Pacific this is a multi-faceted disaster-survival / coming-of-age story that explores many themes. There is no book trailer as such for this title, so here is Terry Pratchett talking about how Nation came to be (the US cover is featured):
Terry Pratchett speaks in The Times about living with Alzheimer’s Disease (25/1/2009)
And in The Independent: Nation – the one that’s just come out – that’s a book for kids. And people will say: ‘Well it covers very adult subjects …’ Yeah, that’s why it’s a book for kids. Because you want kids to grow up to be adults, not just bigger kids.”
What better on a long journey, walk or stint on the treadmill than to catch up with informed opinion on the latest in books and reading? The advent of the podcast has revitalised our listening skills – the spoken word is cool again.
Here are some of our favourites. Subscribing is easy (particularly if you use iTunes, which has most of these available) but setting up a feed is also straightforward. It’s hard to go past ABC Radio National’s advice on getting started if you are new to this.
Some podcasts on books, reading and the spoken word
With Tales from Outer Suburbia, Shaun Tan has proven what we have long suspected: that his talent is not confined to illustration. He is as adept with words as he is with images.
Shaun Tan has developed an international reputation as an outstanding and original illustrator. He was born in Fremantle in 1974 and currently lives and works in Melbourne. As a child Shaun enjoyed reading; writing and illustrating poems and stories; and spent a lot of time drawing dinosaurs, robots and space ships. He participated in a special art program at secondary school but since then he has largely taught himself the art of book illustration. At the University of WA he completed an honours degree in English literature and art history, theory and criticism.
In 1992 Shaun won the International Illustrators of the Future Contest, the first Australian to achieve this award. He has been illustrating young adult fiction and picture books since 1996.
Since winning the 2002 NSW Premier’s Prize for Children’s Books with The Red Tree Shaun Tan has been featured on the 7:30 Report on the ABC and in the Weekend Australian Magazine (June 22-23, 2002), rare publicity for a children’s illustrator or author. From CMIS Author page.
The title Tales from Outer Suburbia appears to be a homage to a much-loved Western Australian collection of short stories, Tom Hungerford’s Stories from Suburban Road.Certainly many of the images in the book are familiar to those who know Perth’s suburbs.
HSC Online – Shaun Tan reveals how he became an illustrator, describes his process and influences and reflects on the distinction between commercial and fine art.
The Viewer, written by Gary Crew, 1997 – Winner, Crichton Award, 1998; Notable Book, CBCA Picture Book of the Year, 1998
The Rabbits, written by John Marsden, 1998 – Aurealis Conveners’ Award for Excellence, 1999; Winner, CBCA Picture Book of the Year, 1999; Spectrum Gold Award for Book Illustration, 1999
Memorial, written by Gary Crew, 1999; Honour Book, CBCA Picture Book of the Year, 2000
Picture Books written and illustrated by Shaun Tan
The Lost Thing, 1999 – Honour Book, CBCA Picture Book of the Year, 2000; Shortlisted, Young Adult, WA Premier’s Book Awards, 1999
The Red Tree, 2001 – Winner, Patricia Wrightson Award, NSW Premier’s Literary Awards; Honour Book, CBCA Picture Book of the Year, 2002; Shortlisted, Children’s Books, WA Premier’s Book Awards, 2001
The Arrival, 2006 – multiple awards including Winner, Golden Aurealis Award for Best Short Story, 2006; Winner, Aurealis Award for Best Young Adult Short Story, 2006
The Lost Thing is being adapted as an animated short film by Passion Pictures (UK).
Sydney band Lo-Tel was inspired by the artwork from The Lost Thing to record an album of the same name, incorporating the art into the cover design.
The Lost Thing has also been adapted as a play by the Jigsaw Theatre Company, in Canberra as the main event for the National Gallery of Australia’s Children Festival in 2004. It also inspired the theme for Chookahs! Kids Festival in Melbourne in 2006, where it was performed, and during the festival children participated in many different activities based on concepts from the book.
The Arrival was adapted by WA’s Spare Parts Puppet Theatre in July 2006 (before publication of the book) , using digital animation, puppetry and acting.
Not so much an adaptation as a collaboration, the book of the exhibition Odditoreum at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney.
A review of Richard Flanagan’s latest, Wanting, from the Guardian. Winner of the Queensland Premier’s Award for Fiction, this is a slice of Tasmanian history with a rich cast of characters
Next Monday evening, prolific and multi-award winning author Jackie French is the guest of Peter Thompson on ABC Television. Talking Heads offers an opportunity to get up close and personal with a variety of people and Jackie is sure to talk about her amazing literary output, her other life as a respected organic gardener and wombats. (Have you caught up with The Wombat and the Great Poohjam yet? More of a Primary Focus title than ours, but fun is fun at any age).
If you miss the broadcast (or the Tuesday repeat on ABC2) , the video and transcript is certain to pop up on the Talking Heads website shortly after.
Melina Marchetta is not afraid to experiment in her writing. After the runaway success of Looking for Alibrandi (1992), she could easily have sat back and become something of a specialist in the first-generation migrant story. It was a long wait for Saving Francesca (2006) but it was apparent that Melina’s storytelling was heading in a different direction. This title too picked up a string of awards. On the Jellicoe Road (also 2006), a more complex narrative, achieved the highest honour in YA Literature when it was awarded the 2008 Michael L. Printz award. And now she has turned her hand to fantasy. Finnikin of the Rock (2008) has received wide acclaim here in Australia, and no doubt will also do so in the US when it is published there in 2010. Here she is talking about the writing of the novel:
The Fiction Focus Blog is published by Curriculum Materials Information Services (CMIS), Department of Education and Training, Western Australia. It is designed to provide news about current events, resources and research to assist teachers and teacher librarians engage teenagers with books and reading.
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authors, book trailers, interviews, literature promotion, teaching ideas | Tagged: LiteraturePromotion, TrailerTuesday | 
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Posted by judij
What better on a long journey, walk or stint on the treadmill than to catch up with informed opinion on the latest in books and reading? The advent of the podcast has revitalised our listening skills – the spoken word is cool again.
What are some of the things we have tweeted (or retweeted) about recently? If you don’t follow us, you might not have heard about:
