Tag: f2m

Short doco with ‘f2m: the boy within’ authors on Youtube

November 4, 2014 / Ryan

Ryan Kennedy co-wrote his debut novel ‘f2m: the boy within’ (Ford Street Publishing) with well known Australian author Hazel Edwards. The subject of transitioning gender in a Young Adult novel, co-written by an actual ftm (female to male) author was a first.

This Kailash Studios documentary is about reactions to this controversial novel. Psychologist Meredith Fuller interviews the co-authors and director Brian Walsh who is also a psychologist, produced the documentary.

Watch 14 minute version:

For a full version and enquiries on the documentary and to obtain a full version (25 minutes), contact Kailash Studios:
http://www.kailashstudios.com/

f2m: the boy within
http://f2mtheboywithin.com

Published by Ford Street Publishing
http://fordstreetpublishing.com

Hazel Edwards
http://hazeledwards.com

The thoughtful tourist’s guide to intellectual property via reading

March 18, 2012 / Ryan

Ever wanted to visit a place mentioned in a book?

We’ve put together a map of settings and locations for Hazel Edwards’ books, including ‘f2m: the boy within’. The setting could really be anywhere in Australia or New Zealand, so we chose to feature Melbourne and Wellington as the locations where we co-authored the book, communicating via Skype and email.

View The thoughtful tourist’s guide to intellectual property via reading in a larger map

I love the Antarctic locations on the map – zoom in to those to see how tiny the research bases are, then zoom out and you’ll see the sheer scope of the continent and masses of ice:

View The thoughtful tourist’s guide to intellectual property via reading in a larger map

How to browse the map

Click on a book cover to read more about that book
Drag the map around to see more of the world
If you need more room, open the map on Google maps to use the whole screen

‘f2m: the boy within’ selected for The White Ravens 2011

March 29, 2011 / Ryan

White Ravens

The White Ravens 2011

Hazel Edwards and I are thrilled that our novel ‘f2m: the boy within‘ has been selected for The White Ravens in 2011.

Every year 250 outstanding international books for children and young adults are selected for The White Ravens list from nearly 10,000 books sent to the International Youth Library at Schloss Blutenberg in Munich.

The books are presented at this year at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair and become travelling exhibitions sometimes sponsored by cultural groups such as the Goethe Institute.

See the full list

The International Youth Library at Schloss Blutenburg

Hazel outside the Schloss Blutenburg in Munich

As well as research facilities for internationals interested in children’s literature, the Schloss Blutenberg, a former Bavarian hunting lodge, houses the biggest International Youth Library of 540,000 books in 15 major languages. The castle is a short train and bus ride from central Munich.

The library was founded by Jella Lepman, the the US advisor on Children and Women, who started the post war first travelling exhibition with 4000 donated books. Many use animal parables as Lepman believed that by using animals to champion the cause of peace for children’s sake, the books would be more widely read.

Jella Lepman’s post-WWII concept was to collect children’s books to promote tolerance for strangers outside borders, as well as tolerance for those with whom we live daily.

The historical collection of 90,000 books are those up until 1950, and many rare Eastern European copies are no longer available elsewhere. Scholars come to research books no longer available in their own countries due to Communist censorship or wartime destruction. The Geneva Collection of 30,000 books from the League of Nations which was given to the Schloss archives in the 1960s is also carefully housed in the cellar stacks in temperature controlled areas.

The castle itself was built in 1432 also contains an historic chapel and a grassed courtyard, in addition to a picturesque lake with hundreds of ducks.

New Zealand launch a great success

August 18, 2010 / Ryan

What a night! A great crowd gathered at Unity Books in Wellington for the New Zealand launch of f2m: the boy within.

Watch the video:

After a brief introduction, Kevin Hague, Green MP and Rainbow spokesperson launched the book. Also speaking were Mani Mitchell, myself and Hazel Edwards, co-author.

A diverse crowd gathered in Unity Books on a wintry evening in July to celebrate the launch of our novel, ‘f2m: the boy within’.

The evening featured an appearance by Hazel Edwards appeared via Skype from Melbourne, which was reminiscent of the collaboration process we used to write the book itself.

Kevin Hague, Green MP launched the book and spoke about his experiences in bookselling and the health sector. He reminded us of the power of books, speaking of the support he found in the gay book section of his public library as a young gay man, and quoted Eleanor Roosevelt on universal human rights.

Mani Mitchell then brought her perspective as counsellor and intersex advisor.

Co-author Hazel Edwards joined us via Skype, in an amazing feat of technological mastery, possibly involving the wind blowing in the right direction.

Thanks to everyone who was involved and the great crew at Unity Books, Ford Street Publishing for all their support, and to everyone who reads ‘f2m: the boy within’.

Crowd at Wellington launch of 'f2m: the boy within'

A crowd gathers

Marion Castree from Unity Books

Kevin Hague MP speaks

Mani Mitchell speaks

Hazel Edwards on Skype from Melbourne, Australia

Ryan Kennedy speaking

An avid reader dives in!