Refugees and Children: Writing, Exhibiting and Depicting Refugee Stories for Children
Friday 3rd March, Birkbeck College, University of London
‘Behind the headlines are the stories of individual children’, noted UNICEF Director Paloma Escudero while unveiling a new film earlier this month which presents the dual stories of a young Syrian refugee and a refugee child in World War II. ‘Not refugees, not migrants, but children, whose only dream is safety, and the chance of a brighter future.’
This one-day inter-disciplinary workshop, hosted by the Reluctant Internationalists project at Birkbeck College, examines how both historical and contemporary stories of refugees can be told to and interpreted for children.
The workshop will bring together children’s authors, illustrators, publishers, museum professionals and academics to consider the ways in which different disciplines depict the stories of refugees for children. Throughout the workshop we will think about how refugee narratives are written, exhibited and delivered to children.
Three sessions will engage with particular media (chiefly, books and museum exhibits). The final part of the workshop will give children’s authors and illustrators the opportunity to present current projects and receive ideas and feedback from the range of professionals participating in the workshop.
The event is free and open to all but spaces are limited and booking is essential. To reserve a place, please email reluctant.internationalists@gmail.com.
Further details of the workshop programme are outlined below:
- Introductions 10:00 – 10:30am
- Session 1: The Role of Illustration in Refugee Narratives 10.30 – 11.15am
– Francesca Sanna, Children’s illustrator and author of The Journey
- Session 2: Co-production of Migration Stories with Child Refugees through Film, Social Media and Public Events in Museums 11.30am – 12.15pm
– Eithne Nightingale, ‘Children, Migration & Diaspora’ PhD student in collaboration with the V&A Museum of Childhood and QMUL
- Session 3: Learning Lessons from Historico-Political Narratives for Young Readers 12.15 – 1.00pm
– Kiera Vaclavik, Professor of Children’s Literature & Childhood Culture, Queen Mary, University of London
- Workshop: Children’s Authors/Illustrators and a Publishing Perspective 2.00 – 4.00pm
– Harriet Birkinshaw, Senior Commissioning Editor, NoBrow Ltd/Flying Eye Books