Home      
 
      


















 

May 2011

Our guest from the Philippines: Anna Katrina Gutierrez

Until the end of June, Anna Katrina Gutierrez is doing research at the International Youth Library. Originally from the Philippines, Katrina is currently writing her PhD thesis at the Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, on the topic “Conversations between East and West in Children’s Literature and Culture”. Her research is based on the question of how global and local influences interact within children’s literature. During her stay she focuses on fairy-tales that are known all over the world and their differing retellings. Central to her interest are internationally popular motifs like Hans Christian Andersen’s little mermaid and the question, in how far these motifs have been reinterpreted in various regions in the world. At the International Youth Library she analyses American, European, and Asian picture books and children’s books for different versions of retellings. (mls)

 
 
March 2011
Natalia Méndez – our guest from Argentina
Natalia Méndez works as an editor in the children literature section of the publishing house Editorial Norma in Argentina. In addition, she teaches courses on publishing at the Universidad de Buenos Aires. During her stay at the library until the end of April 2011, she wants to compare the paratexts of selected classics in children’s literature. For this purpose, she is doing research on how publishers communicate with their readers via the paratext of a children’s book and to what extent a text like “Peter Pan” is presented differently in various editions published in diverse countries. With a closer look at the secondary literature, Natalia also hopes to find out why publishers decide to take certain approaches within their paratexts. (mls)
 
 
August 2010
With Frances Jane Abao, we have our first fellow from the Philippines! Frances will doing research at the library till the end of October. She is preparing a course about fantasy fiction for young adults that she will teach at the University of the Philippines as an Assistant Professor of English. During her stay in Munich Frances’ focus is on fantasy fiction written in or translated into English but from countries other than the U.S. or Great Britain. The reason for this selection is that American and British fantasy fiction is very popular and well known whereas literature from other countries is harder to find. Frances wants to direct the attention of her students to less familiar fantasy fiction that may be just as extraordinary as more popular works. Besides teaching, Frances is still working on her PhD about “Young Peoples’ responses to frightening fiction” at the Cambridge University. For Frances, fantasy fiction in general is dealing with characters who are trying to find their identity, confidence, and their special place in the society. (tl)
 
March, 2010
New Guest: Sara Hudson from the United States
The new fellow Sara Hudson comes from Texas, and she wears cowboy boots around the castle. Sara is a PhD student in the American Studies department at Yale University. At the International Youth Library she is working on two parts of her dissertation. She is examining Spanish, English, and French children's books from the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, Louisiana, Latin America, and the Caribbean. Additionally, she is doing research in the archives of Jella Lepman and the founding of the IJB to explore how government bodies, librarians, and children themselves used children's books, translations, and artwork to imagine new communities that crossed national, racial, and linguistic boundaries after World War II. After she leaves Germany, she will move to New Orleans to continue doing archival research for her dissertation. (tl)
 
February 12th, 2010
New Guest: Janet Evans from Great Britain
This spring Janet Evans from the North West of England is doing research as a fellow at the International Youth Library. Janet is a Senior Lecturer in Education at Liverpool Hope University. During her stay at the library Janet’s research focus is on strange, ambiguous, and unconventional picture books as creative, multimodal art forms. She is looking at and studying picturebooks from different countries, picturebooks that often tackle controversial thought-provoking issues, for example, books such as Wolf Erlbruch`s »Die Menschenfresserin« and »Duck, Death and the Tulip«, also Dorte Karrebaek`s »Idiot«.
Janet is also interested in how children respond to picturebooks - the words and the images. Her last book »Talking Beyond the Page: Reading and Responding to Picturebooks« (2009) Routledge, deals with this subject.
 

January 25, 2010

New guest: Alice Curry form Great Britain 

In the following three months Alice Curry from Great Britain will be doing research as a fellow at the International Youth Library. After studying English Literature at Oxford and reading for a Master in Children`s Literature at Macquarie University in Sydney, Alice is now a lecturer for children`s literature in Sydney. At the International Youth Library, Alice wants to collect material for her dissertation. She is writing about the concept of “blind space” in children`s literature. The term “blind space” originated in film studies and is used for characters who are relegated to the fringe of the storyline. One chapter of her dissertation deals with multiculturalism. In it Alice analyses how cultures are excluded in different books for young adults. Two books to which Alice wants to give special attention in this context are “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas” written by John Boyne and “Fallen” by Anne Provoost. The novels focus on the topics of the Holocaust and current right-wing extremism. (uz)

 

January 11, 2010

New guest: Sara von den Bossche from Belgium

This year’s first fellow hails from Belgium: Sara van den Bossche will be doing research for her PhD in the study library for the next six weeks. After studying Germanic languages focusing on Swedish, Sara is now writing her thesis at the University of Gent on Astrid Lindgren and the canonization of her books. Sara would like to examine in how far Astrid Lindgren’s books have become a part of the literary canon in Sweden, Flanders and the Netherlands.

In Munich, Sara would like to go through secondary literature on Astrid Lindgren and canonization. (uz)
 

November 19, 2009

The International Youth Library welcomes this year’s last scholarship holder: Franci Greyling, PhD, hails from South Africa and teaches Creative Writing at North-West University in Potchefstroom. In her work, she is very active in the field of children’s literature. On her website www.storiewerf.co.za, she particularly promotes Afrikaans children’s literature.

Franci is also very interested in interdisciplinary creative work and would like to use her stay at the International Youth Library to do research in the field of interdisciplinary work and creative collaboration.

For example, she has produced a book made of postcards that is to be displayed in an artists’ book exhibition in South Africa. While in Munich, she would like to have a look at the way other artists have included postcards in their books – for instance, they may be loose or the author may have written about postcards.

Franci Greyling is also interested in paratextuality. She has written the picture book “Formule Drie, Twee, Een!” The pictures are by Vian Oelofsen who, according to Franci, included some interesting paratextual elements in them. In Munich, she would like to examine further examples for paratextuality in children’s books. (uz)
 

September 10, 2009:

New Fellow from Africa!

The new fellow at the International Youth Library hails from Africa: Mickias Musiyiwa teaches literature and children’s literature at the University of Zimbabwe. In Munich, Mickias will be doing research for his PhD thesis into the influence of mythology on children’s literature in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe has had its own book market for about 100 years, he said, and children’s books have been published for only about 50 years. Oral literature, however, has been existent for a long time and has remained very important: the first Zimbabwean books were mythical tales and they remain a very popular topic in books even today.

Mickias Musiyiwa will concentrate on the Shona mythology in his thesis because it is the largest ethnic group in Zimbabwe. Some of the authors he would like to examine include Ben J. Hanson, M.L Brown or Mary Bamhare. (uz)
 

August 24, 2009: New fellow from Hungary

Adam Zoltan David is the new fellow at the International Youth Library. He studies German, communication studies and creative writing with journalism and film studies as his minors at the University of Budapest. “Humour in Children’s Literature” is the topic of his thesis. Adam will do his state examination next year. Simultaneously, he has also started working for his PhD on different sense organs and the way they are depicted in fairy tales and children’s literature and movies and will use the International Youth Library’s holdings during the next three months. The fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood is, according to Adam, only one example of many stories at which climax sense organs seem to play an important part (the wolf listing his sense organs). “All-flavour jelly beans” are a funny detail in the Harry Potter books. In the movie, however, Adam said, their effect is intensified because of the children’s happy/disgusted faces. (uz)

 

August 12, 2009: Taro Tagaya from Tokyo works as an editor for Fukuinkan Shoten, a Japanese children’s book publishing house. In Munich, Taro is using the library’s fellowship programme to look for literature that will support adults in telling children about war and in communicating tolerance and multiculturalism. Similar to Germany, Japan is a country that had to find its way back to a peaceful society after World War II. Taro said that in his opinion, even today there are certain historically based problems between Japan and its neighbouring countries. That is why he would like to find books in Munich that show ways of informing Asian children about history today. Taro hopes to find several book titles that he can suggest to his publishing house for the children in Japan. He will stay three months in Munich.
 

Fellow for six weeks at the International Youth Library is from down under: Victoria Flanagan, PhD, teaches children’s and youth literature at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. After studying law, Victoria switched to literature at Macquarie University, focusing on children’s and youth literature. In Munich, Victoria is doing research on the topic “How do children’s literature and film engage in posthumanist ideology?” One important issue posthumanism deals with is the question how technical devices influence human society. Many human bodies today are equipped with such devices – glasses or braces are only two examples. In movies such as “A.I. Artificial Intelligence” by Steven Spielberg and “Wall-E” by Andrew Stanton, robot-like creatures are equipped with cleary human traits and behaviour. Victoria will examine similar mixed creatures in books such as “Ender’s Game” by Orson Scott Card or “Feed” by M.T. Anderson.
 

Tahereh Adinehpour from Iran will be a fellow at the International Youth Library for the next six weeks until Mid August 2009. Tahereh did her BA in English literature and her MA in teaching Persian to non-Persian speakers. She is a translator and researcher of children’s literature and teaches as a freelance instructor at some universities in Shiraz, Iran. She is also a member of SUCCLS (Shiraz University Centre for Children’s Literature Studies). In Munich, Tahereh is doing research for an article she would like to publish in the center’s journal. For this project, Tahereh will compare picture books that received either the Caldecott Medal, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award or the Kurt Maschler Award in the past 20 years. Based on the assumption that different cultural and religious conditions create different topics in children’s books, Tahereh hopes to find not only differences but also universal topics that will make those books not only suitable for people from one particular country but will appeal to people in different countries.

 

Carolina Venegas Klein will be a fellow at the International Youth Library for the next three months until the end of August. Carolina hails from Colombia and has studied art and literature in Bogotŕ. She now works as an editor for Editorial Norma, a Colombian publishing house. Additionally, she teaches at the university in Bogotŕ, introducing art students to editorial processes. In Munich, Carolina would like to gather information for a class she plans to teach in the future: showing art students ways of adding appropriate texts to their picture book projects. At the International Youth Library, she is studying the history of children’s literature and picture books in order to provide her students with theoretical background. Carolina also plans to look through various international picture books to be able to show her students different ways of combining and linking illustrations and text.
 

For the following six weeks, Magda Nowacka from Poland will be our new fellow at the library. Magda studied English Philosophy at the University of Lodz and wrote her MA thesis on contemporary British novels. She now works as a teacher at the Academy of Humanities and Economics in Lodz.

In Munich, Magda is doing research for her PhD thesis that she is writing for the University of Lodz. Her topic is “Family in transition; the reflection of social and cultural changes in post war Britain in selected contemporary novels for children and young adults from 1970-2000”. Some of the titles Magda will work with include “Madam Doubtfire” and “Crummy Mummy and Me” by Anne Fine, “The Illustrated Mum”, “Bed and Breakfast Star” and “Suitcase Kid” by Jacqueline Wilson” and “Looking for JJ” by Anne Cassidy. (uz)
 

Larry Sipe will be a fellow at the International Youth Library between March and July 2009. With a college degree in literature and a PhD in children’s literature from Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, Larry is now a professor for children’s literature at the University of Pennsylvania. In Munich, Larry will be examining peritextual elements in international picture books and the way they prepare the reader for the book. Peritextual elements are for example the front and back cover of the book, the title page or the dedication page. As a professor, Larry is especially interested in the academic examination of picture books. In the US, he regularly conducts projects with kindergarten and elementary school children that examine the interaction between the children and their teacher while reading picture books. In the future, Larry would like to point teachers to the importance of peritextual elements as they may help the children understand the books better. (uz)
 

Renata Nakano will be a fellow at the International Youth Library between March and July 2009. She is from Sao Paulo, Brazil and studied publishing at the University of Anhembi-Morumbi. Renata now works as a freelance publisher developing different projects in children’s literature. In Munich, Renata is doing research on similarities and differences in interaction strategies of virtual and printed narratives. For this project, Renata plans to compare different media, for example the computer, with international children’s books. One main difference between the two media, she says, is that books are much more linear than webpages that usually offer hyperlinks to various other content. Back in Brazil, Renata will consider publishing the results of her project in one of the Brazilian children’s literature journals. (uz)
 

