An award for one of our new Bookshow authors.

"The Adventures of Shola" has just won the 2015 Marsh Award for Children’s Literature in Translation. 

Margaret Jull Costa has freshly translated this charming story, from the original Basque text by Bernardo Atxaga, illustrated by Mikel Valverde.

The Children's Bookshow is so thrilled to share this news because Bernardo Atxaga will be joining us in this year's tour, flying over from Spain to talk about his creation. We will be very excited to welcome him and celebrate this new retelling of his work, for our nation to enjoy. 

Margaret and the Shortlisters, with Sian Williams from
The Children's Bookshow. ©ESU/Gigi Giannella 2015  

The Marsh Award has been offered biennially since 1996, to celebrate, encourage and promote high quality translated fiction for young readers. The ceremony was held at Dartmouth House in London, the home of the English-Speaking Union, who 
have administered this award on behalf of the Marsh Christian Trust since 2007. 

The judges said, ‘this is a delightful book which can be enjoyed by anyone as it is full of humour, for young people and adults alike. There are delightful characters with very real personalities and some truly philosophical moments throughout. This is such an accessible text, made up of stories which are so satisfying to read aloud and the wonderful translation really makes the story come alive for a new audience.’ 

Margaret Jull Costa, the winning translator, told the assembled audience at Dartmouth House: ‘I am absolutely thrilled to win this award, because it’s a book I absolutely love, and because any translation prize is also a prize for the original author, in this case the wonderful Bernardo Atxaga and his equally wonderful illustrator Mikel Valverde. I would also like to say how important I think this prize is, celebrating as it does children’s literature in translation.’

About the English-Speaking Union:
The ESU is a unique global educational charity and membership organisation that brings together and empowers people of different languages and cultures.
By building skills and confidence in communication, we give people the opportunity to realise their full potential. Worldwide, our members and alumni support us in this work. Our vision is to provide people in the UK and internationally with communications skills, 
confidence and opportunities to engage in an exchange of ideas and opinions. Enquiries should be directed to Michael Pryke, Director of Communications – michael.pryke@esu.org - 020 7529 1572.

About the Marsh Christian Trust:

The Marsh Christian Trust is a grant-making body supporting registered charities. The Trust administers a Marsh Award Scheme, to recognise the achievements of those who strive to make our world a better place through volunteering or academic excellence. Founded in 1981, by Brian Marsh OBE, it now runs over 70 Awards with a number of partner organisations and supports a growing number of smaller charities through its grant making programme.