Conference Convener
Dr Giuliana Fenech
Dr Giuliana Fenech is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of English at the University of Malta, specialising in work involving children and young adult literature and citizenship, agency, creative protest, and activism. She combines research with cultural and artistic community projects involving stories, multimedia, cultural heritage, and youth.
Among these projects, as part of an Erasmus K2 project on Creative SDGs led by Esplora Interactive Science Centre in Malta, Giuliana directed a team of researchers and storytellers researching the representation of girls in science stories for children. In May 2022, Giuliana convened the circuit conference The Child and the Book, themed, ‘The Role of the Child as Citizen: Constructing Childhood through Agency and Activism’, in Malta. She is the editor of Child as Citizen (2025) and co-editor (with Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak) of forthcoming volume ‘Geopolitics, Activism, and Citizenship in Children’s and Young Adult Literature’ (2026). Additionally, Giuliana runs a storytelling organisation, Lignin Stories, which has worked with diverse groups of children and youths in Malta and various other European countries, including Italy and Scotland.
Dr Farriba Schulz
Dr Farriba Schulz is a Senior Lecturer in the Institute of Education at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Universität Potsdam. She was the Visiting Professor of Primary Education in the Department of German at Technische Universität Dresden, Germany, and worked as a guest lecturer at Freie Universität Berlin. Her main research interest centres on construction of childhoods, (visual) literacy and inclusion, working collaboratively together with schools, libraries, museums, the international literature festival berlin (ilb) and artists.
She’s worked in the past on several projects that explore issues of diversity and inclusivity working with children’s literature, including an international research project with Maureen Maisha Auma and Melanie Ramdarshan Bold. She is a jury member of the GEW literature award “Lesepeter”, a member of the advisory board of the circuit conference, The Child and the Book, and co-editor of the book ‘Political Changes and Transformations in Twentieth and Twenty-first Century Children’s Literature’ (2023).
Gvantsa Jobava
Gvantsa Jobava is a President at International Publishers Association and the head of international Affairs at Intelekti Publishing, one of the biggest publishing houses in Georgia, previously — chairperson of the Georgian Publishers and Booksellers Association and the head of the publishing program for Georgia’s activities as guest of honor at the 2018 Frankfurt Book Fair. In 2013-2022 she was the organizer of Tbilisi International Book Festival. Since 2013, Gvantsa Jobava has been lobbying for the Georgian publishing industry, advocating Georgian publishers’ interests and rights, standing for copyright and freedom to Publish and Freedom of Expression in Georgia. She has managed a number of projects to promote Georgian publishing and literary industry at international level. she is a member of Women Publishers’ International Network – PublisHer. In 2020 she joined PEN Georgia. She is a poet and a translator of works of John Steinbeck, Chinua Achebe, Saul Bellow, John Lennon and others. She has also translated Anna Politkovskaya’s book “Putin’s Russia” and “A Message from Ukraine” by Volodymyr Zelensky into Georgian. She is the author and editor of the publishing project “Banned Books Shelf” and the founder of Banned Books Week celebrations in Georgia
Dr Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak
Dr Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak is Associate Professor of Literature at the Institute of English Studies, University of Wrocław. She has published on children’s culture, new materialism, and posthumanism. ‘Intergenerational Solidarity in Children’s Literature and Film’ (2021), which Justyna co-edited with Zoe Jacques, received the 2023 Edited Book Award from the International Research Society for Children’s Literature. She also co-edited (with Irena Barbara Kalla) ‘Children’s Literature and Intergenerational Relationships: Encounters of the Playful Kind’ (2021) and ‘Rulers of Literary Playgrounds: Politics of Intergenerational Play in Children’s Literature’ (2021), (with Macarena García-González) ‘Children’s Cultures after Childhood’ (2023), and with (Terri Doughty and Janet Grafton) ‘Children’s Literatures, Cultures, and Pedagogies in the Anthropocene: Multidisciplinary Entanglements’ (2025). In 2017-2021, Justyna served on the IRSCL executive board. In 2018-2024, she was the University of Wrocław coordinator of the Erasmus Mundus International Master: Children’s Literature, Media and Culture. Justyna is also a Fulbright, Kosciuszko, and Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow and a grantee of the Polish Foundation for Science and the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange. Since 2025 she has been the University of Wrocław academic lead in CoREM: Collective Remembrance: Engaging Youth Through Curatorial Practices, an EU project coordinated by Macarena García-González at Pompeu Fabra University.
Professor Kate Coleman
Kate Coleman is a neurodivergent artist, teacher educator, and researcher at the University of Melbourne, Australia where she teaches teachers and co-leads SWISP Lab, exploring speculative a/r/tography, climate justice, and creative activism. Kate’s practice centres on transformative pedagogies, participatory methods, and making matter through art, action, and the voices of young people. She believes that a/r/t is inquiry, and that activism is metho-pedagogical.
