Saviour Pirotta Explained

Saviour Pirotta
Birth Place:Malta
Nationality:British
Occupation:Author
Genre:Children's picture books, Greek myth, fiction, historical fiction, detective stories, non-fiction
Notableworks:The Orchard Book of First Greek Myths, Firebird, Ancient Greek Mysteries
Years Active:1986–present

Saviour Pirotta is a Maltese-born British author and playwright who resides in England. He is mostly known for the bestselling The Orchard Book of First Greek Myths, an adaptation of the Russian folktale, Firebird, and the Ancient Greek Mysteries Series for Bloomsbury.[1] His books are particularly successful in the UK, Greece, Italy and South Korea.

Childhood

The second of five brothers, Pirotta grew up speaking both English and Maltese. He attended Naxxar Primary School (now Maria Regina College) and later won a scholarship to St Aloysius' College, one of the most prestigious schools on the island. He developed a love of literature early on in life when he discovered the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis,[2] Ian Serraillier's The Silver Sword and R.L. Stevenson's Treasure Island.[3] The author's parents, both extremely devout Catholics, discouraged his general interest in the arts[4] and censored most television programmes but Pirotta cites as visual influences on his writing the works of film animator Ray Harryhausen and Alexander Korda.

Career in the UK

Pirotta emigrated to the UK in 1981 where his first job was directing three short plays for Moonshine Community Arts Workshop in London, an offshoot of Brian Way's pioneering Theatre Centre. He also wrote a children's play based on a Maltese folk tale which toured various venues around London, including the Oval House and Jacksons Lane Community Centre.[5] This brought him to the attention of the Commonwealth Institute, where he worked as a workshop leader and storyteller till 1989.

The children's play was subsequently published by Samuel French and Pirotta has since concentrated on writing. His first efforts were picture books but he soon moved into non-fiction, specialising in pirates and religious festivals. His Pirates and Treasure, published in the UK, the US, Russia and Sweden in 1995 is widely considered to be the first children's book about sea-robbers with a multi-cultural viewpoint. For a while he also wrote science books for the very young using the pen name Sam Godwin. A Seed in Need – a first look at life cycle of a flower – won him the 1998 English Association Award for best non-fiction picture book.

Turtle Bay, published by Frances Lincoln in the UK and Farrar, Straus, Giroux in the United States, was selected by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and assembled in co-operation with The Children's Book Council (CBC) as a Notable Science Trade Book of 1998. American Bookseller also chose it as one of their fall children's books 'pick of the list'. In the US, excerpts from his works are often used by homeschoolers and in schools for multiple choice tests.[6]

In November 2010, his picture book Firebird was awarded an Aesop Accolade by the American Folklore Society. It shared the honour with Eric A. Kimmel's Joha Makes a Wish: A Middle Eastern Tale and Cloud Tea Monkeys by Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham.[7] It also won a Best Book Award from the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio.[8]

In November 2016, The Bookseller announced that Saviour Pirotta and his then agents Pollinger Ltd [9] had signed a contract with Bloomsbury Publishing for a series of middle grade adventure stories set in Ancient Greece.[10] The series was titled Ancient Greek Mysteries. The first title, Mark of the Cyclops, published in March 2017 and the second, Secret of the Oracle followed in October. Two more titles appeared in 2018. These were called Pirates of Poseidon and Shadow of the Centaurs.

In 2018, Maverick Books announced a four book series by Pirotta set in the Neolithic period entitled Wolfsong. The first book, The Stolen Spear was published in August 2019. In January 2019, Bloomsbury also published another adventure, this time set in the golden age of Islam called The Golden Horsemen of Baghdad.[11]

The author is now a British citizen and lives in Scarborough, North Yorkshire.

Work in Translation

Pirotta's books have been translated and published by major commercial publishers in various countries, including the United States, Australia, Canada, Italy, France, Spain, Slovakia, Holland, Portugal, Germany, Rumania, Belgium, Sweden, Brazil, Thailand, Greece, Estonia, Poland, Russia, Lebanon, Japan, South Africa, Indonesia and South Korea. In 2020, Pirotta's literary agents signed a translation deal with Midsea Books in Malta to produce his Stone Age Wolfsong series, which is partly set on the island. The series is translated by Noel Tanti. In 2021, Midsea Books also published Pirotta's set of ten First Greek Myths.

