CMIS Evaluation Fiction Focus » interviews http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:01:02 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 en hourly 1 Trailer Tuesday: Bog Child http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/11/17/trailer-tuesday-bog-child/ http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/11/17/trailer-tuesday-bog-child/#comments Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:21:30 +0000 judij http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/?p=2153 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.

9781862305915

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The author

The text

Reviews

Articles and interviews

Awards for Bog Child

The other books and their awards

A Swift Pure Cry (2006)

The London Eye Mystery (2007)

Solace of the Road (2009)

Read more

In memory of Alison Lawrence: friend, colleague and valued Fiction Focus reviewer

11 November 2009

]]> http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/11/17/trailer-tuesday-bog-child/feed/ 0 Trailer Tuesday: Nation http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/11/10/trailer-tuesday-nation/ http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/11/10/trailer-tuesday-nation/#comments Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:16 +0000 judij http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/?p=2003 After ten years of Discworld, Terry Pratchett (Sir Terence Pratchett) has created a very different world 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):

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The author

The text

Reviews

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Awards

Read more disaster fiction

  • A list from the CMIS database
]]> http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/11/10/trailer-tuesday-nation/feed/ 0 Books and Reading: Podcasts http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/10/03/books-and-reading-podcasts/ http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/10/03/books-and-reading-podcasts/#comments Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:30:04 +0000 judij http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/?p=1377 imagesWhat 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

If there are others you would like to suggest, your comments are welcome.

Image from wikimedia used under Creative Commons licence

]]> http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/10/03/books-and-reading-podcasts/feed/ 0 Trailer Tuesday: Tales from Outer Suburbia http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/09/29/trailer-tuesday-tales-from-outer-suburbia/ http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/09/29/trailer-tuesday-tales-from-outer-suburbia/#comments Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:30:57 +0000 judij http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/?p=1180 resized_9781741149173_224_297_FitSquare

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.

Shaun talks about Tales from Outer Suburbia:

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The author

Shaun Tan’s website

Interviews and speeches

The Text

Reviews

Awards for Tales from Outer Suburbia

Awards and accolades for Shaun Tan

Picture Books illustrated by Shaun Tan

  • 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

Adaptations of Shaun Tan’s works

  • The Red Tree, a play based on Tan’s book of the same name, was commissioned for the Out of the Box Festival of Early Childhood in 2004.
  • The Australian Chamber Orchestra commissioned music in 2008 for The Red Tree, which was performed by Gondwana Voices. The site contains a podcast introduction and video.
  • 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.

[Mostly From Fiction Focus Special Feature on The Arrival, Vol. 21 (1), 2007.]

Finally, the Lu Rees Archives in Canberra has a guide to research materials on Shaun Tan and his work.

One can only wonder what treat is coming our way next.



]]> http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/09/29/trailer-tuesday-tales-from-outer-suburbia/feed/ 0 Twitter update http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/09/28/twitter-update/ http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/09/28/twitter-update/#comments Mon, 28 Sep 2009 07:10:16 +0000 judij http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/?p=1262 twitter3gifWhat are some of the things we have tweeted (or retweeted) about recently? If you don’t follow us, you might not have heard about:

All in the last few days. Come and join us.

]]> http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/09/28/twitter-update/feed/ 0 Jackie French http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/09/26/jackie-french/ http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/09/26/jackie-french/#comments Sat, 26 Sep 2009 02:49:19 +0000 judij http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/?p=1215 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.

Previous guests this year have included Graeme Base (scroll down to 23 March for the video) and Morris Gleitzman (27 July).

]]> http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/09/26/jackie-french/feed/ 0 Trailer Tuesday: Finnikin of the Rock http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/09/22/trailer-tuesday-finnikin-of-the-rock/ http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/09/22/trailer-tuesday-finnikin-of-the-rock/#comments Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:05:28 +0000 judij http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/?p=1175 9780670072811Melina 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:

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The text:

The author

Interviews

Reviews

Teachers’ Notes

Awards:

Melina Marchetta’s other books:

Fantasy for YA

  • A list of 190 titles from the CMIS review database
]]> http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/09/22/trailer-tuesday-finnikin-of-the-rock/feed/ 2 Expect the Unexpected http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/07/28/expect-the-unexpected/ http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/07/28/expect-the-unexpected/#comments Tue, 28 Jul 2009 05:35:44 +0000 janning http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/?p=636 The Lost Thing

Today’s Guardian has an interesting interview with WA’s Shaun Tan.

Also available from the Guardian website is Eric: A Story in Pictures by Shaun Tan.

The CMIS Resource Bank provides reviews of Shaun’s picture books and other supporting resources as well as reviews of The Rabbits, Memorial and  The Viewer which Shaun completed in collaboration with John Marsden and Gary Crew.

]]> http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/07/28/expect-the-unexpected/feed/ 2 Morris Gleitzman in conversation http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/06/29/morris-gleitzman-in-conversation/ http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/06/29/morris-gleitzman-in-conversation/#comments Mon, 29 Jun 2009 05:43:19 +0000 judij http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/?p=600 On ABC Radio National Life Matters. Here.

]]> http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/06/29/morris-gleitzman-in-conversation/feed/ 0 On being named Laureate http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/06/13/on-being-named-laureate/ http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/06/13/on-being-named-laureate/#comments Sat, 13 Jun 2009 01:16:18 +0000 judij http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/?p=581 A fifteen-minute video interview (viderview?) with the sixth UK Children’s Laureate, Anthony Browne.

]]> http://cmisevalff.edublogs.org/2009/06/13/on-being-named-laureate/feed/ 0