In February 2009, the International Youth Library welcomed a new fellow: Montse Pena Presas teaches Galician Philology at the University of Santiago de Compostela/Spain. In Munich, Montse plans do to research for her thesis in which she would like to examine the role ofe woman in Galician children’s and young people’s literature. After her mas thter in publishing, this will be Montse’s first big project in this field. However, she can already be considered something of an expert – in Spain, she writes children’s book reviews for several Galician newspapers and academic journals. (uz)
 

November 2008
The International Youth Library welcomes a guest from China. Xia Zhao is staying at Blutenburg Castle as a participant of the scholarship programme and does research on the topic of “The Alienated Childhood in International Children’s and Youth Literature.”

At home, Xia Zhao works as an editor for the journal “China Children’s Culture”, which is published by the Children’s Culture Institute at Zhejiang Normal University. The Institute is the oldest and most renowned establishment of its kind in China and accommodates the country’s only library for international children’s literature. After finishing her Bachelor degree in Chinese Language and Literature, the 27-year-old academic read for her Master in Children’s Literature there. A PhD thesis in the field will be her next project after returning to China in February. Until then, we wish her an inspiring and pleasant winter at the International Youth Library.
 

After a stop over in Copenhagen at this year’s IBBY World Congress, Taraneh Matloob arrived at the International Youth Library on September 15th. Here the Irani from Tehran will do research in children and youth literature. Her topic: multiculturalism. She wants to analyse to what extent influences from foreign cultures play a role in children and youth literature, and how they manifest themselves in the narratives.

Taraneh Matloob holds a Master’s degree in Computer Based Learning and Training from the University of Southhampton, UK and currently works as a software engineer at the Central Bank of Iran. In her spare time, she has been active in the field of CYL for some years now. At the Children’s Book Council of Iran she works as a critic and manages the Electronic Book department. As an author she has published six children’s stories in magazines and four children and youth books since 2000; a fifths is currently being illustrated. Until the beginning of December she has exchanged Tehran for Munich to do her research and, at the same time, experience a different culture herself. (vs)
 

Dr. Lilijana Burcar has been a guest of the International Youth Library since June 30th. In her home country  the 35-year- old Slovenian teaches at the University of Ljubljana, where she studied English and American literature with particular emphasis on feminism and postcolonialism. These literary theories also influenced her Ph.D. thesis, that has been published under the title: “The Return of Childhood Innocence: Conservative Backlash and Gender Politics”. Her new research project, which she is working on in Munich, deals with the representation of globalisation and poverty in children’s and youth literature. She will stay at the International Youth Library until August.
 

The 28-year-old Anna Fornalczyk has already had the opportunity to get to know Germany and its language during a university stay at Heidelberg, where she concentrated on her foreign language skills. At her home university in Warsaw she received her degree in applied linguistics four years ago. She is now working at the same institute, finishing her doctoral thesis on the topic “Translations of Anthroponyms in English Children’s Literature into Polish”. Anna Fornalczyk will stay in Munich until the end of August, before she starts her new job as an English teacher at a Polish school in September. Next year she will return to the International Youth Library to finish her research here.
 

Ayfer Ünal had been working as a manager and PCO for twenty years in her home country Turkey, when in 1998 she switched to writing children’s literature.

By now, she has published ten picture books, two novels for teenagers and three translations and regularly writes for the literature supplement of a Turkish business newspaper. In her articles, she tries to present the world as seen from a child’s perspective.

In order to expand her academic knowledge in the field of children’s and youth literature, she attends seminars at Bosphorus University in Istanbul.

Ayfer Ünal’s stay at  the book castle is devoted to human rights issues and their representation and treatment in children’s literature. From July 16th until August she is searching for books that deal with this topic amongst the extensive holdings of the International Youth Library.