Robert Paul Weston

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Robert Paul Weston (born October 21, 1975 in Dover ) is a Canadian-British author of books for children and young people who lives in London . In 2013, he was nominated for the German Youth Literature Prize for his rhymed novel Zorgamazoo , which was highly praised by the press .

life and work

Robert Paul Weston was born in Dover, England in 1975 to a British-Turkish father and an Indian-Grenadian mother. Most of his youth he lived in Georgetown , Ontario . He wrote his first novel as a teenager for his English teacher in middle school.

At a young age, Robert Paul Weston did competitive sports as a trampoline jumper , worked as a lifeguard , software developer , editor , production assistant, English teacher, editor of a small literary magazine and dialog author for imported cartoons . In the meantime he lived in Japan and Canada .

Weston graduated with a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of British Columbia in 2006 , having previously studied sociology and film at Queen's University . He had already completed this course in 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts . Even at this point in time he hardly believed in being able to make a living exclusively as a writer: "I always thought it was something people did part-time on the side, and I certainly never thought of myself as a children's writer." In the first few lines of Zorgamazoo , he believed he could break away from this idea, although he had submitted short stories to literary magazines 80 times and only had seven publications in this time. His key experience after the English-language publication of his first work was the signing of a contract with the renowned Chinese publisher Guan Pin Hong Cultural Company in Hong Kong , because the Chinese translator of Theodor Seuss Geisel's works there took on his novel.

Weston lived in Toronto with his wife and taught creative writing at Queen's University, where he himself studied. His books have appeared in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. With Zorgamazoo , the first German translation of one of his works was published in 2012 by the Jacoby & Stuart publishing house in a translation by Uwe-Michael Gutzschhahn . In 2013 the book was nominated for the German Youth Literature Prize in the children's book category. Weston presented Zorgamazoo for the first time in Germany in September 2012 in the children's and youth program at the 12th international literature festival berlin . There he suggested a title for the award The Extraordinary Book , his choice fell on Momo .

In an interview, he described the audience's unrealistic expectations towards authors of books for young people. Many would assume, given the success of Joanne K. Rowling's Harry Potter , that it would automatically become a millionaire. However, before the success of Zorgamazoo , his income was below the poverty line . In his books he prefers a drastic and grim style, which he has adapted as an example from the Grimm brothers and which would be best received by children and young people. It was only with the Walt Disney productions that the fairy tale gradually took away the seriousness and brutality that the narrative tradition of the 19th century still had. In his creative writing courses, he would therefore specifically point out this development to his students.

2013 appeared with The Creature Department , German The Monster division , Weston's fourth novel and at the same time to an app to the book. One of the sequels is called "Von Ghorks Eat".

Press review

Zorgamazoo (2012)

“In his fantastic long poem Robert Paul Weston tells of an unusual friendship between a Zorgel who surpasses himself and a courageous girl who never gives up. Incidentally and subtly, between the lines of verse, he warns of gray monotony and the slow disappearance of our imagination. Because what would the world be without mermaids, dragons, ogres, trolls, giants, goblins and, more recently, Zorgel?

- Karin Hahn : A brave girl and a Zorgel , in: Deutschlandfunk from November 17 , 2012

“Robert Paul Weston tells an old story in a special way. He playfully whirls up motifs from ancient myths, science fiction, traditional and modern fairy tales : the fight of the good versus the bad, the conflict between the pleasure and reality principle, the boredom of the gray fellows on the moon versus the colorful imagination of the captive magical beings. With an overwhelming enthusiasm for invention, Weston designs the salvation of the world through a little girl and her fantastic friends - in other words: through imagination, story-making and literature. While many of the motifs and characters seem familiar to the reader, Weston's narrative style is still unique: Zorgamazoo is written in verse, rhymed throughout and congenially retouched by Uwe-Michael Gutzschahn . The three-way meter is involuntarily reminiscent of famous ghost ballads and witch scenes from Goethe to Fontane . The funny and the scary, joke and suspense are balanced until the showdown. Westons / Gutzschahn's rhymes rattle childishly, stumble naively, swing poetically, threaten drastically, hiss grotesque and sound cute or even naive again. You can literally feel the fun the poets have with language games and images, loud punchlines and funny onomatopoeia. "

- Sylvia Schwab : Courage, monsters and mystery in verse in Deutschlandradio Kultur on November 28, 2012

“It doesn't always have to be prose, the ideas can also germinate in rhyme. If the result is such a quirky, original, playful and not at all horrible fireworks of fantasy like the comic story of Katrina Katrell and Mortimer Yorgel, then: Yes, please. Definitely wrangle, uh: read. "

- Reading entertainment for the young , in: Kurier from December 29, 2012

“That shouldn't diminish the value of this Kloppers, it's a brave decision anyway to a) write something like this, b) relocate it and c) design it as it is. Because in addition to the curiosity of rhyming prose, Zorgamazoo is also a bit of a journeyman's typography. So lively the plot, so turbulent the typography, which reflects the vicissitudes of luck. All in all, Zorgamazoo is an exception book that you should have for curiosity reasons. And whoever has plowed through all the rhymes receives a medal just like the translator. "

- Christine Paxmann : Riesenrimroman , in: Eselsohr, March 2013, p. 19

“This novel not only offers a fabulous, detailed, fantastic world with a huge array of bizarre-scary characters, it is also kept entirely in verse. In combination with the authorial narrative style, the simulated orality and the slightly screeching style, the cross rhymes and dactyls appear extremely funny. The author makes generous use of the motif reservoir of fantasy literature and the heroic epic and thereby alone creates a genre parodic effect, which is enhanced by the verse form, the narrative style and the great wealth of black humoristic ideas. Uwe-Michael Gutzschhahn made the effort to translate this opulent structure into German. And Víctor Rivas illustrated the story in a brilliant way. "

