Winner has a lot to sing about!

A Nest of Singing Birds: 100 years of the NZ School Journal written by Gregory O’Brien was named winner of the Reference and Anthology category at the 2008 Montana New Zealand Book Awards.

Acting Learning Media chief executive officer Pam O’Connell said she was delighted with the win.

“Margaret Mahy once described the School Journal as a ‘national treasure’. We completely agree, and at Learning Media we also think that Gregory O’Brien, author of A Nest of Singing Birds, is also one of our country’s taonga.”

The winner, A Nest of Singing Birds: 100 years of the School Journal, celebrates the School Journal, a publication that over the last 100 years has shaped our country – and the luminaries of NZ arts and letters who have featured in it.

“This year, the School Journal is officially 101 years old – it’s believed to be the longest-running serial publication for children in the world. The School Journal represents and celebrates all NZers, and it has touched the lives of generations of kiwis with its stories, poems and artwork reflecting this great country we live in,” says Ms O’Connell.

Over the course of its history, the School Journal has attracted work from some of NZ’s greatest writers and artists, among them Margaret Mahy, Joy Cowley, Janet Frame, Rita Angus, Russell Clark, and Dick Frizzell, and continues to help develop the careers of many contemporary writers and illustrators.

Margaret Mahy’s earliest published work, including the well-loved The Lion in the Meadow, appeared in the School Journal.

The book’s unusual title comes from a description of the School Journal office as ‘a nest of singing birds’ by poet and past-Journal editor Alistair Campbell.

The School Journal has been one of the most influential literary and educational publications in NZ history and has reflected the development of NZ’s sense of identity and nationhood.

Despite changes in the social and educational climate over the past 100 years, the main purpose of the School Journal has remained the same – to provide high-quality reading material that is relevant to the needs and interests of NZ children.

In doing this, it also played an influential and, in Gregory O’Brien’s words, largely “untold” role in the evolution of this country’s art and literature. Many of NZ’s foremost authors and visual artists have had their work published in the School Journal during its 100 years.

The book was printed last year with its first printing of 1500 copies selling out within three months. A following reprint has sold over 1350 copies (during the period from September 2007 to June 2008).

A Nest of Singing Birds: 100 years of the NZ School Journal was written by Gregory O’Brien and published in 2007 by Learning Media in partnership with the MoE to celebrate the School Journal’s centenary.

Mr O’Brien also curated the exhibition A Nest of Singing Birds: 100 years of the NZ School Journal at the National Library of NZ in Wellington last year.