Katarzyna Salejko
Katarzyna Salejko leads the Human Rights Education team at Amnesty International Poland, where she designs and coordinates educational programs for children, youth, and adults. As an educator, facilitator, and author, she develops a wide range of innovative learning materials—including e-learning courses and nanolearning content—focused on human rights, youth activism, and civic engagement. Her approach combines participatory and transformative methodologies that foster critical thinking, empathy, and a sense of global responsibility. She has extensive experience in curriculum development, teacher training, and supporting schools and educators in integrating human rights education into both formal and non-formal learning environments. Her work is grounded in a commitment to inclusive, learner-centered education that empowers individuals and communities. Katarzyna holds a Master of Arts degree in International Relations from the University of Warsaw. She is passionate about social justice, inclusive education, and creating spaces where young people can grow into active, conscious global citizens.
Leanne Ellul
Leanne Ellul is a poet and prose writer whose work spans both adult and children's literature. She is keen on storytelling and language, and brings these interests to life in her writing for young readers. She has authored several children's books, including ‘L-Istorja ta' Seb it-Tieni’ (u ta' Seb l-Ewwel ukoll), ‘Il-Mostru tal-Bajja tal-Ġnejna’, and ‘Il-Każ tal-Kappell Ikkalibrat’. Her stories often blend humour and curiosity with themes that encourage children to explore the world around them. She is a regular contributor to the children's magazine: Is-Sagħtar.
Over the years, Leanne has also written theatre for children and has been actively involved in the production and management of projects for ŻiguŻajg, Malta’s International Arts Festival for Young Audiences. Her poetic play ‘sitt ġrajjiet u naqra għala spiċċajna’ (kif spiċċajna) was produced by ŻiguŻajg and ŻfinMalta in 2022 and will be published in the coming months. In that same year, she presented her work during The Child and the Book Conference which was organised in Malta. Her works for children have been recognised with various literary awards. She has collaborated closely with Clare Azzopardi on several children's books, including ‘Il-Fatat Kaħlani’ and ‘Kaħlani u l-Fatati Kull Kulur’. She has also contributed to Maltese children's literature through translations of foreign works, some of which were translated in collaboration with Clare Azzopardi, including ‘Teresa’, ‘L-Ispettaklu Stupend Żanżan Kelma’, and ‘Alice fl-Art tal-Għeġubijiet’. Her writing for young adults includes ‘Gramma’, published in 2015, and ‘be;n il-kmiem’, released a decade later. Both novels were awarded the Novel for Youths Prize, organized by Aġenzija Żgħażagħ and the National Book Council. Beyond her writing, Leanne regularly visits schools for reading sessions and delivers workshops to children and adults. She lectures in Maltese literature and creative writing. She is also actively involved in literary and cultural initiatives through organisations such as Inizjamed and the HELA Foundation. More information
Mar Sánchez Fernández
Mar Sánchez Fernández is a childhood and children's literature researcher at the University of Glasgow who is passionate about crafting and making things with her hands. Mar is interested in how literary and artistic creation by children and young people can teach us about the state of the world, particularly around social justice, education, and gender. During her PhD, she explored the role of children and young people in independent and politicised publishers in Latin America, working with these collectives to handmake books in diverse contexts—from public spaces to schools and prisons—alongside young people affected by inequality and injustice. She has a keen interest in art as protest and catalyst for change. She also works for an NGO as a researcher and advocate for the rights of young women and girls. When she's not working, you can find her engaged in activism fighting for people's right to housing in Scotland and promoting women's rights to engage in cultural and social life through volunteering.
Melanie Ramdarshan Bold
Melanie Ramdarshan Bold is a children’s book lover, zines enthusiast, and Professor of Youth Literature and Culture at the University of Glasgow. Her work explores how young people, especially those from marginalised backgrounds, engage with reading, writing, and creative culture, with a focus on identity, self-expression, and social change. She is committed to helping young people express themselves through reading, writing, and creative projects: especially zine-making! Mel has run many hands-on zine-making workshops in schools, libraries, and community settings, using zines as a fun and powerful way to explore identity, creativity, and change, and to support youth voice and everyday activism. She has written five books and works closely with schools, publishers, and organisations like CLPE, BookTrust, and The Reading Agency to make children’s publishing more inclusive and inspiring for everyone. Whether she’s folding paper, talking to young readers, or researching inclusive book culture, her work centres youth creativity and the belief that stories - and who gets to tell them - matter.