- Jury of the German Youth Literature Prize 2013 : Zorgamazoo , at: www.djlp.jugendliteratur.org

“It is a story about two beings who reach their limits, never give up and grow beyond themselves. Ultimately, they will find a place to live. But it is also a long poem that appeals against monotony and warns against the disappearance of the imagination. The novel was published in 2008 and has received numerous awards. Uwe-Michael Gutzschhahn succeeds in the risk of a fast-paced translation into German: It stays close to the original English version, but takes up the peculiarities of the German language. "

- Jana Mikota : German Youth Literature Prize 2013 - Nominations in the “Children's Book” category , on: Fachverband Deutsch from May 6, 2013

bibliography

  • Books
    • in German translation
    • untranslated
      • Novels
        • Katrina Katrell, Mortimer Yorgle and the amazing adventure of Zorgamazoo . Master of Fine Arts, Thesis Paper, University of British Columbia 2006.
        • Dust city , Razorbill, 2010, ISBN 978-1595142962
      • Short stories
        • Mourning sickness. In: On Spec , No. 62, winter 2005.i
        • The Light Switch Method. In: Kiss Machine , No. June 10, 2005.
        • Thinking of Alice. In: Crimewave Magazine , Vol. 9, Fall 2006.
        • Stop Plate Tectonics. In: On Spec , No. 68, spring 2007.
        • Paris, France (somnumbulitis). In: The New Orleans Review , Vol. 33, No. 1, fall 2007.
        • Hummingbirds and Pie. In: Postscripts , Vol. 12, Fall 2007.
        • Volley. In: Postscripts , Vol. 14, Spring 2008.
  • Audio books

Nominations and Awards

  • 2009: Nomination for the EB White Read Aloud Award (for Zorgamazoo )
  • 2009: Children's Literature Association Notable Books for 2009 ( Zorgamazoo )
  • 2010: Silver Birch Fiction Award (for Zorgamazoo )
  • 2011: California Young Reader Medal , Category: Intermediate (for Zorgamazoo )
  • 2011: Nomination for the Edgar Allan Poe Award - Young Adult and Juvenile Mystery Fiction - Young Adult for Dust City
  • 2012: Nomination for the Willow Award for Dust City
  • 2012: 3sat Kulturzeit children's book tip in October for Zorgamazoo
  • 2012: The best 7 books for young readers in November for Zorgamazoo
  • 2012: German Audio Book Prize 2013 in the category Best Children's Audio Book for Zorgamazoo
  • 2013: Nomination for the German Youth Literature Prize in the children's book category for Zorgamazoo in March

Festival participation

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Heather Grace Stewart: A first novel in rhyming couplets?  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Alumni interview with Robert Paul Weston) In: Queen's University. News Center. Queen's Alumni Review. 2009 Issue # 2. Retrieved May 20, 2012.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.queensu.ca  
  2. ↑ Entry Robert Paul Westen on the Writer's Union of Canada website  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved May 19, 2012.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.writersunion.ca  
  3. ^ Portrait of Robert Paul Weston on the TD Canadian Children's Book Week page . ( Memento of the original from August 28, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 19, 2012. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bookweek.ca
  4. ↑ Portrait of the author on www.hoerbuch-hamburg.de.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 19, 2012.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.hoerbuch-hamburg.de  
  5. ↑ Mark Medley: As grim as Grimm: Robert Paul Weston on why children's books that terrify are the ones kids love the most. ( Memento of the original from September 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: National Post . December 18, 2010. Retrieved May 19, 2012. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / arts.nationalpost.com
  6. ↑ http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-book-news/article/56037-razorbill-partners-with-framestore-for-creature-department.html
  7. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from February 18, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mediabistro.com
  8. ↑ http://www.dradio.de/dlf/sendung/jungeleser/1924867/
  9. ↑ http://www.dradio.de/dkultur/sendung/kritik/1934708/
  10. ↑ http://kurier.at/kultur/literatur/leseunterhaltung-fuer-den-nachwuchs/2.162.092
  11. ↑ http://www.eselsohr-leseablebnis.de/
  12. ↑ http://www.djlp.jugendliteratur.org/kinderbuch-2/artikel-zorgamazoo-3870.html
  13. ↑ http://www.fachverband-deutsch.de/index.php?page=45&message=99BDBD53-A6AE-9256-09FF-A64811463765
  14. ^ Review. www.sfsite.com Retrieved May 19, 2012.
  15. ↑ BEA 2011: Audiobook of the Year to "Life" . In: Publishers Weekly . May 25, 2011. Retrieved May 20, 2012.
  16. ↑ http://www.canadianauthors.net/awards/ola/silver_birch_award/
  17. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from May 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.californiayoungreadermedal.org
  18. ^ The Edgar Awards (Young Adult and Juvenile Mystery Fiction) - www.granitemedia.org. April 30, 2012. Retrieved May 20, 2012.
  19. ↑ www.willowawards.ca  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved May 20, 2012.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.willowawards.ca  
  20. ↑ WDR 3 (Westdeutscher Rundfunk) Kulturnachrichten from January 31, 2013  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed February 1, 2013@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.wdr3.de  
personal data
SURNAME Weston, Robert Paul
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian-British author of books for children and young people
DATE OF BIRTH October 21, 1975
PLACE OF BIRTH Dover