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KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
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Prof Jack Zipes
Jack Zipes is professor of German at the University of Minnesota and has previously held professorships at New York University, the University of Munich, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Florida. In addition to his scholarly work, he is an active storyteller in public schools and has worked with children's theatres in France, Germany, Canada, and the United States.
Among his many publications are Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion (1983), The Brothers Grimm: From Enchanted Forests to the Modern World (1988), Fairy Tale as Myth/Myth as Fairy Tale (1994), Creative Storytelling: Building Community, Changing Lives (1995), Sticks and Stones: The Troublesome Success of Children’s Literature from Slovenly Peter to Harry Potter (2000), Speaking Out: Storytelling and Creative Drama for Children (2004), and Why Fairy Tales Stick: The Evolution and Relevance of a Genre (2006). He has also translated The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm (1987) and The Fairy Tales of Hermann Hesse (1995) and edited The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales (2000), and The Great Fairy Tale Tradition (2001).
He is the editor of the Norton Anthology of Children’s Literature (2005) and recently served as editor-in-chief of the new edition of The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature. He has written numerous articles for various journals in the United States, Great Britain, Germany, Canada, and France. |
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Neil Gaiman
Bestselling author Neil Gaiman has long been one of the top writers in modern comics, as well as writing books for readers of all ages. He is listed in the Dictionary of Literary Biography as one of the top ten living post-modern writers, and is a prolific creator of works of prose, poetry, film, journalism, comics, song lyrics, and drama. We will (unfairly) concentrate here on his work for children.
Gaiman's first book for children, The Day I Swapped My Dad For Two Goldfish, illustrated by Dave McKean, came out in May 1997, was listed by Newsweek as one of the best children's books of the year, and was reissued to acclaim by Bloomsbury in 2004. His children's novel Coraline, published in 2002, was also a New York Times and international bestseller and an enormous critical success; it won the Elizabeth Burr/ Worzalla, the BSFA, the Hugo, the Nebula, and the Bram Stoker awards and has made it into the curriculum and recommended reading lists in many schools systems around the world. Director Henry Selick is making the film Coraline, with music provided by the band They Might Be Giants.
In 2003 The Wolves in the Walls, illustrated by his longtime collaborator Dave McKean, was published, and it was named by the New York Times as one of the best illustrated books of the year. It is currently being made into an opera by the Scottish National Theatre. 2003 also saw the appearance of the first Sandman graphic novel in seven years, Endless Nights, which was published by DC Comics and was the first graphic novel to make the New York Times bestseller list.
His upcoming picture books include The Dangerous Alphabet with Gris Grimly and Crazy Hair with Dave McKean. A collection of stories for young adults, M is for Magic, will be released by Bloomsbury/Allen & Unwin in May 08 and his next book for kids will be The Graveyard Book.
Born and raised in England, Neil Gaiman now lives near Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has somehow reached his forties and still tends to need a haircut. |
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Wendy Cooling
Wendy’s professional life includes working as an English teacher, deputy and acting-head-teacher. During that time she also worked as an advisory teacher to help schools and colleges set up library resource centres and develop independent styles of learning. At the end of 1990 she left teaching to run The Children’s Book Foundation (now Book Trust). This involved her in talking and writing about children’s books and reading, organising National Children’s Book Week, overseeing the annual production of Children’s Books of the Year and working on a range of projects to promote reading.
She introduced Bookstart which aims to encourage parents and carers to read to their children from a very early age. She continues to act as Senior Consultant to Bookstart, now a very successful national project giving three packs of books to pre-school children.
Currently Wendy works as a consultant to a range of children’s publishers, reviewing books, running in-service training sessions for teachers and librarians, making presentations at conferences and working with children on reading-related projects. Her many other projects include editing anthologies, judging various book prizes, and working on the boards of many organisations relating to children.
In 2006 she was honoured with the Eleanor Farjeon Award for distinguished service to the world of children’s books. |
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Shaun Tan
Shaun Tan was born in 1974 and grew up in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. In school he became known as the “good drawer” which partly compensated for always being the shortest kid in every class. He graduated from the University of WA in 1995 with joint honours in Fine Arts and English Literature, and currently works full time as a freelance artist and author, concentrating mostly on writing and illustrating picture books.
Shaun began drawing and painting images for science fiction and horror stories in small-press magazines as a teenager, and has since then he has received numerous awards for his paintings and illustration, including the CBCA (Children’s Book Council of Australia) Picture Book of the Year Award. His latest book ‘The Arrival’ is a graphic novel about nameless man leaving his small family to travel to an unfamiliar country, told without words.
Shaun has recently worked for Blue Sky Studios and Pixar, providing concept artwork for forthcoming films, and is currently working on an animated adaptation of his picture book ‘The Lost Thing’. |
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Jan Ormerod
Jan Ormerod grew up the fifties, in a series of small towns in Western Australia, with three older sisters. After art school, Jan taught art at both tertiary and secondary levels, turning to children’s book illustration after becoming a mother. Her first book, Sunshine was acclaimed and awarded around the world. Since then she has written and illustrated over sixty picture books, won many honours and awards, and is published in more than twenty-one countries.
Jan’s recent picture book Lizzie Nonsense, published by Little Hare, was shortlisted for the Australian Children’s Book Council Picture Book of the Year, was an IBBY Honour book and was chosen as Outstanding International Book 2006 by USBBY and the Children's Book Council, USA.
Her picture book Water Witcher, published by Little Hare, has been shortlisted for the New South Wales Premier’s Award and the Children’s Book Council Picture Book of the Year 2007, and selected as a White Raven by Internationale Jungend Bibliotech.
Many of Jan’s books are a celebration of the fun, warmth and love of parenthood. “Designing picture books for young children, I am aware that such a book is almost always shared by the child and a caring adult. I find the challenge of communicating with both child and adult, working on two levels in one book, a demanding, intriguing and rewarding task.”
Jan has two grown up daughters and divides her time between England, USA and Australia. |
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Emily Rodda
Australian children have their very own queen of fantasy. Emily Rodda is as well known to Aussie children as J.K Rowling and is indisputably Australia's most influential and successful author. With more than 50 books to her credit Emily Rodda is the most successful children's author of our era. She's our best-kept secret. Her international sales are astronomical, and for millions of her fans, the wait is over; on October 1, 2007 Rodda will unlock her newest novel, an adventure story set in a fantastic world within a music box, titled The Key to Rondo. This latest book, especially written for families to enjoy together, joins over 50 others which have thus far generated over 15 million sales globally. |
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