The IRSCL conference in Dublin was a wonderful combination of challenging and provocative lectures and papers, along with a fun social atmosphere where children's literature scholars from all over the world intermingled. I enjoyed moving from a presentation on how children perceive the constructions of childhood in one session, to talking with a lecturer from Egypt about children's literature in her country while sipping wine at a library reception where we were shown a first edition of Gulliver's Travels. Trinity College made for a stunning and historical central location, and the overall organization was excellent. It felt well worth the travel and expense to get such an overview of scholarly approaches from many countries and individuals, and to build friendships that I'm sure will last for years to come.

“Thank you for a wonderful conference”

“It was exciting to be able to stay in Trinity”

“Superb venue”

“I had a wonderful time”

“ I enjoyed the Dublin congress tremendously, both intellectually and socially”

“ … very few weak papers and many good ones”

“I received lots of useful feedback on my own work as well as ideas from other sessions”

“It was my first but definitely not last visit to Dublin”

“My congratulations on this fine achievement!”

“Thank you for a magnificent conference!”

“ …the gala dinner was terrific”

“ … best conference meal I have ever had, bar none”

“Thank you very much for an extremely well planned and very, very interesting IRSCL conference in Dublin”

“Simply an overwhelming experience both in relation to the scholarly content as well as the venue, the city and the cultural events”

“So many interesting perspectives and experiences, and so many nice and interesting people!”

“I am grateful for all your efforts to make this event successful”

“ … truly great” 

“This conference ranks among the top I have ever attended”

“ I would like to say you THANK YOU VERY MUCH again! ”

The 17th biennial congress of IRSCL, ‘Expectations and Experiences: Children, Childhood and Children's Literature', was held in the venerable Trinity College Dublin in August 2005. Delegates from thirty countries attended, and there was a good local contingent also, in the form of Irish academics, writers, illustrators, librarians, teachers and people personally or professionally involved with children's books as well as in the formal study of children's literature.

The conference ran for four full (to bursting) days, each starting with a keynote plenary. The keynote speakers were the well-known Irish literary scholar and champion of children's literature as an academic discipline, Declan Kiberd of University College Dublin; the acclaimed and beloved British children's poet, broadcaster and performer, Michael Rosen ; the well-known American art historian and critic Anne Higonnet ; and one of Ireland's very finest poets, currently based at Princeton, Paul Muldoon .

Running alongside the concurrent presentations of papers on the conference's four strands ( childhood and families , childhood and morality , childhood on display and childhood and theory ) were three symposia of special local interest: one on childhood and families in fiction with the children's writers Siobhán Parkinson (Ireland) and Gillian Cross (Britain); one on Irish picturebooks with Ireland's three leading illustrators, Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick, PJ Lynch and Niamh Sharkey; one on poetry , with the Irish poets Áine Ní Ghlin and Rita Anne Higgins; and in addition two symposia presented by the NorChiLit group on Hans Christian Andersen to celebrate the HCA bicentenary.

There are people who say that taking a bus in Dublin is a literary experience in itself. (Yeah, say the locals, what literary experience would that be? Oh, right, Waiting for Godot .) Certainly it is a lively city, with more pub life than you could shake a PowerPoint presentation at, as no doubt some of our more adventurous delegates discovered for themselves. These same adventurers were in good voice, in any case, at the final céilí of the conference. On the programme, this was billed coyly as ‘conference dinner'. Hah! Fooledya! Though there was indeed dinner and plenty of it, and more delicious than is usual at such events.

Foreign delegates, please note: ‘Molly Malone' is not considered comme il faut in the better circles of Dublin life. You'll know better next time. Modify your expectations, people, and improve your experiences – or words to that effect.

Seriously minded delegates took their dose of Dublin more sedately, preferring to tag along on one of the pub crawls, I mean, walking tours of the city, led by O'Brien Press authors. (O'Brien Press is Ireland's leading publishing house for children's and young adult books. This is a shameless plug, but they deserve it, and so do you.)

Other entertainments included

• a reception offered at the Mansion House by the Lord Mayor (who is a lady, not a lord, but this is Ireland, anything can be an isomorph – my favourite word of the conference – of anything); I attended this and there was Far Too Much Wine
• a reception hosted by Dublin City Public Libraries at their splendid new premises in an old building (See what I mean about isomorphs? Think ‘morph' and you get it.)
• a visit to the studio of the Irish writer-illustrator Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick, where they could see for themselves evidence of the processes Marie-Louise so spectacularly presented at the symposium on Irish picturebooks
• the most unusual privilege of a private viewing of Irish prints and drawings at the National Library of Ireland
• viewing Ireland's most precious ancient treasure, the illuminated gospel known as the Book of Kells, housed on campus in Trinity College
• a ‘hooley' at the Old Jameson Distillery –‘hooley' is a word in no particular language but general use, meaning a party with drink, though it is not possible to imagine one without drink, at least not at the Old Jameson Distillery

IRSCL and the local organizer cum steam engine, Valerie Coghlan, most sincerely thank those organisations who supported the conference; their assistance was especially valuable and necessary in the absence of government support of any description. Thanks are also due to Conference Partners, who do exactly what it says on the tin: they partner conference organisers, and they do so splendidly.