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Conference program
Conference program
Lit Up! Celebrating Children's Literature
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Friday 12 May 2023
8.30 – 9.00 Registration Macquarie Room
9.00 – 9.10Welcome to Country Metcalfe Auditorium
9.10 – 9.15Welcome to the State Library of NSW Metcalfe Auditorium
Dr John Vallance, State Librarian
9.15 – 9.20Welcome to Lit Up! Celebrating Children's Literature Metcalfe Auditorium
Pauline Fitzgerald, State Library NSW
9.20 – 10.00 Keynote: Jeannie Baker Metcalfe Auditorium
Be the first to hear about the making of Jeannie’s latest picture book Desert Jungle. Inspired by a research trip to the Sonoran Desert in Mexico and illustrated with richly detailed and layered mixed-media collage, Desert Jungle is a gentle family story of awakening to nature. Jeannie will also speak about the 35th anniversary edition of Where the Forest Meets the Sea.
Jeannie Baker is the author and illustrator of a number of children’s picture books, including the award-winning Where the Forest Meets the Sea and the critically acclaimed dual-language picture book Mirror. Her characteristic use of collage and mixed media to create detailed and elaborate collages is stunning and unique. Originally from the UK, Jeannie lives in Australia.
She was the IBBY Australian nominee for the prestigious 2018 Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration.
Find Jeannie at www.jeanniebaker.com
10.05 – 10.45 Keynote: Safdar AhmedMetcalfe Auditorium
Safdar Ahmed will critically discuss the inherently subjective nature of graphic journalism and its role in deepening notions of contemporary witnessing. Safdar will do this with reference to his award-winning graphic novel Still Alive, which seeks both to narrativise the experiences of refugees who came to Australia, as well as throw a light on how such narratives are received, and what the spectator’s moral responsibility or role as a potential ally might be.
Safdar Ahmed is an artist who lives on the traditional lands of the Gandangara people, known by its colonial name of Hornsby. He is a founding member of the community art organisation Refugee Art Project, for which he conducts regular art workshops with people of a refugee background in Western Sydney. In 2011 he published Still Alive, a graphic novel about Australia’s refugee detention system, which won the 2022 Book of the Year in the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, and the Eve Pownall Award for the Children’s Book Council Australia.
10.45 – 11.15 Morning tea Macquarie Room
11.15 – 11.45 Session 1 options learning Centre/Gallery Room
Why is Persepolis illustrated in black and white? Why do the characters in Maus wear animal masks? Being aware of, understanding, and appreciating design choices can enhance the reading of graphic novels for pleasure and render them valuable texts for close analysis across grades and subjects. In this workshop, we’ll explore how going ‘behind the scenes’ can enhance the graphic novel experience for teachers and students.
Di’s doctoral research focused on teachers’ experiences with graphic novels in the classroom, for a range of outcomes, across a range of grades. Although now retired as a teacher librarian, Di continues her advocacy for the use of graphic novels in schools. She is also the President of the School Library Association of NSW and on the editorial team for Scan, the NSW Department of Education’s professional learning journal.
Take a journey back through the pages of our history with award winning Indigenous illustrator, Charmaine Ledden-Lewis, and explore the ways in which children’s literature has captured perceptions and attitudes towards Aboriginal story-telling over time. In this session, we will look at how those perceptions have evolved, whose voices we are learning from, and the importance of representation & diversity in Indigenous picture books.
Charmaine Ledden-Lewis is a proud Bundjalung woman and award winning illustrator, residing on Dharug & Gundungurra Country in the Blue Mountains, NSW. Charmaine has collaborated with such celebrated authors as Bruce Pascoe, Cathy Freeman, Edith Wright and Dr Anita Heiss, bringing vivid and emotive visual story telling to each book she creates. Charmaine is passionate about sharing First Nations experiences and perspectives, through the language of art & visual literacy with everyone she meets, and encourages all to transcend inhibition and find their creative outlet.
