Liz Page Honoured by IBBY Ireland at Symposium on Children’s Books and War
IBBY Ireland held a symposium recently on the theme of children’s books in wartime. The symposium was dedicated to the memory of our dear deceased founding member Michael O’Brien and our honoured friend Sue Miller, who died while serving on the board of IBBY Ireland.
Among the speakers was Liz Page, until recently executive director of IBBY, who was invited to speak about the work of IBBY worldwide, especially in the face and aftermath of war. We were very glad to have Liz with us, because we had decided to award her the IBBY Ireland Honour 2024. IBBY Ireland has long admired Liz, and we like to believe that Liz reciprocates.
Citation by Dr Siobhán Parkinson on behalf of the board of IBBY Ireland
I am delighted to commend the recipient of the IBBY Ireland Award 2024 to all friends of IBBY Ireland, and indeed of IBBY worldwide. It is impossible to think of anyone so deserving of this honour, for our awardee has worked tirelessly on behalf of IBBY over almost three decades.
As IBBY people know, working on IBBY’s behalf means working on behalf of children, especially children caught up in war, famine, disaster, displacement and poverty, bringing into their lives, however stricken, the joy of the imaginative life that is the gift of children’s books. It also means working hard to realise Jella Lepman’s dream of building peace through children’s literature. Not only is our awardee deeply committed to the work of IBBY worldwide, but she also has a warm relationship with IBBY Ireland, and is a consistent visitor to this country to participate in IBBY Ireland events.
Liz Page, self-confessed ‘camp-follower’ from Birmingham to Basel; long-time-ago English books specialist with the Interkulturelle Bibliothek für Kinder und Jugendliche in your adopted city of Basel; over many years patient and tolerant right-hand woman to a range of high-profile IBBY leaders, from the legendary Helene Schar and Leena Meissen to Patsy Aldana and Peter Schneck; ‘probably’ the most widely travelled person on the planet; until recently executive director of IBBY worldwide from the mothership in Basel; chair of the 2024 Hans Christian Andersen medal jury; constant support and confidante of so many of us who are committed to IBBY; passionate, engaged, knowledgeable, experienced, cheerful hub of the fantastically fast-spinning wheel that is IBBY’s international work; Englishwoman, Swisswoman and citizen of the world, it is my inexpressible honour to confer, on behalf of IBBY Ireland, this honour on you, my old friend and long-time friend of IBBY Ireland.
Dr Siobhán Parkinson and Dr Patrick Ryan present Liz with charcoal drawing by PJ Lynch
After that joyful moment, the symposium opened with the keynote annual lecture, delivered on this occasion by Professor Andrew Pettegree of Saint Andrews University (in Scotland), which began with an account of Alison Uttley’s (1942) Hare Joins the Home Guard and went on to examine how war was represented in books and magazines for children in Britain around the time of
World War II, and also how children’s literature was used to promote NAZI ideology in Germany. There were depressing parallels to our own war-plagued times.
Click here to listen to Andrew Pettegree's presentation
Professor Andrew Pettegree
On the following morning, picking up on the theme of World War II and its aftermath, Valerie Coghlan (President of Bookbird Inc) gave us a fascinating account of Jella Lepman’s life and work and the founding of IBBY. Valerie’s presentation led seamlessly into Liz Page’s overview of some of IBBY’s work internationally with children caught up in adult conflic
Valerie Coghlan
In the afternoon, we had two extraordinary and very different presentations on Ireland’s great mythic warrior hero Cú Chulainn, from Dr Becky Long and Professor Alan Titley, with an emphasis on the hero as child warrior (Becky) and on the subject of violence in a mythic story retold for young readers (Alan).
Dr Becky Long Professor Alan Titley
Many thanks to Dublin City University for their generous support of this symposium and, as always, to the Arts Council of Ireland for ongoing financial support of IBBY Ireland.
