3RD CONFERENCE ON SOUTH AFRICAN CHILDREN'S LITERATURE
17 - 20 September 2007
North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, South Africa
Invitation to attend conference and call for papers

South Africa is a multilingual and multicultural society in which its people are increasingly taking pride in the development of their own languages and cultural inheritance. Children's literature, and those involved with it, play an important role in creating positive changes in society. By sharing problems, challenges, solutions and successes with each other over a number of years now, a healthy discourse between role players working in the field is starting to develop, and which holds the promise of many co-operative possibilities which could potentially yield a wealth of literary dividends. These endeavours are also supported by government policy.

As was the case with the predeceding conferences, this conference is for all who are currently or who wish to become involved in the production (e.g. oral storytellers, writers, illustrators, translators, publishers), marketing and distribution (e.g. publishers, agents, book suppliers), mediation (e.g. educators/facilitators, parents, librarians, and the media - newspapers, radios, television) and reception (by toddlers, children and teenagers as listeners to, or readers of children's stories, poetry, stage productions and film) of children's literature.

Papers on South African children's literature are welcome, including the following topics:
* Production of children's literature: topics and themes in children's literature, oral storytelling, the writing of stories, poems, drama/stage, publishing.
* Viewpoints with regard to the "needs" of the "market", "going with the global flow" and/or/but seeing writing as an act of resistance against globalization.
* Illustrations in children's books
* The fusion/hybridization of different genres and styles in writing and illustrating children's books.
* The influence of the literary content, style and other aspects of the systems of children's literature of different parts of the world on South African children's literature.
* Marketing and distribution: agents, bookshop industry.
* Mediation: reading stories and poems to children, children's theatre, facilitating literature for toddlers, children and adolescents in all phases of school life, bibliotherapy, narrative therapy.
* Reception: needs and reading patterns of South African toddlers, children and adolescents, readers' response patterns.
* DEAR - Drop Everything and Read, Drop All And Read.
* Humour in children's literature.
* Liminal spaces in South African children's literature, e.g. the exchange of racial, cultural, linguistic and other cultural forms between and across the borders of different languages.
* The history/histories of children's literatures of the different and related South African languages and cultures - aspects of the bridging of difficult times and the development of children's literature within the broad liminal spaces where many South African languages meet.
* Comparative studies that read South African children's literatures in an international context.
* Commonalities and diversities between the language identities of the language groups in the broad South African language landscape, e.g. the commonalities and diversities between children's literature in Nguni-languages and children's literature in Sotho-languages.
* Commonalities and diversities between South Africa as multilingual country and other multilingual countries.
* The advancement of literature for toddlers, children and teenagers in all South African languages.

Papers may be presented in any of the official languages of South Africa. Summaries of papers to be presented in any other language than English, must be accompanied by an English summary and the conference organizers must be contacted at least three months before the conference to arrange for simultaneous interpreting.

A special additional feature of the conference is the addition of a number of writing/ authoring/ hands-on sessions with the theme "Writing (on) South African Children's Literature" -- practical sessions on the writing of scholarly articles, as well as sessions on writing children's stories and poems. These sessions will be presented by renowned writers in the field of children's literature - Prof Maria Nikolajeva (Stockholm, Sweden), author of several academic articles and books as well as fiction, Prof Elwyn Jenkins, author of several articles and books on children's literature, Prof Osa Osayimwense, editor of the journal African Children's and Youth Literature (JACYL), and Prof Hans du Plessis, Director of the ATKV School for Creative Writing in Potchefstroom.

Dates:
30 April 2007: Final submission of title, abstract of paper (250 words) and a short CV (100 words). Registration (payment included).
3 September 2007: Last date for registration (payment included).

Summaries of papers must be sent via e-mail or snail mail to:
Betsie van der Westhuizen
Subject Group Afrikaans and Dutch
School of Languages
Faculty of Arts
North-West University
Potchefstroom Campus
Private Bag 6001
Potchefstroom
2520
South Africa
Tel.: +27 18 2991491 or: 018 2991491
Fax: +27 18 2991562 or: 018 2991562
Email: Betsie.VanDerWesthuizen_at_nwu.ac.za

Enquiries concerning any aspect of the conference program can be addressed to:
Betsie van der Westhuizen
Subject Group Afrikaans and Dutch
Tel.: +27 18 2991491 or: 018 2991491
Fax: +27 18 2991562 or: 018 2991562
Email: Betsie.VanDerWesthuizen_at_nwu.ac.za

OR:
Franci Greyling
Subject Group Creative Writing
School of Languages
Faculty of Arts
North-West University
Potchefstroom Campus
Private Bag X6001
Potchefstroom
2520
South Africa
Tel.: +27 18 2991781 or: 018 2991781
Fax: +27 18 2991562 or: 018 2991562
Email: Franci.Greyling_at_nwu.ac.za

OR:

Dolly Dlavane
School for Teacher Education (Human-oriented School Subjects)
African Languages
Faculty of Education Sciences
North-West University
Potchefstroom Campus
Private Bag X6001
Potchefstroom
2520
South Africa
Tel.: +27 18 2991817 or: 018 2991817
Cell phone: +27 83 766 4096
Fax: +27 18 299 4238
Email: Dolly.Dlavane_at_nwu.ac.za

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Received on Sat Dec 09 2006 - 17:46:26 EST