11.45 – 12.15 Session 2 options Learning Centre/Gallery Room
In this presentation, Jade will explore some of the common challenges experienced when trying to engage teenagers in wide reading for leisure. The presentation will cover a range of tried and tested strategies that can help improve teenagers’ attitudes towards reading, including (but not limited to) the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge. Whilst this presentation focuses heavily on the secondary setting, many of the strategies will be applicable in a primary setting.
Jade started her teaching career as an English and History teacher, but retrained as a Teacher Librarian after seeing the devastating impact the loss of her school’s library to fire had on her students. She is an avid reader of YA fiction and is passionate about engaging teenagers in reading for leisure. Her current position involves overseeing the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge as Premier’s Program Officer – Reading and Spelling.
Is the diversity we see in the world represented in the books our kids read?
Scott will talk through how he struggled to find representation for his son in children’s books, and how that led to the creation of some of his most popular works. He will introduce his guidelines for diversifying stories, and how we can create a bookshelf that allows children to not only feel represented, but to feel seen.
Scott Stuart is the author of multiple best-selling children's books including My Shadow is Pink, How to Be A Real Man and Brain is Not Always Right. His books have been adapted for the stage and screen, as well as receiving nominations for Children’s Book of the Year and Picture Book of the Year, and his empowering messages have been seen over 100 million times on social media.
12.15 – 12.45 Session 3 options Learning Centre/ Gallery room
Don’t miss this opportunity to find out about new releases, emerging trends and authors to watch in 2023. Paul will also share his tips and tricks for building a reading culture in your school. This session is suitable for both primary and secondary school librarians.
Paul Macdonald owns the award-winning The Children’s Bookshop which has been a Sydney literary institution since 1971. Paul has a Master of Education degree and worked for almost 20 years as a teacher of Upper Primary and Secondary.
Paul not only manages The Children’s Bookshop but is also a consultant working with numerous schools focusing on building reading cultures and he is currently completing his PhD focusing on Australian young-adult literature.
In this session curator Sarah Morley will provide a glimpse into the Library’s extensive collection of original illustrations, draft manuscripts and collections relating to children’s books. She will provide some insight into the difficult choices she made in selecting those that appear in the exhibition Imagine … the Wonder of Picture Books and those that didn’t make the cut. Sarah will also highlight our collection strengths and recent acquisitions.
Sarah Morley is a curator at the State Library. She has worked extensively with the Library’s archival and printed collections. Focusing on manuscripts, rare books and children’s literature, Sarah's work encompasses collection acquisition, access, promotion and interpretation. She has curated numerous exhibitions and displays for the Library, most recently Imagine … the Wonder of Picture Books.
12.45 - 1.15 Lunch Dixson Room
1.15 - 2.15 Up Close with the Collection Various locations
Attendees to choose one collection talk (30 minutes) and visit the Imagine exhibiton (30 minutes).
In 2020 the Library acquired the Pamela Allen archive, including 460 original illustrations for 56 of Allen’s books and over 76 boxes of manuscript material. Guided by curator Sarah Morley, you will get up close to some old favourites such as Mr McGee, Mr Archimedes and everyone’s favourite duck, Alexander. You will also experience Pamela Allen’s creative process as you view sketches and mock-ups for her books
Sarah Morley is a curator at the State Library. She has worked extensively with the Library’s archival and printed collections. Focusing on manuscripts, rare books and children’s literature, Sarah's work encompasses collection acquisition, access, promotion and interpretation. She has curated numerous exhibitions and displays for the Library, most recently Imagine … the Wonder of Picture Books.
As the Library houses the greatest Shakespeare collection in Australia, there is no better place to see some extraordinary items. Maggie Patton, Manager of Research and Discovery, has opened the safe and brought out priceless Shakespearean treasures for your viewing pleasure.
