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October 2009
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The Word Witch – the Magical Verse of Margaret Mahy
The Word Witch – the Magical Verse of Margaret Mahy brings together for the first time all the wonderful verse written by Margaret Mahy over a period of nearly five decades. Many are reprinted from the School Journal, many from anthologies and published picture books; some even from speeches given nearly 40 years ago, long forgotten but found during research for Margaret Mahy: A writer’s Life, published by Tessa Duder in 2005.
‘How wonderful to be able include these gems and bring her poetic genius fully into the light,’ says editor Tessa. ‘We were especially pleased to get permission to include her great long poems already published in picture book format, pieces like “17 Kings and 42 Elephants”, “Down the Back of the Chair”, “Dashing Dog” and that marvellous patter song and a favourite Margaret performance piece “Bubble Trouble.”
‘The book is a great celebration of her genius with words, and especially with the timeless magic of rhymed verse, a poetic genre which no one, anywhere, does better than Margaret, whether it’s verse that is comic, edgy, quirky, lyrical or poignant, or just plain nonsense! For the first time, readers can appreciate her truly astonishing range.
‘The idea for the collection came from one of Margaret’s oldest friends and I was delighted that HarperCollins decided to produce it as a lavishly illustrated gift book, complete with silver lettering on the jacket.
‘The chosen illustrator was David Elliot, a well-known Dunedin illustrator whose whimsical originality we thought was perfect for this challenge. With a lightness of touch that perfectly matches Margaret’s, he has amply fulfilled our vision for this book - it will be around for a long time to come!’
An exhibition of David’s working drawings for The Word Witch is being curated by the Ashburton Art Gallery in March 2010 and touring plans are being discussed. The exhibition will give a fascinating insight into the imaginative process behind the creation of successful illustration.
The Word Witch sells for $44.95. |
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October 2009
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Jellybean is returning!
Tessa is over the moon that HarperCollins is bringing her second novel, published by Oxford University Press back in 1985 and Puffin UK in 1987, back into print.
This gentle contemporary story was short-listed for the New Zealand Children’s Book of the Year in 1986, and the American edition by Houghton Mifflin was chosen as an American Library Association Honour Book in 1987.
It was also one of the ten shortlisted for New Zealand’s Wattie Goodman Fielder awards, in 1987 – so far one of only two children’s novels shortlisted in the adult awards. (The other is Kate de Goldi’s The Ten PM Question for the Montana Fiction Award in 2009).
‘We decided to update the book for a contemporary audience,’ says Tessa. ‘This mean changing school classes from J Ones to Year Ones, and updating the technology from audio-cassettes to DVDs! And I had to have Geraldine making her way to the Aotea Centre in Auckland, rather than the old His Majesty’s Theatre, which was so tragically and unnecessarily pulled down in the 1990s. Fortunately I’ve been backstage at Aotea, so was able to make these changes relatively easily.
‘But the changes are minor. The story remains the same: Geraldine finds out her true place in her musician mother’s affections and the identity of her unknown father. She also makes a friend and realizes the depth of her ambition to have a life as a professional musician. Much of the story reflects my love of ballet and classical music, and respect for the committed artists who bring us these pleasures.
‘Some years ago a friend told me that her daughter had been influenced by the book in deciding to study cello towards a career in music. Naturally, I was thrilled, and every time now that I go to a concert by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, it gives me huge pleasure to see this young woman, who is also a wife and mother of two little girls, sitting there among the cellos.’
Jellybean has twice been adapted as a puppet show for children, the second one by the much-admired Capital E children’s theatre company in Wellington. There are exciting plans for a third but somewhat different stage adaptation, probably for 2011. |
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August 2008
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New Writing in 2008
Is She Still Alive? – scintillating tales for women of a certain age represents a new venture, away from children’s writing into the world of adult fiction. It is a collection of 13 short stories, two close to ‘novella’ length.
‘I know there’s a current fashion for short, pithy stories, but as a teenager I avidly read all of the great short stories of W. Somerset Maugham and Katherine Mansfield. Perhaps because of this, I nearly always find very short, sparse works somehow unsatisfying. I seem to lean towards the longer type of story, giving me time to develop a ‘‘voice’’ for the characters.
‘I began these stories in France in 2003, while I was the Katherine Mansfield Fellow in Menton, and soon realized that they were nearly all about older women. So a ‘‘themed’’ collection seemed like a good idea – I don’t know of any others with this particular theme and hopefully, it will appeal to the women who attend book festivals, buy books and are wonderful readers.
‘The stories are set mostly in New Zealand, but there are some based in France, Italy and Britain, all countries I’ve lived in for short periods. And some are first–person narrative, and others straight storytelling.’ |
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August 2008
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Forthcoming in 2009
The Word Witch – selected poems of Margaret Mahy, edited by Tessa Duder, with illustrations by the Dunedin artist David Elliott, will be published in large format hardback by HarperCollins New Zealand in June 2009.
‘This book was suggested to me by an old friend of Margaret’s and is such an obvious and necessary addition to Margaret’s huge body of work that it’s surprising no-one had thought of it before!
‘From my familiarity with Margaret’s work researching the 2005 literary portrait Margaret Mahy – a writer’s life, I was able to make a selection from her 50 years of publishing: from School Journals, her own books of verse, picture books, poems in overseas anthologies, and some unpublished poems. Most are verse written for children, but there are some ‘&'squo;adult’’ poems too.
‘I was thrilled when Margaret agreed, and equally, that our first choice David Elliot was able to fit working on this book into his busy schedule. It will be a handsome hardback book, celebrating Margaret’s wit, technical mastery and genius with language - a perfect gift book for grannies, for enjoyment in schools and for the general reader.’
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February 2008
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Recent Writing
2007 saw three new Tessa Duder short stories appear in anthologies:
A Perfect Picnic, about a caring and brave girl confronting an incident of child abuse on a beach, appeared in Out of the Deep – stories from New Zealand and the Pacific. This handsome, large-format anthology, edited by Tessa and Lorraine Orman and illustrated by Bruce Potter, was published by Reed Publishing in association with the Storylines Children’s Literature Trust. It was launched on International Children’s Book Day, April 2, 2007, hosted by Storylines/IBBY NZ.
The Whistle Blower, about a school rugby injury and how it was dealt with, appeared in Dare and Double Dare – 30 New Zealand Sporty Stories, edited by Barbara Else, illustrated by David Elliot, published by Random House New Zealand.
Taking Flight, about a young Kiwi girl’s experiences travelling as an Unaccompanied Minor on a flight from Britain to New Zealand, appeared in You’re the Best! – stories about friendship, edited by Belinda Hollyer, published by Kingfisher UK and USA.
Beach Theatre, an adult short story, about how a group of people at a popular beach deal with three youths and their loud radio, appeared in the ‘Detours’ section of the Herald on Sunday on January 20, 2008.
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October/November 2007 |
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To the Antarctic!
Tessa was one of three lucky Artists who travelled to Scott Base under the Artists to Antarctica scheme sponsored annually by Antarctica New Zealand and Creative New Zealand. Her application for the 2007 fellowship included proposals for a novel for young adults with an Antarctica theme, and a non-fiction book.
She travelled south on October 23 with multi-media artist Ronnie Van Hout and oil painter John Walsh (the Invited Artist) for two weeks on the Ice.
Bad weather delayed the return journey on a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster aircraft for five days, so that their two weeks’ stay at Scott Base turned into nearly three.
As always, weather dictated what field trips were possible, along with the resources of vehicles and guides available to the Scott Base field organizers.
For her account of the trip’s highlights, please go to the Resource page »
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