Nicky Parker
Nicky Parker is a specialist in children’s literature and human rights, who has worked with Amnesty International for over 20 years. She has developed many books and literary projects using a human rights lens, including ‘We Are All Born Free: the UDHR in Pictures’ (2008), published in 35 languages. With Cheltenham Festivals, she co-created ‘Words That Burn’ (2016), a spoken word resource for school students to explore and express human rights through poetry. She established the Amnesty CILIP Honour (2016-18), a human rights commendation for books on the Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medal shortlist. She was lead writer of ‘Know Your Rights and Claim Them: A Guide for Youth’ (2021), with Angelina Jolie and Professor Geraldine Van Bueren QC and is the author of ‘These Rights Are Your Rights: An empowering guide for children everywhere’ (2024). From 2016-22 she was Chair of Trustees of the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) and is on the steering group of Reflecting Realities, a change-making annual survey of ethnic representation in British children’s books. She is a trustee of English PEN.
Dr Rowena Seabrook
Dr Rowena Seabrook is Associate Lecturer at The Open University and Research Assistant at the University of Glasgow. Her recent PhD research focused on using children’s literature for human rights education and involved researching with families in blended online and offline spaces. Current projects include evaluating a nationwide programme of reading related activities for health and wellbeing as well as contributing to a publication on hope and children’s literature. Ro also works for Tilt delivering training, coaching and support for purpose-led and non-profit organisations.
Sita Brahmachari
Sita Brahmachari is an internationally award-winning Children’s and YA author whose work is translated into many languages. Since her Waterstone’s Award Winning debut novel ‘Artichoke Hearts’ (2011) Sita’s stories have been nominated for the Carnegie Medal and the UKLA Book Award. She has an MA in Arts Education and has worked widely in theatre and education with diverse communities to mentor young voices. Sita co-created and scripted a celebrated theatre production inspired by Shaun Tan’s graphic novel ‘The Arrival’ (2013). Her YA novel ‘When Shadows Fall’ was shortlisted for the Yoto Carnegie Medal (2023). Her latest novel is ‘Phoenix Brothers’ (2025). Sita was shortlisted for the Ruth Rendell Literacy Award (2023). She has been Book Trust Writer in Residence, an Amnesty Ambassador and Associate Lecturer in Children’s and YA Literature at Goldsmiths University. She is Writer in Residence at Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants. Sita is a Royal Literary Fellow and a Fellow of The Society of Authors and an Honorary Member of the Youth Libraries Group. More information.
Professor Tanu Biswas
Prof. Tanu Biswas is an associate professor in pedagogy at the University of Stavanger (Norway) and mentor for early career researchers at the Doctoral College for Intersectionality Studies at the University of Bayreuth (Germany). She also serves as the co-director of The Childism Institute (University of Rutgers Camden USA). Her work as an interdisciplinary philosopher of education is dedicated to challenging children’s historical marginalization by transforming scholarly and social norms, especially in the areas of pedagogy, childism, decoloniality, children's rights, intergenerational climate justice and qualitative methodology. Her publications include: ‘Children as environmental actors - A generational perspective on climate activism in an overheated world’ (with Thomas Hylland Eriksen. In Routledge Handbook of Childhood Studies and Global Development 2024), ‘Developing Disobedience: A Decolonial Childist Perspective on School Strikes for Climate Justice’ (with Liola Nike Mattheis. In American Behavioral Scientist 2024), ‘The Adultcentrism Scale: A Potential Contributor to Advancing Children’s Participation Rights in Nordic Contexts’ (with Eleonora Florio, Letizia Caso, Ilaria Castelli, Serena Iacobino. In Social Sciences 2024), ‘Childist theory in the humanities and social sciences (Editorial)’ (with John Wall. In Children & Society 2023), ‘Childism and philosophy - A conceptual co-exploration’ (with John Wall, Hanne Warming, Ohad Zehavi, David Kennedy, Karin Murris, Walter Kohan, Britta Saal, Toby Rollo. In Policy Futures in Education 2023).
Panellists
Evelyn Arizpe
Evelyn Arizpe is Professor of Children’s Literature at the School of Education, University of Glasgow and the Programme Lead for the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s programme, “Children’s Literature, Media and Cultural Entrepreneurship”. She has taught and published widely on topics related to children’s literature, especially picturebooks and young readers. Her research examines the role of books for children alongside themes of displacement, conflict and peacebuilding. Evelyn was President of the International Research Society on Children’s Literature (IRSCL) (2019-2023) and was on the jury for the Hans C. Andersen Award in 2022 and 2024.