Maggie Patton is the Head of Collection Acquisition and Curation at the State Library of New South Wales. She is responsible for managing the development of the Library's collections and leading research and curation of programs and activities that engage readers and visitors with the significant and unique collections. Maggie also undertakes research on the collections for exhibitions and publications and has particular expertise in rare books and maps.
Miles Franklin is a central figure in Australia’s literary landscape and the State Library holds a rich collection of her diaries, manuscripts, artefacts, published works and more. In this session, led by Dr Rachel Franks, you will gain a rare insight into the life and work of this great Australian writer and have the chance to see iconic collection material.
Rachel Franks is the Coordinator, Scholarship at the State Library of New South Wales. She holds PhDs in Australian crime fiction (CQU) and in true crime texts (Sydney). An award-winning writer, she is the author of An Uncommon Hangman: The Life and Deaths of Robert ‘Nosey Bob’ Howard (NewSouth, 2022). Rachel is a qualified educator and librarian and has presented at numerous conferences as well as on radio and television.
Discover the creative processes of multi-award-winning author and illustrator Shaun Tan, from his early brainstorming notes and pencil sketches, to storyboards and through to the final large-scale paintings that appear in his celebrated book Dog (2020). Specialist Librarian Maria Savvidis will reveal the story behind this important acquisition and share her insights into Shaun Tan’s work.
Maria Savvidis is a Specialist Librarian in the acquisition and curatorial branch and President of Oral History NSW. She is passionate about contemporary collecting and diversity across formats, with a special interest in oral history interviews and artists’ books. She curated the Library’s 2019 display Stories in the Sun showcasing the golden age of Australian children’s picture book illustrations.
Join the Learning Services team for a visual literacy tour of this wonderful exhibition. Learn how to ‘read’ the illustrations and develop skills to use in your classroom tomorrow. Find out about the programs offered for primary and secondary students designed to develop visual literacy skills.
The Learning Services team is enthusiastic, creative and highly skilled. They are all qualified and experienced teachers and teacher librarians from both primary and secondary schools. The team designs and delivers programs for K-12 students and teachers as well as family audiences and our focus is building connections to the extraordinary collections held at the State Library.
2.20 - 3.00 Keynote: Gabrielle Wang Metcalfe auditorium
Australian Children’s Laureate for 2022 and 2023 Gabrielle Wang takes you inside her Laureate theme ‘Imagine a Story’. She will also explore the important role of audio books, visual literacy and diversity in children’s literature, as well as the importance of public and school libraries in supporting creativity in the lives of young people.
Gabrielle Wang is an author and illustrator born in Melbourne of Chinese heritage. Her maternal great-grandfather came to Victoria from China during the gold rush, and her father was from Shanghai. Her stories are a blend of Chinese and Western culture with a touch of fantasy.
Brought to you in partnership with the Australian Children’s Laureate Foundation.
3.00 - 3.30 Farewell and Prize Draw Metcalfe auditorium
In this final session of the day Pauline Fitzgerald, Manager, Learning Services will showcase the wealth of learning resources available at the State Library. Resources include onsite excursions, virtual excursions and rich learning resources designed to connect students and teachers to the Library from wherever they are in NSW. You will also find out about our exciting new junior membership program. Atlas Club is designed for curious kids and focuses on the fun, quirky and compelling stories of our collection that appeal to a child’s natural sense of wonder. In this session two lucky schools will win a free excursion to the State Library and all participants will receive a copy of our picture book The Best Cat, the Est Cat.
Pauline Fitzgerald is the Manager of Learning Services at the State Library of NSW. She is a primary-trained teacher with experience in diverse learning environments including primary and secondary schools as well as cultural organisations. Pauline has taught in Public, Independent and Catholic schools in NSW. Pauline joined the State Library in 2009 when Learning Services was established and was instrumental in the establishment and development of the branch. The focus of her work has been the design and development of engaging learning experiences for children and young people. Learning Services offer programs for K-12 students and teachers onsite, online and on tour around NSW. Since her appointment in 2020 she has led the development of extensive digital resources and virtual excursions.
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