Author Teresita Lourdes Perez, left, and CHamoru translator Maria Ana Tenorio Rivera hold copies of their book, “CHamoru Legends: A Gathering of Stories” at the book’s launch on Nov. 14. The double-sided dual-language book was announced this month as a winner of an Independent Publisher Book Award for Best Regional Fiction. (Photo courtesy of the University of Guam) ()
The University of Guam Press won its second Independent Publisher Book Award for “CHamoru Legends: A Gathering of Stories” written by Teresita Lourdes Perez and translated into CHamoru by Maria Ana Tenorio Rivera.
The book received a bronze medal in the category of Best Regional Fiction in the Australia/New Zealand/Pacific Rim region.
The Independent Publisher Book Awards is the longest running unaffiliated book contest for independent presses. Since 1996, it has become known as the “world’s largest book awards contest” and has “identified a reading list of progressive, thought-provoking books,” according to the program. Authors and publishers worldwide enter to compete for gold, silver, and bronze medals in 85 general categories, 12 regional categories, and 11 e-book categories.
Released in November, “CHamoru Legends: A Gathering of Stories” is a collection of reimagined classic CHamoru legends featuring artwork from 12 local artists. It is a double-sided hard-cover book featuring the legends in English on one side and the same legends in CHamoru on the other.
“The beautiful thing about this [book] is it was designed to incorporate lots of different perspectives — the perspective of art, the perspective of multiple languages … It is a testament to the multiple ways that a story can be told,” said Perez, who also included personal reflections in the book connecting the legends to her life and family stories. “I was not left alone in this process — I didn’t want to be left alone in the process of selecting the legends and in the process of drafting the legends because legends are a community voice.”
The award is the second that UOG Press has received from IPBA. Last year, the UOG Press publication “Lina’la’: Portraits of Life at Litekyan” won a bronze medal for Best Regional Non-Fiction.
A second volume of “CHamoru Legends” is in production and will feature legends from the Northern Marianas Islands.
The book can be purchased at www.uog.edu/uogpress, on Amazon, or at local bookstores, including the Triton Store at the University of Guam, Bestseller, the Guam Museum gift shop, and Faith Bookstore.
