ISSCL Biennial Conference: Be Merry and Wise

Irish Society for the Study of Children's Literature

Biennial Conference

Theme: Be Merry and Wise: Children’s Literature from Chapbooks to the Digital Age.

Date: Friday 28^th and Saturday 29^th March 2014.

Venue: An Foras Feasa, NUI Maynooth.
 

Call for Papers

Children’s literature has always existed on a continuum between entertainment and instruction. Proposals are invited on the overall theme and associated topics in the context of both Irish and international literature for children, and also in relation to print and other media. Papers in both the Irish language and English language will be most welcome. Cuirfear fáilte roimh chainteanna as Gaeilge agus as Béarla.

Possible topics include but are not confined to:

• Textbooks and children’s literature;
• Children’s literature in the classroom;
• Digital humanities and the study of children’s literature;
• Safety and cautionary tales;
• Youth culture and the media;
• Retelling and repackaging;
• The power of the visual;
• Drama and performance;
• The history of publishing for children.

Proposals of 300 words maximum should be sent to Dr. Anne Markey, ISSCL President.
Email: Anne.Markey@nuim.ie
 Subject line should read “ISSCL Proposal” to arrive no later than Monday 9^th December 2013.

www.isscl.com

Newest Issue of Through the Looking Glass available online

The most recent issue of Through the Looking Glass, an online journal featuring scholarly explorations in children's literature, is available for viewing at this link. General Editor David Beagley states that articles in this issue "explore the huge changes that loom in children's and YA literature through the new world of online media."

Articles that exemplify this include Stephanie di Palma's "Blogging or Believing? Do themes presented by scholarly discourse correlate with the casual conversations of people through the world wide web?" and David Beagley's "Blurring the Boundaries: the changing i-Discourse of children's literature."

This issue also introduces a new column, called A Tortoise's Tale, which features school and classroom issues and ideas. In the inaugural contribution, Amanda von der Lohe discusses the consequences of censoring classic literature in an article titled "Old Jim Won’t Be a N*gger No More: Ramifications of Using Censored Versions of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in the Classroom."

CFP, IBBY UK Conference, July 2012 deadline

Call For Papers

By achuka on May 21, 2012

A Call for Papers on the theme of "Beyond the Book"

posted on behalf of the: 19th IBBY UK/NCRCL MA Conference

Now, more than ever, people are debating what constitutes a book. With the development of ebooks, apps, self-publishing and fan fiction ­- as well as the popularity of book adaptations to film, TV, stage and other venues - book boundaries are extended and broken all the time. The boundaries of children's books have always been flexible, with merchandise included with John Newbery's A Little Pretty Pocket Book, published in 1744 and J.M. Barrie's classic character Peter Pan appearing in various guises before being immortalised in fiction.

The 19th IBBY UK/NCRCL MA conference will consider the many incarnations of stories that take place 'beyond the book', as well as the impact of children's books on wider culture, including discussions of the publishing industry and book design, digital developments, marginalia, adaptation, festivals, museums, collections, and more.

The conference will include keynote presentations by well-known writers, publishers and academics.

Proposals are welcomed for workshop sessions (lasting about 20 minutes) on the following or other relevant issues/areas from any period in the history of international children's literature:

• The book industry, including editorial and marketing, production, cover design and other peritextual features, and distribution channels;
• Digital developments, including apps, websites, ebooks, self-publishing, blogs, social networks;
• Adaptations beyond the book, including film, TV, radio, theatre, as well as book trailers, YouTube videos, music, etc.;
• Marginalia, and other evidence of how children read/interact with books;
• Blogging
• Fan fiction
• Websites, such as Pottermore, that affect the way readers perceive and understand the worlds constructed from books;
• Merchandising, book festivals;
• Museums, book collections, societies;
• The role of books/stories in popular culture;

We welcome contributions from interested academics and other researchers in any of these areas. Brief accounts of the papers that are presented at the conference will be published in the Spring 2013 issue of IBBY UK, the journal of IBBY UK. The deadline for proposals is July 31st 2012. Please email a 200-word abstract (for a 20-minute paper), along with a short biography and affiliation to Laura Atkins: L.Atkins@roehampton.ac.uk