Huia Publishers scoops big prize at leading international children’s book fair

Eboni Waitere with Melena Cole Mandis and Arlie Alizzi from Magabala Books Australia. Photo / Facebook / Huia Publishers

By Pokere Paewai of RNZ

Huia Publishers has won the Bologna Prize for the Best Children’s Publishers of the Year, Oceania, at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in Italy.

Huia director Pania Tahau-Hodges said the team was ecstatic when they heard the news.

“For us to be recognised on such an international stage is a big deal, it’s thrown a spotlight on Huia, on our authors, on our books but also on te ao Māori and it’s thrown a spotlight on the importance of indigenous storytelling so we’re absolutely wrapped.”

In this year’s shortlist for the Oceania area, Huia was up against three Australian publishers as well as Scholastic New Zealand.

With a history of more than 60 years, the Bologna Book Fair was the biggest children’s book fair in the world, Tahau-Hodges said, with thousands of publishers, literary agents and other practitioners attending.

Tahau-Hodges’ fellow director Eboni Waitere was in Bologna attending the book fair and said winning the award had an immediate effect, with publishers already asking to set up meetings.

“The event itself, it’s a bit like speed dating, so you set up these meetings with other publishing houses from all over the world and the aim is sell rights to our books into these different export markets in the hope that they will translate them into their own languages and our Māori stories will be taken to the world,” Tahau-Hodges said.

There has been an increase in Māori language publishing but there had not been a lot of uptake from commercial publishers for children’s novels and longer texts in te reo, she said.

“We’ve got a whole generation of children who have gone through kohanga reo, kura kaupapa Māori, kura ā iwi, who are used to and want to read Māori language books and our aim is to grow our books so that they have novels, that they have graphic novels, that there are picture books.”

Māori language books also provided a huge resource for adults learning te reo who wanted access to Māori content, she said.

Huia want to continue producing captivating stories that tamariki can see themselves in, she said.

“In the landscape of children’s literature indigenous voices serve as crucial guides shaping narratives that reflect our cultural heritage, our identity and the lived experience of indigenous peoples.”

✨We woke up to hear that last night we won the 2024 Bologna Prize for the Best Children's Publishers of the Year,...

Posted by Huia Publishers on Monday, April 8, 2024

Tahau-Hodges said Huia would strive to ensure that indigenous voices continue to be heard in the realm of children’s literature.

“It’s important for people to understand that diversity and representation in children’s book publishing are still significant issues globally and there’s lots of research and statistics that show the disparities in the representation of different indigenous communities.

“Our hope is that Huia can offer an example of what a solution can look like and that’s indigenous people directing and being in control of their narratives through every step of the publishing process.”

- RNZ