The South African Chapter of SCBWI, Cape Town
(Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators)
would like to announce
A week-long SCBWI (SA) Spring event 2011
Friday 21 October – Thursday 27 October

For more info go to http://springevent2011-scbwi-sa.blogspot.com/

The event will have three separate components, each with a separate attendance fee:

• A one-day children’s book conference
• A luncheon with specialist speakers
• Four days of review sessions for individual writers and illustrators

Note: The event will be open to anyone with an interest in children’s books, e.g. writers, illustrators, parents, teachers, booksellers, librarians, publishers and policy-makers.
However, SCBWI members will be given preference.

Please email scbwi.za@gmail.com to express your interest in attending.
Please put Spring Event 2011 in the subject line and indicate which of the three components you interested in.
Please state if you re a SCBWI member


FRIDAY 21 OCTOBER - ONE-DAY CHILDREN’S BOOK CONFERENCE

• The primary focus of the conference will be on the opportunities and challenges facing children’s book writers and illustrators in educational publications in South Africa.
• A secondary focus will be on possible opportunities opening up in international markets (maybe including the rapidly expanding markets in the East?) for South African children’s Publishers, book writers and illustrators – both in English and in translation.


SATURDAY 22 OCTOBER – SCBWI (SA) SPRING LUNCHEON

• An gala luncheon to celebrate SCBWI’s 40th birthday which will feature Steve Mooser (SCBWI President and a visiting international children’s book writer and Literary Agent, Erzsi Deak

Note: At the luncheon venue local publishers will be given the opportunity to display and promote their latest children’s book publications.


MONDAY 24 TO THURSDAY 27 OCTOBER – REVIEW SESSIONS

• Four days of review sessions in which the literary Agent, children’s book editors and established writers and illustrators will provide thirty-minute one-on-one critiques of the work of local writers & illustrators. (SCBWI Members will be given preference)

Note: SCBWI Members who do not have a review session will have the opportunity to display their work in an exhibition space.

IBBY Africa 1st Biennial Conference

Changes to dates and venue of the 1st Biennial IBBY Africa Conference – see below

Circulated by SCBWI (SA) for Prof Thomas van der Walt, CLRU, Department of Information Science, University of South Africa.

Enquiries: please contact Prof Thomas van der Walt

Fax: +27 12 4293792; e-mail: vdwaltb@unisa.ac.za

For more info go to http://www.unisa.ac.za/Default.asp?Cmd=ViewContent&ContentID=25142

1st Biennial IBBY Africa Conference: 31 August-2 September 2011

Venue: The Ranch, Polokwane, Limpopo Province

The travelling of stories: children’s literature and reading in and of Africa

Call for papers

· 31 August-2 September 2011

· Venue: The Ranch, Polokwane, Limpopo Province

· Organised by the Children’s Literature Research Unit, University of South Africa on behalf of the IBBY Branches of Africa

· Closing date for submissions: 15 June 2011

The following topics serve as suggestions:

The travelling of stories across borders and cultures

Children’s literature in translation

Folktales and imagination

Writing in indigenous/colonial/minority languages

Colonialism and post-colonialism in children’s literature

Traditional folktales and the modern tale

Cultural relevance of children’s books

The distinction between African children’s and adult books

Oral narratives and literary research

Converting oral literature into written literature

Literature for didactic purposes

The African diaspora and children’s literature

Reading across cultures

Library services for children

Reading in the information age

Comparative research in children’s literature and reading

Depicting reality in children’s books

Reading preferences of African children

Teaching children’s literature

Storytelling for young people

Publishing for children in the 2nd World

Abstracts of not more than 250 words that address particular issues regarding reading and children’s literature related to Africa and the developing world are welcomed.

Mail abstracts and direct enquiries to: Prof Thomas van der Walt, CLRU, Department of Information Science, University of South Africa, PO Box 392, 0003 Pretoria, South Africa Fax: +27 12 4293792 e-mail: vdwaltb@unisa.ac.za

Call for Papers 1st Biennial IBBY Africa Conference

The travelling of stories: children’s literature and reading in and of Africa

Call for Papers

1^st Biennial IBBY Africa Conference

21-23 September 2011

Venue: Pigg’s Peak Hotel, Swaziland

Organised by the Children’s Literature Research Unit, University of South Africa on behalf of the IBBY Branches of Africa

Abstracts of not more than 250 words that address particular issues regarding reading and children’s literature related to Africa and the developing world are welcomed.