Sara Van den Bossche
Sara Van den Bossche is Assistant Professor of Youth Cultures and Literatures at Tilburg University (the Netherlands). Her main teaching and research topics are ideology criticism, ethnic-cultural diversity and inclusion, feminism, queer criticism, cognitive criticism, canonisation, and adaptation. Since 2019, she has been teaching in the Erasmus Mundus International Master “Children’s Literature, Media, and Cultural Entrepreneurship” (CLMCE). She has co-guest-edited special issues of Children’s Literature Association Quarterly and Barnboken. She is the co-author of Routledge Engagements with Children’s and Young Adult Literature (2025) and [Searchlights for the Study of Children’s Literature] (2025), and author of Pippi Longstocking, Critically (forthcoming).
Shannon Cullen
Shannon Cullen leads the creative team at Walker Books, a dedicated children’s publisher founded in 1978. After moving to London from New Zealand, Shannon has over 25 years of publishing experience, including roles at HarperCollins, Penguin Random House and Quarto. She represents Walker at the Empathy Circle, the advisory group of children’s publishers for Empathy Day, and is Vice-Chair of the Independent Publishers Guild, representing the IPG on the industry-wide EDI Forum committed to upholding the professional values of the book and publishing industry.
Dr Sandra Hili Vassallo
Dr Sandra Hili Vassallo is the Executive Director of the Malta National Book Council. A lawyer by training, Hili Vassallo brings with her a wealth of experience in diplomacy, policy, and the cultural sector. She has previously served as a diplomat at Malta’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, and as a director within the Ministry for the Family, Social Policy and Children’s Rights, and the Ministry for National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government. A published author of several award-winning children’s books and short stories, she is also a visiting lecturer at the University of Malta and an advocate for social justice and environmental causes.
Stine Liv Johansen
Stine Liv Johansen is Associate Professor in Media Studies at Aarhus University, Denmark. Her research focuses on children’s and young people’s media practices, play, and participation across everyday contexts. She adopts a practice-oriented and interdisciplinary approach to understanding how digital and mobile technologies shape communication, identity, and belonging. Her work increasingly explores the intersection of media and disability, with particular attention to representation, access, and inclusion. Johansen is co-editor (with Malene Charlotte Larsen) of Social Media Across Everyday Contexts: Digital Childhood and Youth in the Nordics (Samfundslitteratur, 2024) and teaches on children’s media, qualitative methods, and digital culture in national and international programs.
Chris Gruppetta
Chris Gruppetta has for the past couple of decades been the publisher and editor at Merlin
Publishers. He studied law at the University of Malta, followed by a Masters in Publishing
Studies in Aberdeen where he researched the science of children's book cover design. His career at Merlin has been marked by efforts to professionalise the industry with focus on content, editorial and design aspects of the book, and a fresh approach to book marketing. He is a visiting lecturer at the University of Malta on literary editing and on the history of children’s literature.
Elizabeth L. Nelson
Elizabeth L. Nelson is Lecturer of Multimodal Literacies at the University of Glasgow. Her research examines play and new technologies in the hands of children drawing on historical and literary representations of children’s play and culture to understand experiences of childhood today. Nelson is PI on several projects that use creative methods such as videomaking, crafting, dance, photography and collaging working with children aged between 3 and 13 years old. Nelson works in qualitative and post-qualitative paradigms informed by new materialist and posthuman understandings of the world. She has published on young people’s relationship to digital technologies, historical accounts of play, and creative methodologies in research encounters with children and young people. She is currently co-editing a Special Issue for Children & Society Journal called Children in the Archives and co-editing the book Storied Citizenship: Reimagining civic encounters among children and youth in the post-digital age to be published by Routledge.
Matt Stroud
Matt Stroud is a Maltese illustrator, animator and folklorist with a focus on visual storytelling as entertainment and education aimed at children. With 10 years in the industry, Matt has illustrated over 30 children's books for various publishers and won 4 'Terramaxka' National Book Prizes for children’s literature in the process. Matt has applied his storytelling and animation skills to various projects over the years. He has animated a series of 12 preschool nursery rhymes, in Maltese, for the National Literacy Agency to promote Maltese literacy. With assistance from the NLA, Matt co-created a Maltese animated web series for preschoolers ‘Emme’, with writer Clare Azzopardi. In 2017 he created a full animated show for The Malta Philharmonic Orchestra to accompany their classical ‘Mussorgsky’ concert, aimed at children.
Matt has animated awareness videos for both the ‘Women’s Rights Foundation’ and the ‘Commission for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’ that focus on different human rights issues. From 2022 to 2025, Matt has been the illustrator for the children and youths festival ‘Ziguzajg’, where he illustrated each year’s primary festival poster along with the poster artworks for over 60 theatrical and interactive events that formed part of the festival. From 2024, Matt has undertaken a long term project ‘Tori Tombi’, supported by both Arts Council Malta and the National Book Council, to revitalise Maltese folktales, through translation and adaptation, for a new generation.
