Symposium - Challenging Narratives: Chinese Children’s Literature in Anglophone Contexts
- Date
- Friday 3 - Saturday 4 October, 2025, All day
- Category
- Symposia
This year's symposium takes a broad view of Chinese children's literature in Anglophone contexts, and features a keynote and roundtables with academics, authors, translators, publishers, and others involved in the field.
Please note that this event is invitation-only
Symposium Schedule
Friday 3rd October
Keynote Presentation: Prof Zhao Xia
The re-imagination of childhood ethics in contemporary Chinese children's fiction
RT 1: New research projects on Chinese children’s literature (1)
Joe Sutliff Sanders, Wang Yue (Cathy), Lu Jing, Chen Minjie (Chair: Frances Weightman)
Spotlight 1: Bilingual Readings
倾斜的天空 Tilted Sky by Yao Emei/Kelly Zhang (tr);
超生小孩More than One Child by Shen Yang/Nicky Harman (tr)
RT 2: Writing for children and writing about childhood.
Yao Emei (with Zhang Jianan), Shen Yang, Yan Ge (Chair: Sarah Dodd)
RT 3: Picturing children
Yu Rong, Kelly Zhang, Lucia Obi, Shen Yang (Chair: Jake Hope)
RT 4: Translating children’s books
Helen Wang, Kelly Zhang, Nicky Harman (Chair: Chen Minjie)
Symposium Dinner at 7pm
Saturday 4th October
9:30-10:30 RT 5 New research projects on Chinese children’s literature (2)
Bai Runyuan, Mei-yi Kuo, Li Weiyan, Frances Weightman (Chair: Joe Sutliff Sanders)
10:45-12 RT 6 Dissemination: Libraries and Bookshops
Chen Minjie, Lucia Obi, Jake Hope, Alison Brumwell (Chair: Nicky Harman)
12:45-1:15 Spotlight 2: School Bookclubs Video Reviews
1:15-2:30 RT 7 Dissemination: Schools
Katharine Carruthers, Jane Zeng, Michelle Tate (Chair: Xunnan Li)
2:45-4pm RT 8 Dissemination: Publishing and other initiatives
Daniel Li/Ying Mathieson, Jake Hope, Lucia Obi, Kelly Zhang (Chair: Helen Wang)
4:15-5pm RT 9: Conclusion and next steps
Chair: Frances Weightman
This symposium has been generously supported by Arts Council England via Sinoist Books, along with the Ko Foundation, and the Sino British Fellowship Trust.