The 6th annual BuchMarkt-Award – the only marketing prize in Germany's book publishing industry – was awarded to TOKYOPOP at this year's Leipzig Book Fair, marking the first time ever a manga publisher has been awarded this prestigious honor.A statement from the BuchMarkt Award judging committee reads, "Because of TOKYOPOP's eye-catching booth design at the 2004 Frankfurt Bookfair, their strategic advertising efforts with both retailers and customers, a user-friendly website, and the company's clever advertising slogan 'TOKYOPOP is Manga,' the company succeeded in communicating its message through all consumer channels."
Awards: March 2005 Archives
Feature interview with this year's Newbery winner, Cynthia Kadohata, who was awarded the Medal for her novel Kira-Kira:
When Cynthia Kadohata was startled awake by a ringing phone on Jan. 17, the Long Beach resident didn't know what to expect. Phone calls at 4:25 a.m. usually portend bad news, so her initial reaction was one of worry. And the early morning call was indeed life-changing... ...
Recommended
Kiriyama Prize - 2005 Finalists
The $30, 000 Kiriyama prize, established in 1996, is awarded to exceptional English fiction and non-fiction from the Pacific Rim and South Asia, including fiction translated into English from other languages in the region.
Amongst the shortlisted titles is Tara Publishing's Seasons of the Palm, translated from the Tamil. The book focuses on the arduous lives of a group of lovingly drawn child characters with colorful names like "Shortie," "Tallfellow," "Matchbox," and "Stumpleg."
Seasons of the Palm is the first Tamil novel to have earned international recognition. Novelist Perumal Murugan is a college teacher by profession. He teaches Tamil language and literature at a state college in western Tamil Nadu, India. Murugan grew up in a harsh landscape, amidst hardworking peasants. His fiction recreates the everyday brutality of caste society in relentless detail while hinting at the possibilities of joy and comradeship that are yet possible.
CBC Arts: Philip Pullman shares kids' lit prize
British children's author Philip Pullman and Japanese illustrator Ryoji Arai [have been] named winners of the third annual Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for Literature. The children's literature prize, named after the Swedish creator of the Pippi Longstocking book series, was established by the Swedish government and carries a value of $888,000. The two winners will split the money.