Books at War: The IBBY Ireland Annual Lecture and Symposium - Feb. 9-10 2024
Presented in 2024 in memory of
Michael O’Brien and Sue Miller
DCU IoE, St Patrick’s Campus, Drumcondra
9-10 February 2024
Friday, 9 February
Seamus Heaney Theatre, Cregan Library
6.00pm
Opening remarks
Presentation of the
IBBY Ireland Award 2024
6.15pm
IBBY Ireland Annual Lecture
Hare Joins the Home Guard: Children’s Books and War
Andrew Pettegree FBA
Professor of Modern History at University of Saint Andrews
Andrew Pettegree, the author of The Book at War: Libraries and Readers in a Time of Conflict, addresses the theme of war in children’s books
Followed by a reception
Saturday, 10 February
Room SPC.F218
Symposium
on the theme of war in children’s books
10.00am Registration and coffee
10.30am Valerie Coghlan on Jella Lepman (founder of IBBY): War and Peace
11.30am Liz Page on the international work of IBBY: Making Peace with
Children’s Books
12.30pm Lunch break (Lunch not provided)
1.30pm Rebecca Long: Cúchulainn as a Child Warrior in Irish Children’s Literature
2.30pm Alan Titley, author of a new children’s translation of The Táin
3.30pm Closing remarks
Each one-hour slot includes time for audience Q&A
No charge for attendance, register at EVENTBRITE:
We encourage donations to unicef.ie
Two PhD scholarships for Research into Indigenous Children's Literature
The International Research Society for Children's Literature List <IRSCL@JISCMAIL.AC.UK> On Behalf Of Nicola Daly announces two doctoral scholarships for research into Indigenous picturebooks in Aotearoa.
The organisers acknowledge the Marsden funding which has enabled these scholarships and work into a very important aspect of children's literature.
Full details at the links below:
UNGERER EXHIBITION AND RELATED EVENTS
‘In Memory of the Future’ is an exhibition running from 3 August to 30 September at dIr LexIcon. Over 50 artists will participate by sharing their interpretations of Ungerer’s work and responses to his influence. The show will run 3 August through 30 September at the dIr LexIcon Dún Laoghaire and it is free to the public.
The official opening of ‘In Memory of the Future’ will be at dIr LexIcon, on Thursday, 3 August at 6 pm, with Aria Ungerer. The event is free and all are welcome.
Later, in September, IBBY Ireland will host a lecture by Professor Emer O’Sullivan and other events exploring Ungerer’s life and work. These will take place at Alliance Française on Kildare Street, Dublin. Look out for further details regarding this event.
Tomi Ungerer was an artist and writer, winner of the Hans Christian Andersen medal in 1998, and in 2003 the first Ambassador for Childhood and Education appointed by the Council of Europe. Well-known for a visually stunning, witty, as well as subversive style, he produced over 140 children’s books, and was equally lauded for his adult and political books and artwork. From 1976 until his death in 2019, Ungerer resided in Ireland, dividing his time between West Cork and Strasbourg. His open and friendly presence resulted in his work influencing many of the illustrators, artists and writers who have emerged from Ireland over the last three decades.
Illustrators Ireland is curating this celebration of Tomi Ungerer’s life and work with support from IBBY Ireland, Alliance Française, Centre Culturel Irlandais, the French Embassy in Ireland, the Tomi Ungerer Museum, and Dún Laoghaire and Rathdown County Council. We are grateful for the support of Aria and the Ungerer Family.
Patricia Forde, New Laureate na nÓg
Patricia Forde, New Laureate na nÓg
IBBY Ireland sends its best wishes to Patricia Forde, Ireland’s new Laureate na nÓg. Patricia is a popular writer, with twenty-four children’s books in English and Irish to her name, with two more launching soon. A former primary school teacher, she has worked in TV, founded the Barboró International Arts Festival for Children and is a former director of Galway Arts Festival, Patricia writes picture books and books for children and tweens. Her picture books and novels have won many awards. IBBY Ireland very much looks forward to working with Patricia and supporting her term as Laureate na nÓg.
Michael O'Brien, founder of IBBY Ireland
AGM CANCELLED
As a mark of respect following the death of one of our esteemed Board members and colleagues, the IBBY AGM, scheduled for this evening, has been postponed.
Updated arrangements will be posted shortly.
I Want to Speak Ukranian
Charlie Byrnes Bookshop
Invites you to the launch of
I Want to Speak Ukrainian
by Bláithín Breathnach and Lindsay Myers
at 12 noon on Saturday, May 28th
Charlie Byrnes Bookshop, The Cornstore, Middle Street, Galway
Free Ukrainian copies available on the day
Music will be provided by Our Butterfly Effect whose single 'Will You Be Free'
has just been released in aid of the IrelandforUkraine Fund.
IBBY Statement on the Ukraine Conflict
Throughout history, war affects the innocent and above all the children. They have nothing to do with the impulses of national leaders. They suffer first and they suffer the longest. We know that when children are in a country at war they suffer great trauma even when they escape physical wounds. The same is true for children who suddenly lose their whole sense of safety and peace. This can be deeply traumatic. We believe that literature, particularly literature for children, has the power to change the future, to teach the next generations not to destroy but to negotiate as there is nothing more destructive than war.
IBBY International is deeply concerned about the current invasion by the Russian military into the sovereign state of Ukraine.
