Māori-owned book publishing company Huia Publishers has been awarded the 2024 Bologna Prize for the Best Children’s Publisher of the Year for Oceania at this year’s Bologna Children's Book fair.
It’s the first time the independent company has won the award although it was a finalist in 2022.
Pania Tahau-Hodges, co-director of Huia, said the Māori-led organisation from Aotearoa was "absolutely rapt" to be recognised on a global stage. “This is huge for us.”
"We’re really rapt for our authors, we’re rapt for our illustrators, for our team here at Huia who have worked so hard to take our stories, our voices, our reo to the world. This is a really wonderful recognition."
The Bologna Children’s Book Fair was the leading professional fair for children’s books and had been held annually in Bologna, Italy, since 1963. The Bologna Prize highlighted publishers at the forefront of innovation and recognised publishing companies in six areas of the world: Africa, the Caribbean, Central and South America, North America, Asia, Europe, and Oceania.
“It’s the biggest children’s book fair in the world, so this is really showing a spotlight on Huia, on our stories, on our authors, but also on te ao Māori, and that’s something that’s really exciting,” Tahau-Hodges said.
Huia Publishers was founded in 1991 by Māori writer Robyn Rangihuia Bargh (CNZM) and her husband Brian Bargh. According to their website, their mission was to share Māori stories “that resonate with our people, that reflect our experiences and that value our culture and language”.
Tahau-Hodges said receiving the award was significant as it raised a spotlight on the importance of indigenous voices and indigenous storytelling.
“There’s a lack of representation and diversity in children's publishing, it's still an issue globally. So, you know through indigenous storytelling we can help children understand their connections to their cultural heritage, to their identity.”
She said a key aim for the company was to continue to produce children’s books so it allowed mokopuna and tamariki to see themselves, their whānau and their worldview through the pages of a book. Reflecting on her own childhood, Tahau-Hodges remembered the lack of representation of Māori in children’s stories.
“When children see themselves, when they see their reo in children's books, it tells them something about the value of their identity, about the value of their language, of their culture and those things are important.”
Other winners included:
• Africa: Yanbow Al Kitab (Morocco)
• Asia: Poplar Publishing Co. (Japan)
• Caribbean, Central and South America: Cataplum Libros (Colombia)
• Europe: Mosquito Books Barcelona (Spain)
• North America: Greystone Kids (Canada).
SHARE ME