The following topics serve as suggestions:

The travelling of stories across borders and cultures

Children’s literature in translation

Folktales and imagination

Writing in indigenous/colonial/minority languages

Colonialism and post-colonialism in children’s literature

Traditional folktales and the modern tale

Cultural relevance of children’s books

The distinction between African children’s and adult books

Oral narratives and literary research

Converting oral literature into written literature

Literature for didactic purposes

The African diaspora and children’s literature

Reading across cultures

Library services for children

Reading in the information age

Comparative research in children’s literature and reading

Depicting reality in children’s books

Reading preferences of African children

Teaching children’s literature

Storytelling for young people

Publishing for children in the 2rd World

Closing date for submissions: 15 June 2011

Mail abstracts and direct enquiries to:

Prof Thomas van der Walt, CLRU, Department of Information Science, University of South Africa, PO Box 392, 0003 Pretoria, South Africa

Fax: +27 12 4293792

e-mail: vdwaltb@unisa.ac.za

ENGLISH ACADEMY AWARDS IN 2011 - Call for Entries

OLIVE SCHREINER PRIZE

The prize is awarded for original literary work in English. It is expressly intended as encouragement for a writer who has produced work of great promise, but cannot yet be regarded as an established novelist, short story writer, poet or playwright. It is conferred for excellence in prose, poetry and drama, and devoted to one of these categories each year. In 2011 it will be awarded for DRAMA.

Entries are invited for the prize from publishers and/or authors who have published plays during 2008, 2009 and 2010. Plays of two or more acts (alternatively, two one-act plays) which have been published and/or performed in South Africa by a recognized theatre group or company (amateur or professional) will be accepted. Radio and television plays are also eligible. The length of the stage plays should be such as to provide a substantial evening’s entertainment in the theatre; radio and TV plays should take up to approximately one hour (or two half hours) of viewing or listening time. Typescripts of plays which have been produced must be accompanied by all relevant details (where and when produced, name of producer and theatre company, copies of programmes and reviews, etc.).

SOL PLAATJE PRIZE

The prize is awarded for excellence in translation of a literary text of at least 1 000 words (except in the case of poetry which is, of necessity, exempt from the length criterion) in one of the other official South African languages into English. The English text must represent a reasonably accurate translation of the original, while standing as a well expressed literary text in and of itself.

The translation must have been published in 2009 or 2010. One published copy of the original work and one published copy of the translation must be submitted.

The purpose of the prize is to encourage effective mutual understanding in our multilingual country.

THOMAS PRINGLE AWARDS

The awards are for various achievements, attention being turned to three different categories each year. Below are the three areas for achievement which will be honoured in 2011:

• Reviews of plays, books, films, art exhibitions, radio or television programmes published in newspapers and magazines during 2011 (Ideally, a portfolio of work should be submitted).
• Poems in journals and magazines published in 2009 and 2010
• Articles on English in education and the teaching of English published in journals in 2009 and 2010.

Entries for these prizes are invited from editors of journals, magazines and newspapers as well as from individual authors. Entries published in online newspapers, magazines or journals are also eligible, as long as they were published within the years under review. Details of such publication must be provided.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Works submitted must have been written by a resident of a Southern African country and published in Southern Africa.

More than one entry by the same author may be accepted. There is no entry form. However, all entries must be accompanied by a covering letter listing the entries and providing the full contact details of the entrant.

Three copies of each entry must be submitted, excerpt in the case of the Sol Plaatje Prize (see specifications above). All entries must be sent to the Academy’s Administrative Officer at P O Box 124, Wits, 2050.

Works submitted will be acknowledged but cannot be returned.

Each winner will receive a cash prize and a certificate.

DEADLINES

Thomas Pringle Award for Reviews only – 30 June 2011

All other awards – 31 May 2011

For more information, please contact Naomi Nkealah on 011 717 9339 or at englishacademy@societies.wits.ac.za

PERCY FITZPATRICK PRIZE FOR YOUTH LITERATURE AND

The English Academy of Southern Africa is pleased to announce the winners of the above listed awards which were run in 2010.

