IRSCL News

The Association for Research in Cultures of Young People held its inaugural meetings at the June 2008 Canadian Congress of the Social Sciences and Humanities at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. The new Association aims to promote research, in Canada and internationally, across a range of disciplines and to create opportunities for collaborative research. Any cultural producer, academic, or professional engaged in the production, research, teaching, or study of cultures and texts of young people is welcome to join the Association. For further information, contact Heather Snell at the Centre for Research in Young People’s Texts and Cultures, University of Winnipeg, Canada.

Our member Maria Nikolajeva (IRSCL President 1993-1997) has been elected to a new position as Professor of Education in the Faculty of Education at University of Cambridge, UK. Currently Professor at the Department of Literature and History of Ideas, Stockholm University, Maria will be linked to the PLACE (Pedagogy, Language, Arts & Culture in Education) academic group at Cambridge.

Lillemor Torstensson from the Swedish Institute for Children’s Books (Sbi) announces that two posthumously-published books by Göte Klingberg (1918-2006), the ‘father of Swedish children’s literature research’ are available in pdf format from the Sbi website. The books are part of the series “Studies published by the Swedish Institute for Children’s Books”.

The publications are: Facets of children’s literature research: collected and revised writings, and Pictures in 19th century international children’s books: An introductory study. To read about Göte Klingberg, see this website.

For further information about the books, please contact Lillemor Torstensson, at: lillemor.torstensson@sbi.kb.se

Morag Styles has asked me to give you advance notice of an international conference, Poetry and Childhood, to be held on 20-21 April 2009, at the British Library, London. Confirmed speakers are Andrew Motion (Poet Laureate), Michael Rosen (Children’s Laureate), Carol Ann Duffy, Jackie Kay, and Lissa Paul. For more information, please email Hannah Drake at: hvd21@cam.ac.uk

On April 1 I asked for support for the International Institute for Children’s Literature in Osaka, which is in danger of being closed down by the governor of Osaka prefecture. Mikio Mukogawa, the Director of IICLO, reports that 32 organisations (including IRSCL) sent letters asking the governor to reconsider. In addition, many individuals have signed a petition and registered their support for the institute. Mikio Mukogawa says that a decision will be made by the end of July. Watch this space for more news.

Bettina Kümmerling-Meibauer and Astrid Surmatz invite papers for their conference Astrid Lindgren: Internationality and Intermediality, to be held at Växjö University, Sweden, 18-20 September 2008. See the conference website for information.

Our member Jean Webb has established the International Research Centre for Children’s Literature, Literacy and Creativity at the University of Worcester. Please visit the website for more information.

Our member Ruth Bottigheimer has recently posted a Bibliography of British Books for Children and Adolescents 1470-1770 for the use of scholars of children’s literature. The bibliography includes instructional manuals and school textbooks along with books of manners, religious instruction, and chapbooks. Ruth has also provided a brief essay on the parameters of the bibliography, explaining the types of material in the bibliography, the meaning of ‘children’ and ‘adolescents’ in the context of the bibliography, the question of successive editions, a book’s fingerprint, edition number, printruns, dating, titles, authors, printers, publishers, place of publication for early British children’s books, genre, illustrations, measurements, readership, format, location, and observations about individual books.

A bibliography like this can never be complete, and additional information from users will be incorporated on an annual basis.

The bibliography can be accessed by googling ‘Bottigheimer Bibliography’.

The first issue of our new journal, International Research in Children’s Literature, will be published in July. The journal is the first to profile international research in the field of children’s literature and will be a must-read journal for students and scholars. IRSCL members can subscribe at a reduced rate. To subscribe to IRCL please go to the Edinburgh University Press website.

Congratulations to IRSCL members Vanessa Joosen (University of Antwerp, Belgium) and Ulyana Hnidets (National University, Lviv, Ukraine), who have successfully defended their doctoral theses. Well done, doctors!