Collaborations

Pirotta has collaborated with some of the biggest names in children's illustration today, including Jane Ray, Emma Chichester Clark, Catherine Hyde, Chris Riddell, Chris Mould, Jan Lewis, Alan Marks, Toni Goffe and Richard Johnson.

Theatre

In July 2019, the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, announced that it is staging the world premiere of Pirotta's first professional play for children, Granny's Exploding Toilet, in the autumn.[12] [13] The entire run was sold out. Pirotta was commissioned to write a second play, an adaptation of Little Red Riding Hood for the SJT. It was scheduled for April 2020 but the production was put back to 2021 and then 2022 due to the Coronavirus Panademic.[14]

Festival appearances

Pirotta has appeared at the Edinburgh Children's Book Festival, the Bradford Literary Festival,[15] the Northern Children's Book Festival, the Swansea Book Festival, the Scarborough Literary Festival, the Linton Book Festival, the Liverpool Children's Festival of Reading [16], the Big Malarkey in Hull and the Beverley LitUp Festival.

Awards and honours

Selected works

FICTION

ANTHOLOGIES

SERIES

PICTURE BOOKS

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Biography. 17 March 2010. Author's official website. https://web.archive.org/web/20100220092552/http://www.spirotta.com/all-about-the-author/. 20 February 2010. dead. dmy-all.
  2. Web site: Saviour Pirotta. 2017-03-02. Words for Life. 2017-03-04.
  3. Web site: Which Food Will You Choose? by Claire Potter & Ailie Busby ~ #PictureBook #AuthorInterview ~ @ailiebusby @BloomsburyEd. Education. en-US. 2017-03-04.
  4. Web site: National Literacy Trust Virtual School Library. Words for Life. 6 July 2021.
  5. Web site: Saviour Pirotta . 17 March 2010. Children's Discovery Centre. https://web.archive.org/web/20090123140723/http://www.childrensdiscovery.org.uk/author%2Dprofiles/our%2Dnon%2Dfiction%2Dwriters/saviour%2Dpirotta/. 2009-01-23. dead .
  6. New York State Test Questions Tricky for 3rd Graders, and Maybe Some Adults - The New York Times
  7. Web site: American Folklore Society Aesop Prize and Aesop Accolades. 6 July 2021.
  8. https://web.archive.org/web/20150407175804/http://www.toyportfolio.com/Awards_Results.php?pageNum_Product=2&ProductType=Books&Age=Early%20School%20Years&Category=Folk%20Tales Oppenheim Toy Portfolio: Firebird
  9. Web site: Saviour Pirotta. Stephanie. Boucher. Paper Lion Ltd. 28 June 2022.
  10. Web site: Four Ancient Greek mysteries to Bloomsbury Education . The Bookseller. 6 July 2021.
  11. Web site: The Golden Horsemen of Baghdad.
  12. Web site: Granny's Exploding Toilet . The Stephen Joseph Theatre. 6 July 2021.
  13. Web site: Children's Author Writes First Play, GRANNY'S EXPLODING TOILET, For The Stephen Joseph Theatre. Stephi. Wild. BroadwayWorld.com. 6 July 2021.
  14. Web site: Little Red Riding Hood. The Stephen Joseph Theatre. 6 July 2021.
  15. Web site: Event Listing. Bradford Literature Festival. 6 July 2021.
  16. Web site: Liverpool Children's Festival of Reading- Saviour Pirotta. Eventbrite. 6 July 2021.
  17. Web site: Spark! School Book Awards - Readers Aged 7+ .
  18. 1329365835387965440. fiction_express. Para los lectores entre 13 y 15 años, los ganadores son:- En lengua castellana, @ClaryCorts con la novela Para sie… . 19 November 2020.
  19. Web site: NSTBA QUALITY FICTION CATEGORY LONG LIST 2019 part 1. North Somerset Teachers' Book Award. 6 July 2021.
  20. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/oct/27/childrens-and-teens-round up-the-best-new-picture-books-and-novels
  21. Web site: Historical Association – the UK national charity for history.
  22. Web site: The North Somerset Teachers' Book Award Winners 2018 . 4 November 2021 . North Somerset Teachers' Book Award .
  23. Web site: The Mysterious Island. 6 July 2021.
  24. Web site: Search Results: Bloomsbury Publishing (UK). www.bloomsbury.com. 6 July 2021.
  25. Web site: Fiction Express for schools. Fiction Express. 6 July 2021.
  26. https://www.hachette.co.uk/books/detail.page?isbn=9781408309834

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