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In Other Words 2018
The three Honour Titles from the In Other Words shortlist were revealed by then Children's Laureate Lauren Child during a special event at London Book Fair.
The Robbersons by Siri Kolu (with an extract translated from Finnish by Owen Witesman), Red Stars by Davide Morosinotto (with an extract translated from Italian by Denise Muir), and Alaska by Anna Woltz (with an extract translated from Dutch by Laura Watkinson) have been highlighted as outstanding works of fiction for children aged 6 to 12 and recommended for English translation. The three titles were selected from over 200 submissions from around the world, and were chosen for their strong narratives and commercial potential.
All eight shortlisted titles were available for English language publication and the partially translated texts can be read by clicking on each title below. A marketing bursary of £1500 was available from BookTrust to support the UK publication of each of these titles.
For full information about the titles, including rights contacts and funding opportunities for translation, please download the Rights Guide.
Three titles from In Other Words 2017 were also published in English in 2018:
Elise and the Second-hand Dog by Bjarne Reuter, translated from Danish by Sian Mackie.
A Good Day for Climbing Trees by Jaco Jacobs, translated from Afrikaans by Kobus Geldenhuys and illustrated by Jim Tierney.
The Raven's Children by Yulia Yakovleva, translated from Russian by Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp.
The 2018 In Other Words shortlist:
Eight titles were selected by our judges from nearly 200 submissions from around the world. They included stories from internationally acclaimed authors; an adventure with a badly-behaved gang of thieves set in Finland; a story about immigration and tolerance set in Switzerland; a laugh-out-loud tale of dinosaurs running amok in Iceland, and more.
The shortlist showcased outstanding books for children age 6-12 picked by the judges for their literary merit as well as commercial potential. All shortlisted titles were partially translated (available to read by viewing the titles below) and World English Language Rights were available to buy. A marketing bursary of £1500 was available from BookTrust to support the UK publication of each of the shortlisted titles.
Three Honour Titles – books that are highly recommended for English translation and publication – were revealed on 11th April 2018 at London Book Fair with Children's Laureate Lauren Child and former Children's Laureate Chris Riddell.
Download the Shortlist Announcement Press Release
Download the 2018 In Other Words Rights Guide
And keep your eyes peeled for these titles being published from last year's list:
- Elise and the Second-Hand Dog by Bjarne Reuter, translated from Danish by Sian Mackie; published by Wacky Bee Books on 2 April
- A Good Day for Climbing Trees by Jaco Jacobs, translated from Afrikaans by Kobus Gyldenhuys; published by Oneworld on 12 April
- The Raven's Children by Yulia Yakovleva, translated from Russian by Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp; published by Puffin on 5 July
If you have any queries, please email [email protected].
The Shortlist
A hilarious story of an unwanted boy's determination to do good despite the efforts of his dastardly parents.
First is the kindest, most trusting boy on the planet, but is born to Katiuscia and Gregor Smirth, two penny-pinching, egocentric parents who hate children and merely wanted him as an heir. Despite their efforts to teach First that only greed and sel…
An epileptic boy, an insecure girl, and the dog that brings them together – witty and wry with echoes of John Green.
Sven knows he must do something brilliant on the first day of a new school year or he'll be the epileptic kid that everyone feels sorry for. So he targets Parker, a girl who just wants to be invisible after surviving the worst summer of her li…
In the hilarious anarchic tone of Pippi Longstocking, a high-speed-loving bandit family who usually steal sweets kidnap a girl instead.
Vilja Vainisto's summer is going nowhere until a van flying a pirate flag bears down on her family's BMW. While the thieving Robberson clan strips Vilja's family car of any sweets they can find, their leader, Crazy Kaarlo, k…
A coming of age story about chess, tolerance, immigration and what it means to be a true champion.
Judit is an 11-year-old girl who lives in Geneva with her mother and grandfather. A keen artist, she draws in charcoals by the giant chess boards in her local park, practicing for a prestigious art competition. She gradually becomes interested in chess, until o…
When crisis strikes, a girl convinces her brother that they are the stars of a film to protect him from the harsh realities of their new life.
