Oratia celebrates 25 years, launches Five Oceans imprint

Aotearoa New Zealand independent publisher Oratia Media has announced the launch of a new imprint, Five Oceans.

The imprint will publish literary nonfiction and children’s books from ‘cultures whose works are under-represented in English, let alone in Polynesian languages,’ said the publisher in a statement.

The imprint will launch with two books for young readers: The Ant Rebellion (Toprak Işık, trans by Alvin Parmar), a bestselling junior novel from Türkiye, in October; and Thank You, Forest (Johanna Venho, illus by Sanna Pelliccioni, trans by Jen Pulju Porter), a Finnish picture book, in November.

Oratia founder and publisher Peter Dowling said, ‘We look forward to extending Oratia’s activities to all five oceans of our planet. With Five Oceans, we aim to bring outstanding writing and illustration into our languages, while encouraging cultural exchange to and from Aotearoa.’

Oratia Media was founded in 2000 by Dowling and Alessandra Zecchini in Oratia, West Auckland, as a publishing services business, and the organisation began publishing under the Oratia Books brand in 2008. In its 25 years, the company has published more than 220 books.

In 2021, Oratia Media was awarded the BOP Bologna Prize for Best Children’s Publisher in Oceania, and its title The Treaty of Waitangi (Ross Calman) was named 2025 Book of the Year in the New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.

More information about Five Oceans is available on the Oratia Media website.

Category: Local news