The 2027 edition of The Child and the Book conference devoted to the topic of The Politics and Poetics of Friendship: The Ethics of Storytelling and Companionship invites participants to return to enduring human values in times of crisis while critically reexamining concepts too often taken for granted. Friendship and storytelling are fundamental to human experience, yet both raise complex ethical, philosophical, and political questions that deserve renewed scholarly attention

Committee | Keynote Speakers | Programme | Abstracts | Sponsors

Scientific Committee

María Alcantud-Diaz (University of Valencia, Spain)

Francesca Arnavas (University of Tartu, Estonia)

Cristina Bacchilega (University of Hawaii at Manoa)

Anna Bugajska (Jesuit University Ignatianum in Krakow, Poland)

Marnie Campagnaro (University of Padova, Italy)

Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak (University of Wrocław, Poland)

Jade Dillon (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway)

Virginie Douglas (University of Le Havre, France)

Janet Evans (Independent Researcher, UK)

Giuliana Fenech (University of Malta, Malta)

Sidia Fiorato (University of Verona, Italy)

Ágnes Hansági (University of Szeged, Hungary)

Martine Hennard DuTheil de La Rochere (University of Lausanne, Switzerland)

Vanessa Joosen (University of Antwerp, Belgium)

Svetlana Kalezić-Radonjić (University of Montenegro)

Tzina Kalogirou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens)

Anna Kérchy (University of Szeged, Hungary)

Lorraine Kerslake Young (University of Alicante, Spain)

Cécile Kovacshazy (University of Limoges, France)

Bettina Kümmerling-Meibauer (University of Tübingen, Germany)

Ildikó Limpár (Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Hungary)

Chrysogonus Siddha Malilang (Malmö University, Sweden)

Jörg Meibauer (University of Mainz, Germany)

Dorota Michułka (University of Wrocław, Poland)

Xavier Minguez Lopez (University of Valencia, Spain)

Seyede Elahe Mousavian (University of Szeged, Hungary)

Smiljana Narančić Kovač (University of Zagreb, Croatia)

Åse Marie Ommundsen (OsloMet, Norway)

Ana Margarida Ramos (University of Aveiro, Portugal)

Michelle Ryan (University of Angers, France)

Krzysztof Rybak (University of Warsaw, Poland)

Farriba Schulz (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany)

Elena Sottilotta (University of Cambridge, UK)

Hadassah Stichnothe (Freie Universität Berlin, Germany)

Björn Sundmark (Malmö University, Sweden)

Mateusz Świetlicki (University of Wrocław, Poland)

Sara Van den Bossche (Tilburg University, Netherlands)

Vassiliki Vasiloudi (University of Crete, Greece)

Krystyna Zabawa (Jesuit University Ignatianum in Krakow, Poland)

Confirmed Keynote Speakers

Judit Berg, children’s book writer, Deputy Secretary of State for Literature and Public Culture, former HUBBY president

Macarena García-González, Ramón y Cajal senior research fellow, Department of Communication at Pompeu Fabra University, Spain

Vanessa Joosen, professor of children’s literature, University of Antwerp, Belgium

Philip Nel, distinguished professor of children’s literature, Kansas State University, USA

Programme

TBA

Book of Abstracts

TBA

Conference Sponsors

  • NKFIH Mecenatura: Science Patronage Programme of the National Research Development and Innovation Office at the Ministry of Culture and Innovation
  • The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Szeged
  • The Institute of English and American Studies, University of Szeged
  • The Doctoral School of Literature and Culture, University of Szeged
  • Literatures and Cultures in English Doctoral Program, University of Szeged
  • HUBBY Hungarian Board on Books for Young People
  • Károly Somogyi Library
  • Tourinform, Szeged
  • Szeged City Hall
  • The Hungarian Society for the Study of English
  • Szeged Branch of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
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