PERCY FITZPATRICK PRIZE
Seven books were shortlisted for this award. These were:

The Billion Dollar Soccer Ball by Michael Williams (Maskew Miller Longman, 2009)
Dance of the Freaky Green Gold by John Coetzee (Tafelberg, 2008)
Daniel Fox and the Jester’s Legacy by Andy Petersen (Penguin, 2009)
Fuse by S A Partridge (Human & Rousseau, 2009)
Jesse’s Story by Fiona MacGregor (Maskew Miller Longman, 2008)
Sharkey’s Son by Gillian D`Achada (Tafelberg, 2008)
The Summer of Toffie and Grummer by Edyth Bulbring (Oxford University Press SA, 2008)

The award goes to Andy Petersen for Daniel Fox and the Jester’s Legacy (Penguin, 2009). The judges noted that ‘the novel is interesting, with engaging complex characters, an imaginatively constructed world and surprising plot twists’.

Honourable mention goes to Gillian D`Achada for Sharkey’s Son (Tafelberg, 2008) and to S A Partridge for Fuse (Human & Rousseau, 2009). Fuse was highly commended for its exploration of school violence, bullying and abuse, showing what might drive a bullied child to strike back, and Sharkey’s Son was described as a beautifully written novel, with an almost lyric feel to it at times.

Judges: Crystal Warren (Convener), Marike Beyers and Megan van der Nest


THOMAS PRINGLE AWARD (Short Story)
The following six stories were shortlisted for the award:

‘Buiten Street’ by Stephen Watson (New Contrast, Vol. 36 No 4 2008)
‘Arrested Development’ by Sandisile Tshuma (Words, Fourth Quarter 2008)
‘Help’ by Liesl Jobson (New Contrast, Vol. 36 No 2 2008)
‘Hannah Hunter Watson’ by Stephen Watson (New Contrast, Vol. 36 No 2 2008)
‘Strangers’ by Arja Salafranca (New Contrast, Vol. 37 No 4 2009)
‘Venus Crossing’ by Gail Dendy (New Contrast, Vol. 37 No 6 2009)


The award goes to Stephen Watson for ‘Buiten Street’. The judges were impressed by his discursive style and mastery of language and imagery. They noted that the story ‘captures the poignancy of the struggle we all go through to accept and understand the experiences that form us’.

Honourable mention goes to Sandisile Tshuma for ‘Arrested Development’. The judges described it as a ‘beautifully observed story of a journey – both literal and figurative’. They loved its “hustle, hassle, bustle and bluster” and felt that the images and noise came across beautifully.

Judges: Jo-Anne Richards (Convener), Hugh Hodge and Phakama Mbonambi

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Each award is a cash prize and an illuminated certificate. The Percy FitzPatrick Prize carries a cash value of R7 000 and the Thomas Pringle Award R2 000. The award ceremonies will be organised in due course in collaboration with the publishers.

For more information on English Academy awards, please contact Naomi Nkealah on 011 717 9339 or at englishacademy@societies.wits.ac.za. You can also visit the English Academy web site www.englishacademy.co.za.

Children's books a secure category

Judith Rosen writes in Publisher's Weekly that one of the chief findings of a joint study undertaken by Bowker/PubTrack and the Association of Booksellers for Children is that children’s books are a secure category in the marketplace and bookstores will continue to play a key role as a driver of sales.

While some of the statistics came as no surprise—women buy nearly 70% of kids' books and most purchasers fit solidly in the middle class in terms of income and education—others were more startling, including the fact that books ranked number one over all other media for the youngest kids. Click on the title to read the article.

Invitation to nominate books published in 2008 and 2009 for the Katrine Harries Award

All publishers, illustrators and other interested parties are invited to nominate books published in 2008 and 2009.

Please send your nominations asap to: Thomas van der Walt, Children’s Literature Research Unit, UNISA - vdwaltb@unisa.ac.za

The Katrine Harries Award that originally was the only and most prestigious award in South Africa for children’s book illustrations, and that has been dormant for the past six years, will soon be awarded again. The award that was made for the first time in the early 1960's by the SA Library Association and later the South African Institute for Library and Information Science (SAILIS) has been awarded to South Africa’ s most well-known illustrators: Katrine Harries personally received the award twice before it was named after her. Thereafter Niki Daly, Joan Rankin, Alida Bothma, Cora Coetzee, Jeremy Grimsdell (and others) have received it with Emily Bornhoff finally receiving it in 2008.

