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OXFORD, England, Aug 29, 2006 (PR Newswire Europe via COMTEX) -- With Photo
The Special Trustees of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, Oxford University Press and a US publisher are trying to find out how a manuscript of Geraldine McCaughrean's official sequel to JM Barrie's Peter Pan - Peter Pan in Scarlet - found its way into the hands of the New York Times.
The plot and new characters in Peter Pan in Scarlet (published simultaneously in 31 countries in 34 editions on October 5th 2006) are, and remain until publication day, a closely guarded secret. However, Great Ormond Street Hospital and Oxford University Press are today trying to find out how an article in the New York Times, published yesterday, revealed some details that only someone who had read the manuscript could know.
A joint statement from Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity and Oxford University Press reveals that they are curious to find out how the manuscript leaked out:
Obviously we will be trying to find out, in conjunction with the US publisher of Peter Pan in Scarlet, how this has happened. However, as the published article only included a few new details, plus some inaccuracies, we do not feel that the secrecy around the manuscript has been compromised. We are delighted with the interest that publication of Peter Pan in Scarlet has generated and look forward very much to 5th October when so much more will be revealed!
Notes to Editors
In August 2004, the Special Trustees of Great Ormond Street Hospital launched the search for a sequel to JM Barrie's timeless masterpiece, Peter Pan(i). The Hospital owns the copyright and other intellectual property rights of Peter Pan and, to mark the work's centenary publishers and literary agents worldwide were invited to put forward the names of up to two authors to be considered for the project. The author could be a children's or an adult writer and of any nationality. Entrants were asked to submit a sample chapter and synopsis. Geraldine McCaughrean was the author chosen from a field of nearly 200 entries from around the world.
Sir James Matthew Barrie bequeathed the copyright to Peter Pan to Great Ormond Street Hospital in 1929 and since then the royalties have been a significant but confidential source of income for the Hospital. JM Barrie died in 1937.
Geraldine McCaughrean was born and educated in Enfield, North London, the third and youngest child of a fireman and a teacher. She trained as a teacher, worked for ten years in publishing, and in 1988 became a full-time writer.
Since then, Geraldine has written over 130 books and plays for both adults and children and has won the Carnegie Medal, Guardian Children's Fiction Award, Whitbread Children's Book of the Year (three times), Smarties Bronze (four times), UK Readers' Association Award, and wrote the Blue Peter Book of the Year 2000. In 2002, The Kite Rider and Stop the Train were both shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, with the latter being Highly Commended. Her most recent novel, The White Darkness, was shortlisted for the 2005 Whitbread Children's Book Award.
Geraldine lives in Berkshire with her husband John and their daughter, Ailsa.
(i)The first ever performance of JM Barrie's Peter Pan took place on 27 December, 1904 at the Duke of York Theatre in London.
A picture accompanying this release is available through the PA Photowire. It can be viewed at www.mediapoint.press.net or www.prnewswire.co.uk."
CONTACT: For interviews or features on Peter Pan in Scarlet, please contact Catherine Stokes on +390818047533 or e-mail: stokes.catherine@gmail.com. For media enquiries about Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity please contact Laura Redmond on +44-(0)207-916-5678 or e-mail: redmondl@gosh.nhs.uk Copyright (C) 2006 PR Newswire Europe ``` SUBJECT CODE: CHI
Topic BKS Topic HEA Topic New York United Kingdom (C) 2006 PR Newswire Europe. All Rights Reserved
