"Smuggling" wonderful books for young readers around the world.
This week, Vilnius UNESCO City of Literature is hosting an international congress aimed at presenting the vast and exciting field of Vilnius literature to an international community of professionals.
I was happy to meet them during their visit to our literary capital and I hope for new interesting collaborations in the near future.
I had a fantastic Bologna Children's Book Fair smuggling Lithuanian books for young readers. 💚
Four days with almost 60 meetings and a lot of new foreign editions to come. I was also extremely happy for the DOG WHO GOES FOR A WALK AT NIGHT being featured at the Picturebook Makers / dPICTUS showcase.
And then of course there were the delicious dinners, the friendly faces in the streets and the late-night conversations. Already looking forward to next year's fair!
A special thanks to Lietuvos leidėjų asociacija and Lithuanian Culture Institute.
While most of international book people were en route to Italy, yesterday I attended the IBBY Lithuania Awards ceremony in the Lithuanian city of Šiauliai, where I received the Vincas Auryla Award. Very happy that my book smuggling was recognized!
As the Bologna Children's Book Fair kicks off tomorrow, I can't wait to meet new and familiar faces and help more Lithuanian books to reach children around the world. A presto!
(Photo by Agga Fotostudija)
THE PEBBLE, a picture book by Marius Marcinkevičius and Inga Dagile, originally published by Tikra knyga, wins a Greek IBBY- KYKLOS PAIDIKOY VIVLIOY award for the best translated book of the year in the category of titles for up to 12-year-olds!
DOG WHO GOES FOR A WALK AT NIGHT is a Picturebook Makers / dPICTUS Outstanding Picture Book 2024!
It will be showcased in the upcoming Bologna Children's Book Fair with other 99 exceptional titles. May it mark the start of a remarkable journey.
Hooray for the authors Jurga Vilė and Valentina Černiauskaitė and the original publisher 700 eilučių!
Are Lithuanian children's authors flocking to Latvia for good?
Fortunately no – they simply visited Riga last weekend for the Children's Jury Readers' Awards, where they received an array of medals:
🥇 BETTY AND THE FLYING BIRTHDAY PRESENT by Vitalija Maksvytė, Marius Marcinkevičius and Lina Itagaki (in Lithuanian by Alma littera, in Latvian by JĀNIS ROZE) was the best in the category of 9+.
🥈 THE BLACK WATER by Ignė Zarambaitė (in Lithuanian by Nieko Rimto, in Latvian by JĀNIS ROZE) was the runner-up in the category of 15+.
🥉 BROTHER WHO WAS NOT NECESSARY by Gaja Guna Eklė (in Lithuanian by Švieskime vaikus, in Latvian by Zvaigzne ABC) was the third in the category of 9+.
Congratulations to each and everyone who contributed and may the book smuggling continue!
Wanna know which children's book received the most local recognition during the recently held Vilnius Book Fair?
It's AGAINST THE STREAM, a short graphic novel by Vytenė Saunoriūtė, Marius Marcinkevičius and Lina Itagaki about the Albanian ichthyologist and the friend of fish Sabiha Kasimati.
Let this list speak for itself:
🏅 Selected for the Best Children’s Book Of The Year Award 2023, the most significant award in Lithuania;
🏅 Nominated in the IBBY Lithuania Awards for the illustrations and the best illustrated/picture book overall;
🏅 Received Lithuanian Ministry of Culture Prize in the Book Art Competition;
🏅 Nominated for the "Book as an Event" by the Lithuanian Publishers' Association.
This week's delight was the Cairo International Book Fair, the largest and oldest book fair in the Arab world.
Marking its 55th edition, this bustling book event runs for 14 days straight and welcomes around 3.5 million visitors, which is more than the total population of Lithuania. 🤯
Last week I had a rare opportunity to smuggle my books to the Chennai International Book Fair 2024.
Just like India itself, this event was intriguing, spicy and otherworldly. I was happy to get to know the Tamil book market from up close and to introduce Lithuanian books to local publishers, as well as to share insights on our publishing scene during the panel called "Bringing the World to Tamil" along with colleagues from Germany, Tanzania and Vietnam.
What a start to the year!
These days I am discovering unexplored territories attending the Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara in Mexico for the first time, where the European Union is the Guest of Honour this year.
Full of vibrant atmosphere, rich culture and prominent publishers, this book fair is about to be a bridge for bringing new Lithuanian books for young readers into the Spanish speaking world in the future.