Twelve-year-old Olívia Tancredi lives in Barcelona with her actress mother Íngrid and her little brother Tim. When Íngrid can't find work, money to pay the bills runs out, their furniture is repossessed, and they are …
An epic wartime drama set in the USSR in 1941 about truth and what it means to be a hero.
Viktor and Nadia are 12-year-old twins. They live in Leningrad and share a diary; Nadia uses black ink, and Viktor red. When war breaks out the children are evacuated from the city before the bombs begin to drop. Nadia is assigned to train number 76, Viktor to train 77.…
Wolf, Edda and the Stolen Relic
Warring siblings, villains and Norse gods star in this Rick Riordan-esque adventure about a quest to recover a stolen archaeological treasure.
When her father rents out their house in Reykjavík and takes a summer job at a historical site in the Icelandic countryside, 11-year-old Edda is miserable. For one, she can't bring her science experiments, but worse, …
A rip-roaring Jurassic Park-esque adventure about friendship and some rather destructive dinosaurs.
Aevar doesn't have many friends but at his surprise eleventh birthday party, he and his unexpected guests – three classmates from school he barely knows – make their way into the basement of his family home, where they discover rocks that turn out to be dinosa…
Judges
Sarah Ardizzone
Award-winning translator
Sarah Ardizzone is an award-winning translator from French. She translates everything from picture books and children's and YA fiction to graphic novels and grown up literary fiction. She has a special interest in translating sharp dialogue, urban and migrant slang.
Daniel Hahn
Writer, editor and translator
Daniel Hahn is a writer, editor and translator from Portuguese, Spanish and French with some 50 books to his name.. His work has won him the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize and the Blue Peter Book Award, among others. He is a past chair of the Translators Association and the Society of Authors.
Emma Langley
Arts Council England
Emma Langley is responsible for international literature and translation at Arts Council England. She has a background in children's publishing and freelances in research and evaluation for various education projects.
Candy Gourlay
Award-winning author
Candy Gourlay is the award-winning author of two children's novels, Tall Story and Shine. She is also a committee member of CWIG (the Children's Writers and Illustrators Group) of the Society of Authors, as well as an enthusiastic volunteer for SCBWI (the Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) in the British Isles.
Nicolette Jones
Writer, critic and broadcaster
Nicolette Jones is a writer, critic and broadcaster specialising in literary and arts journalism. She has been the Children's Books Reviewer of The Sunday Times for more than two decades, and in 2012 was shortlisted for the Eleanor Farjeon Award for distinguished service to the world of children's books.
Elaine McQuade
Children's books consultant
Elaine McQuade is a children's books consultant. Her career in children's publishing included working at Puffin, Oxford University Press and Scholastic, and she is currently a Trustee of the Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre and of the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE).
Jill Coleman
BookTrust's director of children's books
Jill Coleman is Director of Children's Books. She is responsible for BookTrust's expert selection and recommendation of great books, managing book purchasing across the organisation, and working with arts organisations, publishers, authors, and illustrators to promote excellence in children's books.
Florentyna Martin
Children's Book Buyer at Waterstones
Florentyna Martin is the Children's Book Buyer for Waterstones, where she looks after book ranges for ages 0-12 and the Waterstones Children's Book Prize. She has always enjoyed reading and recommending great books across children's and adult publishing.
Gary Powell
Buyer at Foyles
Gary has worked in the book retail industry for close to 15 years, in some of the busiest stores in central London. In that time, he has progressed from the shopfloor and managing his own store into the buying team at Foyles, where he is responsible for all new titles buying for the six Foyles branches beyond the flagship store.
Simon Key
Co-Owner of the Big Green Bookshop in London
Simon Key is the co-owner of the award winning Big Green Bookshop in Wood Green. Simon's love of book stems from when he "accidentally" started working in a bookshop at 16 and realised that books weren't just things that teachers made you read at school.
In Other Words 2018
What's happening this year?
Keep up to date with everything going on during In Other Words 2018.
