UBC colloquium on Atlantic Canadian children’s literature November 20

logo_nowordsNo registration necessary. Refreshments provided.
Wednesday, November 20, 11:30 pm – 12:30 pm

“Connecting Authors and Readers: Researching and Documenting Atlantic Canadian Books for Youth”

Vivian Howard, Associate Dean Academic and Associate Professor, School of Information Management, Dalhousie University

Location: Dodson Room, Level 3, Chapman Learning Commons, Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, 1961 East Mall, UBC

Abstract of the Talk: In their recent history of Canadian children’s illustrated books, Gail Edwards and Judith Saltman observe that “the children’s literature of a nation is a microcosm of that country’s literary and sociocultural values, beliefs, themes, and images, including those of geography, history, and identity.” This lecture will explore the importance of regional Atlantic Canadian children`s literature and the development of Sea Stacks (http://www.seastacks.ca), an authoritative web-based resource featuring information on and about Atlantic Canadian books, authors and illustrators for children and youth.  Sea Stacks includes comprehensive annotated bibliographies of primary texts, author and illustrator profiles, videotaped interviews, analysis, and criticism.

This presentation will demonstrate the use of Sea Stacks for research and will conclude with a discussion of the relevance of Ian McKay’s provocative 1994 text The Quest for the Folk: Antimodernism and Cultural Selection in Twentieth-Century Nova Scotia to an analysis of contemporary Nova Scotian picture books.

Biography of the Speaker: Vivian Howard is associate professor in the School of Information Management and Associate Dean Academic of the Faculty of Management at Dalhousie University.  Her research interests include barriers and motivators for pleasure reading, particularly for young readers; social reading initiatives; and Atlantic Canadian literature for children and teens.  She is the editor of the YA Hotline newsletter and is the principal investigator of a research team developing the Sea Stacks website.

 

Photo credit: www.seastacks.ca