Congratulations to the 2010 M-Net/Via Afrika Literary Award Winners from SCBWI SA

The M.E.R. Prize was established in 1983 and is awarded annually by M-Net and Via Afrika in two distinct categories. A prize is awarded to the best illustrated children’s book and another to the best youth novel published during the previous year. The only condition is that the books must be aimed at younger readers and that the authors and illustrators must be South African citizens. The award is named after MER (Mimie E. Rothmann 1875-1975), for her groundbreaking work in the field of children’s literature. No distinction is made between English and Afrikaans books.

2010 M-Net/Via Afrika Literary Award Winners - MER Prizes

• The M.E.R Prize for best youth novel – The Bird of Heaven
• The M.E.R Prize for best illustrated children’s book – In the Never-ever Wood
  

MER Prize Winner for Youth Literature

Peter Dunseith

An explorer of inner and outer spaces, the author Peter Dunseith lives in the magical Umbuluzi valley in the Kingdom of Swaziland. After practising for thirty years as a human rights lawyer and champion of the underdog, and a three year stint as the judge president of the Industrial Court of Swaziland, he has recently embarked on a new career in alternative medicine. His first novel The Bird of Heaven reveals his fascination with the myths and rituals that denote the cultural soul of the Swazi people.

The Bird of Heaven

Young Adult Fiction

Writer: Peter Dunseith

Publisher by Tafelberg Publishers in 2009

The plot follows the training and growth in power of Mandla, son of Ingwe.

Although it is superficially a fantasy adventure with some magic realism thrown in, it also deals with archetypes representing the struggle between innocence and corruption; transition from boyhood to manhood; the relationship between a boy and his distant father (a leopard in the body of a man); self-empowerment through the gifts of our ancestors

(the muti bag); and the transcendent victory of a noble spirit (the lightning bird).

MER Prize Winners for Illustrated Children’s Literature

Linda Rode & Fiona Moodie

Linda Rode was born on 3 July 1937 at Ladismith, Western Cape.
She matriculated at the Hoërskool Langenhoven in Riversdal in 1954 and studied at Stellenbosch University, where she obtained an Honours degree in German and a Teacher's Diploma (1963).
She taught school in Calvinia, in Hermannsburg, at the Pionierskool in Worcester (school for the blind) and at Herzlia in Cape Town and works as a free-lance translator for publishers. Linda is married to Erwin Rode. They live in Bellville and have two children.

Linda was the 1989 winner of the MER Prize for her book Goue fluit, my storie is uit. She also received the Tienie Holloway – medal for Goue Lint, My Storie Begint and for Verse vir Klientjies

Fiona Moodie was born in Cape Town on 6th May, 1952. She grew up on an apple farm in Elgin . She obtained a BA degree from UCT in 1971 and later a Secondary Teacher’s Diploma from the same university.

After university Fiona left South Africa for Europe. She taught English in Madrid and travelled in Greece, living for a while in an uninhabited monastery on the island of Siphnos and drawing.

She had always wanted to write and illustrate children’s books and with her parents’ support she was able to attend the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris (1975). By chance in Paris she met an Austrian book illustrator who advised her to go to the Bologna Children’s Book Fair with a portfolio of wo

rk. At Bologna she met several encouraging editors and many European illustrators. As a result in 1976 she began living outside a small village called Rugolo in Northern Italy, in the farm house of the Czech film animator and illustrator Stephan Zavrel. His home was an open house for artists who came to stay and work for various periods. There Fiona Moodie learned about illustrating and making books and has illustrating children’s books ever since.

In die Nimmer-Immer Bos

In the Never-ever Wood

Retold by Linda Rode

Illustrated by Fiona Moodie

Published by Tafelberg Publishers in 2009

Here are sixty stories, selected and retold by fairy-tale lover and compiler of children’s books Linda Rode.
It is a comprehensive collection that will open up the wide, wide world of fairy tales and other folklore to children.
A short annotation at the end of each story points out the land of origin and puts the stories from Africa, Europe, the East and other parts of the world in context with one another.
Fiona Moodie’s evocative illustrations are drypoint etches printed by hand and painted afterwards – an intricate process that took more than two years to complete.

(English translation by Elsa Silke)