Anne of Green Gables Around the World

When first released, Anne of Green Gables was an immediate success with over 19,000 copies sold in the first five months. The book was printed 10 times in its first year. It was translated into Swedish as early as 1909 and has since been translated into more than a dozen languages. It is believed that more than 50 million copies have been sold worldwide.

In Poland, Montgomery was something of a hero in war time and later, becoming part of a thriving black market trade for the Polish resistance. The Blue Castle was made into a musical in Cracow in the 1980's and its performances were sold out. Today, there is a new L.M. Montgomery School in Warsaw.

Montgomery's work introduces many readers to Canada. For example, as a child immigrant from China, Her Excellency, Adrienne Clarkson, the Governor General of Canada, understood Canadian customs and culture through reading Montgomery's novels. In 2000, Her Excellency became the official Patron of the L.M. Montgomery Institute at the University of Prince Edward Island.

Every two years the L.M. Montgomery Institute at UPEI hosts an international academic conference concerning Montgomery's life, works, culture, and influence. Participants and presenters have come from Australia, Canada, China, England, Ireland, Israel, Scotland, Sweden, Japan, and the United States. Montgomery scholarship is undertaken in countries around the world.

Korean Broadcasting System (the national network) has just aired a one-hour program on Montgomery and Anne of Green Gables. The broadcast is tied to the publication by the network of more than a dozen of Montgomery's Anne novels as well as a promotion whereby 20 Koreans will win a trip to Prince Edward Island in Canada in May.