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AGENCY NEWS
November December 2007
The latest news on the Walden Media feature film based on the book Nim's Island, written by Wendy Orr and illustrated by Kerry Millard, starring Jodie Foster, Abigail Breslin and Gerard Butler can be seen at www.myspace.com/nimsisland. Jodie Foster is playing reclusive author Alex Rover, Abigail Breslin is the feisty Nim and Gerard Butler is Nim's father. Filming took place at the Warner Roadshow studios on the Gold Coast, and on location at Hinchinbrook Island, North Queensland, Australia. Nim at Sea, written by Wendy Orr 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. New editions will be published in the UK, France, Brazil, Japan and other countries to coincide with the opening of the Film in April 2008. Wendy will be appearing as a Reading Ambassador, at the Victorian Premier's Reading Challenge Reception at the National Gallery of Victoria on December 7th.
The Other Side, by Sally Morgan, was published by the National Museum of Australia Canberra in 2007 as part of its Making Tracks series which has a useful web site with teachers' notes and children's activities. Sally has recently been doing a lot of writing for children and several projects she has undertaken with her children, Ambelin, Blaze and Ezekiel Kwaymullina, are in production and under consideration by publishers.
Macmillan in Spain have published a series of books by Gordon Reece, about Pepe, a Spanish boy who visits England and introduces young Spanish readers to the English Language.
Octavius O'Malley and the Mystery of the Missing Mouse, by Alan Sunderland, was published by HarperCollins Australia in September 2007. This is a sequel to Octavius O'Malley and the Mystery of the Exploding Cheese which was published in 2006 and won the 2007 APA (Australian Publishers Association) award for Best Designed Children's Fiction.
Wendy Orr'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.
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 appeared 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. French language rights have been sold to Tahitian based publisher Vent des Iles.
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.
GOLVAN ARTS MANAGEMENT • PO Box 766, Kew, Victoria 3101 Australia • golvan@ozemail.com.au