鲸鱼打火匣

Trent University alumnus Yann Martel has been awarded the prestigious German Book Prize for his novel Life of Pi, the story of a young man who finds himself stranded in a lifeboat with a hyena, an orangutan, a zebra, and a Bengal tiger. Mr. Martel was the only Canadian author shortlisted for the prize.

The award was announced by the Saskatoon Public Library, where Mr. Martel is writer in residence until June 30, 2004. There, Mr. Martel is working on his own writing project which involves rewriting some stories from his first book, The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios, a collection of short stories. The United Kingdom will be reissuing the book and the United States will be publishing it for the first time, states the library's Web site.

Mr. Martel won the prestigious Man Booker Prize in 2002 for Life of Pi. The Man Booker Prize is one of the pre-eminent literary prizes worldwide. Previous winners include Salman Rushdie, Michael Ondaatje, and Margaret Atwood.

A student at Trent University during the 1980s, Mr. Martel graduated with a B.A. in Philosophy in 1985.

 [Pi with Richard Parker, the tiger ] 搬上舞台

2003 Production information

Director: Keith Robinson
Adapted by: Andy Rashleigh
Set and Costume design: Naomi Parker
Production Manager: David Haigh
Lighting Design: Tim Skelly
Administration: Su Holgate

Set, costume and mask production: Naomi Parker, Sarah Worrall, Ian Broscomb

Set and technical assistance: Michael Whitworth

Actors: Conor Alexander, Melody Brown, Sanjay Shelat, Taresh Solanki, Tariq Mahmood, Tony Hasnath

Twisting Yarn was lucky enough to get the exclusive UK rights to adapt the novel into a play. It tells the story of Pi, a young Hindu lad whose family run a zoo in southern India . Pi is a curious boy who is strongly influenced by what is around him, his teacher who is an atheist, his father who is a pragmatist, his own Hindu faith and a fascination with Islam and Christianity. He embraces 3 faiths - much to the embarrassment of his family. Due to the political situation in India , his family decide to emigrate to Canada . They are unable to sell all of their animals so take some on a merchant ship with them. The ship sinks. His family are killed but Pi survives on a lifeboat, together with an orang utan, a hyena, a zebra, a Bengal tiger and his imagination!