To mark World Book Day, we recognise the literary achievements of an Oxford Saïd recent graduate, a member of staff and a student.
World Book Day invites readers to share their commitment to changing lives through a love of books. With a mission to promote reading for pleasure, and offer every child and young person the opportunity to have a book of their own.
Donna Avellana Künzler is a Graduate in Diploma in Strategy and Innovation. Her book The Overseas Fabulous Pinay which delves into how to thrive abroad, won the 2021 Best Indie Book Award for Non-Fiction: Living Abroad.
Donna commented: 'I consider my book as the ultimate living abroad companion - what I love most about my book is that it’s not like any other self-help book - it’s easy to read, informative, relatable and entertaining - you’ll feel like you’re chatting with a friend giving you the rundown of how it’s like to live overseas and how it should be done!'
'I wrote the book as a way of giving back and making a social impact. It’s a fact that moving abroad is one of the most stressful events that can occur in one’s lifetime, so my aim is to really to help make it smoother by educating and empowering my readers with my knowledge and experience from years of living overseas. My hope is that a reader’s quality of life improves because of my book.'
Donna also shared how the Diploma in Strategy and Innovation programme prepared her for a career as an author: 'The DipSI programme has equipped me with invaluable knowledge and skills that I am able apply in my day-to-day work and in my undertaking of being an author. I have a totally different perspective of how to define and implement strategy, how to address nascent markets, globalization, and in achieving a balance between exploit and explore. I also value the network that I have gained that continues to enrich and open doors to more opportunities.'
