AGENCY NEWS
AGENCY NEWS
August 2007
Walden Media have commenced shooting Nim's Island the film. Jodie Foster will be playing reclusive author Alex Rover, Abigail Breslin will take on the role of the feisty Nim and Gerard Butler will play Nim's father. Filming is taking place at the Warner Roadshow studios on the Gold Coast, Australia. See variety.com and gerardbutler.net/news for news of the production. Nim at Sea, written by Wendy Orr and illustrated by Kerry Millard was published in Australia by Allen & Unwin in June. A new edition of Nim's Island, first published in 1999, was also reprinted in June. Nim's Island, is published by Allen & Unwin in Australia and Random House in the USA. It has also been published in Germany, Spain, Italy and Korea.
Congratulations to Bob Adamson on his short listing in the Age Poetry Book of the Year 2007 and in the Victorian Premier's Awards for 2007. Bob won the Grace Leven Prize for Poetry for 2006 for The Goldfinches of Bagdad. This award, announced in March 2007, is the oldest poetry prize in Australia and is awarded annually for the poet's contribution to Australian poetry. The same book was short listed for the NSW Premier’s Poetry Awards 2007. The Goldfinches of Baghdad, Adamson’s first book published in North America, teems with cockatoos, kookaburras, lyrebirds, dollarbirds, and a host of waders from Australia. At once real presences and sly emissaries of the poetic imagination, these birds perform aspects of ourselves just as we assume their weird attributes: “The shadow your hand casts / resembles the mudlark, opening / its wings, calling and rocking, / perched in the pages / of my book.” They transgress human boundaries, ignoring sign posts and political borders. As birds and words exchange places, Adamson charts their migration. Published by Flood Editions in 2006, Adamson toured the USA in March and April of 2006, reading his poems in public libraries, universities and book stores from San Francisco, Chicago, Athens Georgia to Boston and New York. It was launched in Australia by Luke Davies at Gleebooks in Sydney in August 2006.
Congratulations are also due to Gerald Murnane on receiving the Special Prize in the 2007 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. Gerald’s latest book Invisible Yet Enduring Lilacs, A collection of essays was published in September 2005 by The Giramondo Publishing Company. Tamarisk Row will be published by Giramondo Press in Australia in 2008, to be launched at the Adelaide Festival in March; and Velvet Waters will be published by Albert Bonniers Ferlag in Swedish in the Northern Spring of 2008.
Wendy's latest book, Mokie and Bik, already available in Australia, was published in the USA by Henry Holt in June 2007. Contact Golvan Arts Management if you are interested in publishing rights to other territories or film and television rights.
Krafthaus Films Ltd has completed filming in New Zealand of a short film based on Michael Griffith's short story The Graffiti of Mr Kynyatta. Producer Vicky Pope; screenwriter, Paul Ward; and Director of Photography, Ginny Loanne are thrilled to be bringing this special story to life with the actor Rawiri, the grandfather "Koro" in Whalerider, as Mr Kynyatta.
Crater, by Phoenix Connor was published by Random House in June 2007. The story combines action, suspense, romance, humour and horror against a scientific background and is inspired by the cross-genre books of Phoenix’s mentor and friend, Dean Koontz. For international publishing rights contact Random House Australia.
Allied and Addicted, by Alison Broinowski was published by Scribe Books in May 2007. In this provocative book, Broinowski argues that Australia's development as an independent nation has stalled. The book challenges many of the assumptions of conservative polcy makers and highlights the need for informed choices in the debate about Australia's place in the world. Alison will be appearing at both the Melbourne and Brisbane Writers' Festivals in September 2007.
Congratulations to Kevin Walsh who was a finalist in this year's Savewater Awards in the "Individual Action" category, for his contribution to the education of home gardeners and horticultural professionals on waterwise gardening. Kevin's book Waterwise Gardening is invaluable for the gardener who needs to accomodate to the drought conditions present throughout most of Australia.
Butterfly Song, by Terri Janke, first published by Penguin Group Australia in 2005, was reprinted in 2007.
Watch out for Greg Pyers at the Melbourne Writers' Festival in August 2007. During August he will also be appearing at Dandenong Library as well as running a workshop at the Daylesford Words in Winter Festival which runs from August 3rd to 12th 2007. Jack Brown and the Labyrinth of the Bats and Jack Brown and the Trail of the Pythons, are available in all good book stores. Jack Brown and the Labyrinth of the Bats is also available in a 3 CD set narrated by Brendan Higgins who brilliantly captures the mood of intrigue and suspense.
‘Initial full-blown action effectively launches the reader into this easy-to-read adventure/mystery that sustains perilous exploits throughout. The first book in the Jack Brown series, it is a cross between The Famous Five and Jumanjii, providing a plethora of appeal for the upper primary/lower secondary audience. The dynamic thirteen-year-old duo of ’animal clairvoyant’ Jack Brown and his cousin Molly, a martial arts expert, will enthral the reader. Animal poaching, hidden gold coin smuggling and other criminal activities abound in an involved plot that unwinds quickly. Contrasting geographical settings of the African jungle and English countryside add interest and variety….’
~ Curriculum Collection of the Library Services of the Queensland Department of Education in Australia review
Greg was short listed in the 2005 Australian Children’s Book Council Awards non fiction category and his first novel, Doublecross, was published by ABC books in August 2005.
See Mark Svendsen’s latest book Circus Carnivore, illustrated by Ben Redlich, which was published this year in the USA by Houghton Mifflin. It was published by Lothian Books in Australia in 2005.
GOLVAN ARTS MANAGEMENT • PO Box 766, Kew, Victoria 3101 Australia • golvan@ozemail.com.au