collection – ACHUKA Children's Books UK

Everything Comes Next: Collected and New Poems by Naomi Shihab Nye ill. Rafael Lopez

January 8, 2021 By achuka Leave a Comment

ACHUKA Book of the Day 8 Jan 2020

“Emotionally resonant and stirring, this is a must-have title.”
KIRKUS
“Lucky the reader who would have this collection lying around for visiting and revisiting.”
HORN BOOK

Everything Comes Next is a treasure chest of Naomi Shihab Nye’s poems from the past 40 years, including several not previously published. From favourites such as “Famous” and “A Valentine for Ernest Mann,” to the widely shared “Kindness” and “Gate A-4,” this collection celebrates her term as Young People’s Poet Laureate in the US. The book is an introduction to her work for new readers as well as a comprehensive edition for classroom and family sharing. Writing prompts and tips by the award-winning poet make this an outstanding choice for aspiring poets of all ages.

Follow Naomi Shihab Nye on Twitter: https://www.instagram.com/naomishihabnye/
Follow the book’s illustrator, Rafael Lopez, on Twitter:

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Rising Stars Poetry Launch Event

November 23, 2017 By achuka Leave a Comment

Back rowing, standing: Jay Hulme (Rising Stars poet), Riya Chowdhury (Rising Stars illustrator), Joelle Taylor (consultant and Artistic Director of SLAMbassadors UK), Janetta Otter-Barry (Publisher, Otter-Barry Books), Franziska Liebig (Company Manager, Pop Up Projects), Judith Escreet (Art Director, Otter-Barry Books ), Amina Jama (Rising Stars poet) and Victoria Adukwei Bulley (Rising Stars poet) Front row, seated: Joe Manners (Rising Stars illustrator), Abigail Cook (Rising Stars poet), Dylan Calder (Director, Pop Up Projects) and Ruth Awolola (Rising Stars poet) / Photograph by Joel Ford

Five début poets from diverse backgrounds, all aged 26 and under, performed work from the new collection Rising Stars, New Voices in Poetry, to a crowded room of booksellers, librarians, poets, festival programmers, critics and friends at Gerry’s Kitchen, Theatre Royal Stratford East, London on 21st November.

The poetry anthology for 10-14 year olds is an exciting collaboration between Otter-Barry Books and Pop Up Projects, supported by Arts Council England’ Grant for the Arts programme. Illustrations in the book are by final year students from Birmingham City University’s illustration course.

Joelle Taylor, founder and Artistic Director of SLAMbassadors UK, mentored all the poets and was consultant for the book. She said: “Rising Stars is a unique addition to the young poetry canon, with an anthology that addresses the vast diversity of people within the UK. Written by some of the brightest emerging poets in the country, the book tackles everyday issues from Afro hair to impending divorce with a delicacy and empathy rarely found. Finally, here is poetry that readers can see their faces in.”

Janetta Otter-Barry, Publisher, Otter-Barry Books said: “ We are immensely proud to publish this ground-breaking poetry collection for young readers.”

Dylan Calder, Director, Pop Up Projects added: “All children need to see themselves in the pages of the books they read. Whatever it is you discover in this eloquent collection, have no doubt that between these pages you’ll encounter some of the brightest lights in poetry today – alongside outstanding first-time illustrators. Truly, these are the stars to watch out for.”

Rising Stars: New Young Voices in Poetry is published by Otter-Barry Books, £6.99, ISBN 9781910959374

Brian Alderson donates rare children’s book collection to Seven Stories & Newcastle University

June 1, 2017 By achuka Leave a Comment

Brian Alderson – author, editor, critic, and scholar who has curated many exhibitions and is a former children’s books editor of The Times (1967 – 1996) – is to donate his extensive collection of children’s books to Newcastle University and Seven Stories: The National Centre for Children’s Books.

Believed to be the largest privately-owned children’s literature collection in the UK, it is made up of more than 20,000 books, dating from the 17^th century to the present day. Works come from the United States, France, Germany and Britain, and the collection includes original illustrations and papers related to Brian’s diverse career.

He has collected books for more than 60 years, beginning as an undergraduate with cheap editions of work by the poets Ezra Pound and T.S.Eliot. His interest in children’s books came later but soon became a passion.

The donation of the Collection jointly to the two organisations is a key outcome of Seven Stories’ and Newcastle University’s Vital North Partnership, funded by Arts Council England. The two organisations are marking Brian’s generous donation with a free exhibition of some of the highlights from the Collection at Newcastle University’s Philip Robinson Library, opening in June 2017 and running throughout the summer.

Brian Alderson will also be giving a free talk at the library about his collection, Every book has its own history: Reflections of a collector of children’s books, at 5.30pm on Wednesday 14^th June.

To find out more about Brian Alderson’s talk on 14^th June, visit: www.sevenstories.org.uk/whats-on. For more information on Brian Alderson’s work and collection, visit: http://research.ncl.ac.uk/alderson/

Frank O’Connor short story award shortlist

June 1, 2013 By achuka Leave a Comment

Frank O’Connor Award Shortlist

Joyce Carol Oates – Black Dahlia & White Rose

Peter Stamm – We’re Flying

Claire Vaye Watkins – Battleborn

Tamas Dobozy – Siege 13

Deborah Levy – Black Vodka

David Constantine – Tea At The Midland

Worth €25,000, the Frank O’Connor is the world’s richest award for a single short-story collection, and has been won by some of the biggest names in international literature, from Haruki Murakami to Nathan Englander and Edna O’Brien. This year judges chose a shortlist of six titles from 78 longlisted books, with writers including George Saunders, Junot Díaz, Molly Ringwald, Emma Donoghue and former winner Ron Rash all missing out.

Instead, the panel went for Oates’s Black Dahlia & White Rose, which includes a story about a friendship between Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Short, and Swiss writer Stamm, a finalist for this year’s Man Booker International prize, for We’re Flying.

Oates’s fellow American Claire Vaye Watkins was selected for Battleborn, set in her home state of Nevada, and Canadian Tamas Dobozy for Siege 13, a series of linked stories alternating between second world war Hungary and a community of Hungarian émigrés in the contemporary west.

Britain’s contenders are Levy, shortlisted for the Booker last year and this time picked for her collection Black Vodka, which includes a story in which a hunchbacked man has a date with his perfect girl, and Constantine, chosen for Tea at the Midland, a collection which the Guardian called “masterful … pregnant with fluctuating interpretations and concealed motives”.

via Frank O’Connor short story award pits UK authors against international stars | Books | guardian.co.uk.

The winner will be announced in the first week of July, with the award to be presented in September at the culmination of the Cork International short story festival.

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Those who appreciate short stories would so well to check out this collection of stories by Caroline England

Watching Horsepats Feed The Roses – Caroline England [ACHUKAbooks]