For the 17th time the Frankfurt Book Fair Fellowship Programme is taking place. With 98 submitted applications this year’s focus on “Kids” has generated a new record. Among the 16 Fellows are five first-time countries: Belgium, Lebanon, the Philippines, Serbia and Thailand. Joanna El Mir, picture book and fiction publisher with Samir Éditeur in Lebanon and Andrea Pasion, literary agent with Books@Jacaranda, LLP in the Philippines, gave us a little interview.
Joanna El Mir
Picture Book and Fiction Publisher
Samir Éditeur
© Sabine Sebaaly
We had a new application record this year.
Why do you think the children’s publishing segment is so successful?
Joanna El Mir: I think that in general parents are more aware of the importance of books in their children’s lives especially in the early years which pushes publishers, writers and illustrators to be more productive, that’s how the cycle kind of feeds itself. And although it’s a known fact that lots of children give up on books when they reach teenage years, international publishing phenomenons like Harry Potter, Twilight, The Hunger Games, The Fault in our Stars (to name a few) have proved that books still offer incredible storytelling experiences that can engage teenagers.
Andrea Pasion
Literary Agent
Books@Jacaranda, LLP
© privat
Andrea Pasion: The children’s market is now broadly defined. Kids today are more mature, aware of realities around them, and are predisposed to reading serious themes. Also, the youth market is always a great segment to target. They have more time to read, have disposable income, and, best of all, their imaginations are unencumbered by the drudgery of everyday existence. That’s a great space for books.
What has been your favorite children’s book project and what was the challenge?
Joanna El Mir: Bringing into Arabic (and for the first time) some of the most popular Roald Dahl books has been an interesting challenge whether it came to the translation itself or to introducing Roald Dahl to young Arab readers.
Andrea Pasion: When I used to head the National Book Development Board of the Philippines, we did a children’s book festival with lots of lectures, writer meet-ups, comic con, launches, and book selling. It was a different sort of way for a writer to meet the reader. It was difficult because of the budget and since it was a first for the country. We really didn’t know how well it would be received, but it was.
What is typical of your local book market? Which children’s book author would you recommend?
Joanna El Mir: The first thing that comes to mind when you talk about the Lebanese market is its size, it’s a very small market! The population is around 4 million. So when Lebanese publishers think of their market it’s almost always the Arab World and its 300 million Arabic speaking population they have in mind. I would recommend Samah Idriss for being the first in the last years to write for teenagers (an age group that has been neglected in recent Lebanese children literature, although things are starting to change) and for addressing issues that touch their daily lives in an appealing way.
Andrea Pasion: The children’s book industry in the Philippines is very lucrative. We’re a country of 100 million, with a majority within the 0-19 age group. People are bilingual, whether it’s in English or a regional language and Tagalog. That’s a children’s book market. Local publishers, however, are still navigating the young adult market. Most publishers also sell institutionally, to schools and government channels rather than bookstores. Bookstore sales comprise only around 20%. I’d recommend Budjette Tan, a graphic novelist whose doing something with local myth and crime. The traditional characters of folklore are the criminals in an underworld-other world detective series!
What non-book-related experience are you looking forward to in Germany?
Joanna El Mir: Exploring the city and trying to meet up with my publishing friends to have non-book-related conversations!
Andrea Pasion: I hope to sit in a café and do nothing but watch people pass by, maybe visit a museum, maybe see Gutenberg’s movable type, or an incunabulum. Actually, it’s nice to just forget the tons of work and reading I have to do even for just a couple of hours.
Thank you for the interview.