For the 10th year, The Bookworm Literary Festival will be taking place from March 11-27. The exact dates, times, and prices are yet to be released but the list of authors is ready. The only thing that’s for sure is that the workshops are RMB 260 but which ones are going to be offered are Here are the authors short biographies for children’s books only courtesy of the Bookworm:
Graeme Base is one of the world’s leading creators of picture books. His alphabet book Animalia received international acclaim when it was first published in 1986, and has sold around three million copies worldwide, in addition to inspiring an animated TV series. Other books include The Eleventh Hour, My Grandma Lived in Gooligulch, The Sign of the Seahorse, The Waterhole, Jungle Drums, and Uno’s Garden. In 2007, Uno’s Garden featured in six major awards and was winner of three: Speech Pathology Book of the Year, younger readers; The Green Earth Book, USA; The Wilderness Society Environment Award. Graeme’s latest book is Eye to Eye.
Agnès Desarthe is the author of more than 30 children’s books, nine novels, an essay on Virginia Woolf (with Geneviève Brisac), and a story on the dual portrait of her grandfather, education specialist Janusz Korczak. She is also an award-winning translator who has translated into French the works of Loïs Lowry, Anne Fine, Cynthia Ozick, Jay McInerney, and Woolf. She won the Livre Inter Prize in 1996 for her novel Un secret sans importance, the Marcel Pagnol and Virgin/femina version for Le remplaçant, and the Renaudot Prize for High-schoolers for The Foundling. Her latest book, Ce Coeur changeant, has received this year’s Le Monde Literary Prize.
Larry Feign has been disappointing his mother since the age of 7, when he started writing stories and cartoons for his primary school magazine. Mom is not satisfied that his cartoons have appeared in such insignificant journals as Time, Newsweek, The Economist, Fortune, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Der Spiegel, and Pravda, to name a few, or that he’s produced animated cartoons for obscure little companies like Cartoon Network and Disney. She’s not happy that he’s published only 15 books or received a number of awards. All of this only postpones her goal of being able to utter the magic words: “My son the doctor.”
Jane Godwin is the Publisher for Young Readers at Penguin Books Australia. She is also a highly acclaimed author of many books for children, whose works include the bestselling picture books Little Cat and the Big Red Bus, All Through the Year, Today We Have No Plans, Starting School, and, most recently, What Do You Wish For? (published with Anna Walker). Her many commendations include the Queensland Premier’s Award (Children’s Books), the Aurealis Award, and the Animal Welfare Award. Godwin’s most recent novel is Falling From Grace, a mystery book for young adults.
Mark Greenwood is an author with a passion for history. His award-winning books, such as The Donkey of Gallipoli and Jandamarra, examine myths and legends, and have been published and honored internationally. He has twice received the West Australian Premier’s Award and the West Australian Young Readers’ Book Award. Greenwood often teams with his wife, illustrator Frané Lessac, to produce books that promote understanding of multicultural issues, such as Drummer Boy of John John, Magic Boomerang, Outback Adventure, and Our Big Island. Greenwood’s other books include The Mayflower and Midnight and the recent Boomerang and Bat.
David Hill is a multiple-award-winning author of fiction and nonfiction books for children and adults, including the Esther Glen Medal (NZ) for Fat-Four-Eyed and Useless and Right Where it Hurts. He won a Notable Children’s Book Award in the US for See Ya, Simon, which also was awarded the NES Times Educational Award in the UK and the Silver Feather Award in Germany. Coming Back won two awards in France, and most recently, My Brother’s War was honored several times. Hill has been writing full time since 1983, and his books have been translated into French, German, Danish, Dutch, Chinese, Slovenian, Japanese, and Korean.
Josh Lacey is the author of the Grk and Dragonsitter series of children’s books; A Dog Called Grk was shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award, while The Dragonsitter was shortlisted for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize. He has written many other books for children, including The Island of Thieves, The Sultan’s Tigers, and Bearkeeper. He regularly visits schools, where he enjoys talking about the writing experience, the origin of ideas, and magic of inspiration. Lacey has also written one book for adults, God is Brazilian, a biography of the man who introduced football to Brazil. He lives in London with his wife and daughters.
Ian Whybrow has written more than 100 children’s books since his first, The Sniff Stories, was published in 1989. They have been translated into nearly 30 languages and have won awards in multiple countries. Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs was adapted into a 104-episode animated series, and Little Wolf’s Book of Badness was adapted into an award-winning movie and a play. For all his accomplishments as a children’s writer, Whybrow actually began his writing career as a poet — he is the recipient of the Leeds Poetry Prize. Engaging and easygoing, Whybrow was born in Gillingham, Kent, England, and grew up in Margate in East Kent and Hong Kong.
Photo: penguin.com.au
