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Past Asialink Literature Touring Program 2005 Literature Touring Program 2005 Reports JAPAN Asialink, in collaboration with Books Illustrated, curated an exhibition of artwork from Australian picture books at The National Children's Castle in Tokyo to coincide with visits to the Aichi World Expo by touring authors Alison Lester and Ron Brooks. The exhibition, words and pictures from the south - a showcase of Australian picture books, introduced visitors to Australian children's books as well as Australian culture and landscape. Ron and Alison also undertook a series of workshops and readings. A catalogue featuring the books of all exhibited illustrators was produced for the tour, and distributed to visitors at the exhibition and workshops, as well as the Japanese publishing industry. SOUTH KOREA The 2005 World Children's Picture Book Festival allowed children to view and read a wide range of picture books from a range of countries and take part in events with visiting illustrators and authors. Asialink toured author-illustrator duo and the brains behind the ever-popular Tashi series, Anna Fienberg and Kim Gamble to conduct workshops and presentations for children, parents and educators at the festival, accompanied by a comprehensive display of children's and young adult books. The tour also included a performance of Tashi Stories, an innovative children's theatre by performance studies students. SINGAPORE
In collaboration with DFAT, Asialink organised an Australian contingent for the Singapore Writers' Festival in August 2005. The authors were Doris Pilkington Garimara, Ouyang Yu, Andrew Bovell, Peter Goldsworthy and Joan London, part of the impressive list of 24 international guest authors joining 24 local authors. As well as festival gigs, the visiting authors participated in events at premier arts venues and the Australian International School. CHINA The People's Literature Publishing House (PLPH), was again involved in the 2005 touring program with the translation of Doris Pilkington's Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence. A press conference for the launch of this Chinese edition acted as advance publicity for the screening of Philip Noyce's adaptation of the novel at the Australian Film Festival in Beijing. In addition Pilkington and fellow guest author Joan London participated in speaking engagements at Chinese universities and arts venues. In collaboration with Austrade Beijing, Asialink organised a display of contemporary Australian fiction at the Beijing International Book Fair, as well as meetings with Chinese publishers to discuss translation rights to Australian books. INDIA As part of DFAT's Australia International Cultural Council initiative in India, Asialink toured three authors to India, with events at the Kolkata Bookfair and Australian Studies centres at major universities in Kolkata and New Delhi. The tour coincided with the publication of Indian editions of the authors' works by Penguin India. The authors also collaborated with the Australia-India Poetry Exchange program and the Globalisation and Postcolonial Writing Conference held in New Delhi. 2004 Literature Touring Program CHINA
and TAIWAN This Asialink tour coincided with the Beijing International Bookfair and the 'Future of the Book Conference'. People's Literature Publishing House published Sonya Harnett's Of A Boy and The Philosopher's Dog by Raimond Gaita. The tour took in Beijing, Shanghai and Taipei, with almost 20 events and activities over a 10 day period at universities, bookstores, libraries, schools, restaurants, bars and the Book Fair. The Philosopher's Dog was also published and launched in Taipei. INDIA The launch of the Indian editions of the authors' books in New Delhi at the Australian High Commission kickstarted Asialink's 2004 tour to India. The authors then travelled to Kolkata and Mumbai to participate in literary events and give talks at various universities, attending 14 events over a 10 day period. There was extensive media coverage of the tour and the authors had many opportunities to meet their readers and woo new ones. SOUTH KOREA Award-winning children's authors/illustrators, Matt Ottley and Alison Lester, spent a week in Seoul at the Educare Fair giving workshops and participating in numerous events. That week also saw the sale of Korean language rights to Alison Lester's Are We There Yet? JAPAN Children's author/illustrator, Alison Lester, toured Tokyo for 5 days taking part in workshops and events at a number of schools. There were a number of meetings and interviews with representatives from the local media and the publishing industry, including a VIP function at the Australian Embassy.
2003 Literature Touring Program INDIA 2003 saw the first Asialink tour to India. The visit of Peter Carey and Kim Scott to Kolkata and New Delhi attracted a great deal of media attention and the local edition of Scott's novel Benang reached #9 on the Indian bestseller list. The authors participated in a number of forums at the Kolkata Book Fair followed by an intense program of public literary events, university lectures and forums and media interviews in New Delhi. SOUTH KOREA Ann James travelled to Seoul with an exhibition of original children's book illustrations that she had curated called My Place - growing up in Australia and an exhibition of drawings by Korean and Japanese children entitled My Place curated by Margaret Stephens at Asialink. James conducted workshops based on these exhibitions and also met with Korean publishers and the media.
2002 Literature Touring Program CHINA
and TAIWAN The first Asialink tour to China involved Alex Miller and Tim Flannery visiting Shanghai, Hefei and Beijing, with Flannery also spending 5 days in Taiwan. The visit covered a range of events including public forums and readings, lectures at universities, participation in an Australian Studies conference, an exhibition of Australian books, meetings with publishers and booksellers, interviews with the media and museum visits. 2001 Literature Touring Program Key Events:
Australian Children's Book Fair The second Asialink author tour to South Korea kicked off in May when children's authors/ illustrators Ann James and Elizabeth Honey visited Seoul to take part in the third Australian Children's Book Fair. They gave talks at school, universities and colleges, took drawing workshops for children and participated in the official opening of the book fair at Kyobo bookstore. Both Honey and James have books published in Korean and the tour was a wonderful opportunity to meet their Korean readers.
2000 Literature Touring Program Key Events:
Australian Children's Book Fair Following the publication of So Much To Tell You in Korean, John Marsden participated in the Australian Children's Book Fair at Kyobo Bookstore in Seoul in May. 1998 Literature Touring Program Key Events: Contemporary Australian Book and Film Festival In September 1998, Asialink organised a successful book and film festival in Seoul, initiated and funded by the Australia Korea Foundation, with support from the Australia Council. The festival, held at the Artsonje Center, featured four films adapted from Australian novels, including the premiere screening of Oscar and Lucinda. In addition there was a selection of short films, a book exhibition at Kyobo bookstore and a range of guest speakers. |