IBBY has a long connection with Ukraine. The IBBY section in Ukraine has been an active member of IBBY since 1997 and we have participated several times in the Arsenal Book Festival in Kyiv, where we have also exhibited the IBBY travelling collections of books.
Our thoughts are with our friends and colleagues at IBBY Ukraine, at the Arsenal Book Festival—all of whom are working to bring children and books together.
We must also remember our friends and colleagues at IBBY Russia in Moscow and in St Petersburg, as they struggle to process this tragic situation.
IBBY stands first, last and foremost with the children whose physical and mental health are at risk because of this war, of which they are totally innocent.
IBBY members everywhere deplore the current situation, and we hope that international humanitarian law can be re-established before there is more loss of life.
Since its inception in 1953 following the devastation of World War II, IBBY has worked around the world to promote international understanding through children's books. When children suffer, we work together to support those who serve children and their families, especially in times of crisis.
IBBY Executive Committee
26 February 2022
Call for volunteers IBBY Camp
Project “Silent books: from the world to Lampedusa and back”
All IBBY volunteers who would like to help and support us in inventing new ways of using and enjoying books, can take part in the continuing development of the IBBY library in Lampedusa, which was inaugurated on 16 September 2017.
At a time of uncertainty and change and many migration and integration issues in all our countries, the IBBY library in Lampedusa invites all who are interested in using books as tools for change to come together in Lampedusa. We have to learn and understand what new challenges and possibilities can be gained from this experience.
From Monday, 4 to Saturday, 10 November we are going to Lampedusa to work together on how to create a community library that is at the same time international and local; normal and yet extraordinary. We will discuss and understand and learn from each other.
We will be keeping in mind not only Lampedusa, but also every other place that is a frontier, that has a population of children who need to have opportunities opened up for them for their futures.
Every idea is welcome; every suggestion is considered and assessed. The aims of the IBBY Camp are to:
- promote reading in the Lampedusa Library
- find new ways of working with books and displaced children
- teach a way of being ready to learn from a community
- learn everything there is to know about Silent Books
- meet other passionate IBBY/ book people
- understand more about migration in the Mediterranean.
Librarians, students and those who have experience – you are all invited to Lampedusa, together with authors and illustrators also taking part. During this training week we will set up meetings and readings with the children, sharing every experience with everyone who is participating.
The voluntary workers who keep the library open and functioning all year round are waiting for us, as well as all those who discover that the first real place of culture and welcome in their journey across the Mediterranean is the Lampedusa Library.
All those interested in taking part should contact IBBY for further information.
With kind regards,
Deborah Soria
Project Manager, Italian Section of IBBY
FB BIBLIOTECA IBBY LAMPEDUSA
HOW TO JOIN US IN LAMPEDUSA
How to organize your trip to Lampedusa
Please note that travelling and accommodation are at the expense of the participant, no reimbursement is possible.
By plane:
Direct connections to Lampedusa are available from the Italian airport of Palermo (Sicily) throughout the year. However, the booking service to and from Lampedusa can often be temporarily unavailable. We suggest that you book your flight to Palermo in advance and then buy your ticket to Lampedusa later on. The flights Palermo-Lampedusa are at a fixed cost with no discounts for early booking.
By boat:
A daily direct connection to Lampedusa sails from Porto Empedocle (Agrigento, Sicily). The boat leaves at 23.59 every day and the journey last nearly 9 hours. However, the service is cancelled whenever there is bad weather.
How to find an accommodation
There are many hotels, residences and bed & breakfast offers on the island. Please book something close to “ via Roma 34” the address of the Lampedusa Library
Confirm your attendance
After booking your flight, please send a confirmation email to soria.deb@gmail.com. We will then send you a form to fill in to confirm attendance. You should send your confirmation before 29 September 2019.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes: you can come with your family! Children are welcome.
Yes: you can attend IBBY Camp only for a few days if you cannot stay all week.
No: you are not requested to spend all your time on the project – choose a comfortable mix between holiday and IBBY Camp! But, yes, please, let us know which days and for how many hours you can volunteer.
No: IBBY Italia is not responsible for the organization of your trip.
Yes: if you want to organize workshops or other activities, please write to us and we can discuss and coordinate how to include them in the programme.
No: refunds are not available, all activities are organized on voluntary basis.
Yes: IBBY Italia will provide all materials needed for the activities, such as paper, scissors, glue, coloured paints and pencils, etc.
For more information, please contact Deborah Soria: soria.deb@gmail.com
We look forward to meeting you on Lampedusa!
IBBY Italia
International Board on Books for Young People
Ufficio stampa (press) Maddalena Lucarelli: lucarelli.maddalena@gmail.com
IBBY Italia Secretariat: scrivi@ibbyitalia.com, http://www.ibbyitalia.it