Children's literature and academia

An unusual article was published in today's Independent which describes Michael Rosen's path with children's literature academic study. I say unusual because I realize how rarely the non-academic children's literature world mentions that there is, in fact, an academic children's literature world. I can't remember if I have ever seen a newspaper article about it.

Michael Rosen successfully completed a PhD which involved research, analysis, and writing a collection of poems. I'm afraid I didn't quite make it that far (at least not yet). I started the PhD, managed to complete 16 interviews with authors and editors, but became blocked when it came time to write it all up. I do still want to do something with the interviews, as I think there's important oral history there that is rarely revealed or discussed. My project focused on ways in which the publication process affected books written by non-white authors in the UK, and I interviewed authors and editors on this theme. My first attempt to really get back into the material will be at the August IRSCL conference in Germany, which will focus on cultural diversity and children's literature.

But I'm thinking now about the lack of attention to children's literature academic scholarship outside of our own community. English Literature scholars do get more public play, and authors like David Lodge and A.S. Byatt bring that world to life through fiction. It may be a good thing, as generally I've found that children's literature scholars are a friendly and open group. People like Peter Hunt, who are giants in our field, are approachable in a way I wouldn't expect equivalent bigwigs to be in other academic contexts.

Still, it's refreshing to see acknowledgement in a national UK newspaper that this path exists, and that it can be important for society. I have my own questions about the academic path and how much it engages with or participates in the "real world." But mostly, I feel that study and scholarship are key parts of our society, and enjoy being connected to that.