A symposium on the diversification on the children's book market 30.11.

Press release 10.11.2021

Off the Page. Fostering Diversity in Children’s Book Publishing – a symposium on the diversification of structures and players on the book market, hosted by the international project DRIN – Visions for Children’s Literature in Berlin and online.


30.11.2021, 9.00-15.00 (CET)
Venue: Literaturhaus Berlin and online

The DRIN – Visions for Children’s Literature project has been creating networks, organising seminars and training sessions, and working to raise awareness since 2018. Following on from the successful panel discussion about diversity on the children’s book market at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October, the project now invites you to a one-day seminar in Berlin and online on 30.11.2021.

The seminar Off the Page: Fostering Diversity in Children’s Book Publishing brings together the lessons learned and networks created through the DRIN project since 2018. It takes a look behind the structures by bringing in voices from different stages of book production: from education to writing and illustrating, from publishing to how books are used in libraries and schools. The aim of the seminar is to discuss and promote the diversification of structures and players on the children’s book market.

Previous events, networks, and discussions within the project have led to a publication that will be launched during the symposium. In Our Own Words: BIPOC Perspectives in Children’s Literature focuses on the relevance of more diversity, not only in stories but also in the structures of book publishing.
 

Seminar programme and speakers:

- Launch of the publication In Our Own Words: BIPOC Perspectives in Children’s Literature by Chantal-Fleur Sandjon, Jasmina El Bouamraoui, and Warda Ahmed
- Ayse Koca (Norska Barnbokinstitutt, Norway): How can recruitment make a difference in diversity literature?
- Leyla Bautista (Denmark): Challenging the dominant discourse as creative professionals of the global majority- acknowledging the emotional labour
- Ayşe Bosse (Germany): On writing children’s books
- Chafina Bendahman (Netherlands): Every Story Matters
- Nadia Mansour (Aarhus University, Denmark): Negotiating identities and cultures while reading multicultural literature
- Workshop on decolonial practices with Olenka Bordo Benavides (sociologist and educator / RAA Berlin)
- Workshop on critical reading (TBC)
- Vision talk by Prof. Maisha-Maureen Auma (Childhood and Difference, University of Magdeburg-Stendal, Germany): Windows and Mirrors for hyperdiverse realities. Anti/De/Postcolonial Perspektives and Children's Literature  

The seminar will be streamed live on YouTube.

The complete seminar programme with registration and livestream links can be found on the website of the Goethe-Institut Finnland.

The seminar is organised in cooperation with the German Academy for Children’s and Youth Literature, Sankt Michaelsbund, Finland Institute in Germany, Norsk barnebokinstitutt – Norwegian Institute for Children’s Books and the Goethe-Institut Finnland. The DRIN project is funded by the Allianz Cultural Foundation.