Nominations have been announced for the , the UK’s longest-running and best-loved children’s book awards.
Aaand the greatest part is that Inga Dagile is nominated this year for her illustrations for THE PEBBLE, a picture book written by Marius Marcinkevičius, published in the English language by Thames & Hudson, originally published by Tikra knyga!
Keeping my smuggling fingers crossed for this powerful book to go further!
Starting today for the next three days you can spot me smuggling books for young readers in the 75th Frankfurt Book Fair.
If you pass by the Hall 4.1 Stand E63 (Lithuanian national stand 🇱🇹), say hi!
For the 6th year in a row, I have a White Raven title up my sleeve!
This year it's STORY ABOUT A CAT AND A TULIP, a heart-warming picture book written by Evelina Daciūtė, illustrated by Aušra Kiudulaitė and originally published by Alma littera.
It's a tale about connectedness and parting, the loss of a beloved being, transience, the suffering of those left behind, but also the hope and confidence of meeting again.
A well-deserved recognition!
This week I stopped by at the Bokmässan Göteborg to catch up with the Nordic publishers.
I also had a chance to share my thoughts about the backstage of the Lithuanian children’s books in dialogue with publisher Arina Stoenescu.
We talked about what makes children’s books interesting and what is the element of peculiar that a book smuggler is looking for.
At the end of August I visited a charming lake town of Ohrid in North Macedonia to share my knowledge about smuggling books from a small market to the world as part of the YES Publishers' Conference.
It was a great group of publishing professionals who exchanged experience, insights and stories. And what a wonderful start to the new season!
Books travel and bring their authors together!
This week our author Ignė Zarambaitė visited Riga to receive a prestigious award for the Latvian edition of her book THE BLACK WATER! Jānis Baltvilks award is given to the writer of any European country and the translator of their work into Latvian.
Congratulations to Ignė Zarambaitė, Latvian publisher JĀNIS ROZE and translator Dāce Meiere.
More good news coming from Latvia!
Three of the books I smuggle are now part of a new book collection for the reading promotion program "Children, Youth, and Parents' Jury", organized by the National Library of Latvia. Can't wait for next spring to see if these books win the hearts of Latvian readers.
Sunny wishes for the authors and publishers!
Good news alert: THE PEBBLE, published in English by Thames & Hudson, has caught the attention of Publishers Weekly and received an insightful and gratifying review!
Even though yesterday was the birthday of Hans Christian Andersen, I felt as if it was mine too.
A bunch of books that I smuggle have been nominated for the IBBY Lithuania Awards 2022 and the cherry on top was the acknowledgement for the STORY ABOUT A CAT AND A TULIP as The Best Picture Book of the Year. Congratulations to the creators Evelina Daciūtė and Aušra Kiudulaitė, as well as the publishing house Alma littera. It seems that winning this award was a piece of cake!
Belated wishes to everyone who celebrates the International Children's Book Day!
At the moment I am excited about two things. The first is the sun that returned to the sky of Vilnius. And the other is fantastic news from the National Library of Latvia.
One of the books I smuggle, LUKE STRAW DUNKS THE BALL (orig. Lukas Šiaudelis deda iš viršaus) written by Rašytojas Tomas Dirgėla and originally published by Leidykla „Tyto alba“, has received the Children's Jury Readers' Award in Latvia and is in the Top 3 of all books for children aged 9 to 12 from last year! The best part? This award is given by children!
Hooray for the author and the Latvian publisher Izdevniecība "Latvijas Mediji". And now I'm getting back to smuggling more books. See you soon!
What's the last location I was spotted smuggling books at? The Bologna Children's Book Fair, of course!
This year the legendary book fair celebrated its 60th anniversary with a bang and brought lots of memorable moments, as well as extensive interest in the titles I represent.
Two of the picture books, HICCUP LINES (created by daukante_draws) and PEOPLE AND PLANTS (created by Patricija Bliuj-Stodulska, published by Vaikų žemė), have been included among the Picturebook Makers / dPICTUS 100 Outstanding Picture Books. Hooray!
After a fair like this the travelling of books will definitely accelerate. 🚀
Hey you! Yes, you. 👀 No need to be afraid of, I am just a modern-day book smuggler. What do I do? Help books travel around the world in different languages.
Wanna know more? I will tell you all about it, just follow me. My updates will be informative, yet brief and occasional, as there is a lot of book smuggling to be done.
You'll hear from me again when it's time. 🙋🏻♂️
Vilnius
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