Laura Atkins
Children's Literature Specialist
Rottingdean, East Sussex
07930 639 235
laura@lauraatkins.com
EDUCATION
Postgradute reseach at theUniversity of Newcastle upon Tyne, supervised by Professor Kimberley Reynolds
Focus of research on ways in which the publishing process affects children's books written by non-white authors in the UK since the 1970s
Master of Arts, Children's Literature, Roehampton University, 2002
Thesis: 'Graphic Depictions: The Representation of History and Memory in Three Graphic Novels'
Bachelor of Arts, English, Reed College, Portland, Oregon, 1992
Thesis: 'Boiled Roses: Gender and Imagination in the Works of George MacDonald'
ACADEMIC HONOURS
Graduated with Distinction, Roehampton University, 2002
Phi Beta Kappa, 1992
Commendation for Academic Excellent, 1990, 1991, 1992, Reed College
Presenter of thesis to college trustees (one of three), Reed College, 1992
EMPLOYMENT: NON-TEACHING
Freelance Children's Literature Specialist, 9/06-present
Offering a range of freelance services, including co-founding and being Festival Director of the Brighton Children’s Book Festival (www.bcbf.org.uk); providing manuscript critiquing; developing a Collection Interpretation Pack on Outsiderness/Otherness/ Diversity for CILIP as part of anniversary celebrations of Carnegie and Greenaway Awards (www.carnegiegreenaway.org.uk/celebration/reading_resources.php); working with Youth Music as editor for Music Start Pack (www.bongoclub.org.uk/musicstart/music-start.html); providing editorial services to Focus Humanitarian Aid (www.akdn.org/focus/) and to Nigerian publisher Cassava Republic (www.cassavarepublic.biz); offering consulting services to publishers; and running creative writing workshops
Conference Manager, National Centre for Research in Children's Literature (NCRCL), Roehampton University, 9/04-present, (Conference Administrator 10/02-9/04), www.ncrcl.ac.uk
Part-time, responsible for planning, organising, and running conferences at the NCRCL, including organising the annual British IBBY (International Board on Books for Young Readers)/NCRCL conferences (2002–2008); the Children’s Literature and War conference (April 2004, co-sponsored by Action for Children’s Arts); and CLISS (Children’s Literature International Summer School, 2003, 2005 and 2007). Responsibilities include shaping programmes, hiring speakers, managing an assistant, and overseeing all aspects necessary for conferences. For CLISS, responsibilities have included leading a strand on multicultural children’s literature, helping to organise and teach Creative Writing strand, and conceptualising and teaching on Children’s Publishing strand
Contributing Editor, PaperTigers website, 8/03-6/05, www.papertigers.org
Part-time work researching and editing content for international website focusing on children's literature from and about the Pacific Rim and South Asia, including conducting interviews with authors, researching new publications and promoting site
Editor, Lee & Low Books, New York, 7/99-7/01, www.leeandlow.com
Responsible for acquiring and editing three-five multicultural picture books per year, including finding and editing manuscripts, selecting artists, working with freelance designers on art direction, working with production manager through printing process; initiating and implementing New Voices Award for an author of colour who has not previously published a picture book; managing editorial intern; representing Lee & Low at various conferences
Assistant Editor, Orchard Books, New York, 9/98-7/99
Working with the Publisher on the acquisition and development of 12-18 books per year, especially imports; managing and evaluating submissions
Assistant Production Editor, Children's Book Press, San Francisco, 10/94-7/98, www.childrensbookpress.org
Working with Publisher to acquire and develop three-five multicultural and bilingual picture books per year; finding and managing relationships with freelance designers and making corrections in QuarkXpress; hiring printers for each project and overseeing printing of all new titles and reprints
EMPLOYMENT: TEACHING
Creative Writing Workshop, The Brighton Writer’s Centre, East Sussex, Summer 2008
Independently-run course for adults on writing for young people, four two-hour sessions
Visiting Lecturer, Roehampton University, Spring 2008
CRW020N203S: Creative Writing for Children. Second year undergraduate course on the craft of writing for children, 6 two-hour sessions
Creative Writing Workshop, The Brighton Writer’s Centre, East Sussex, Autumn 2007
Independently-run course for adults on writing for young people, four two-hour sessions
Creative Writing Workshops, BBC Southern Counties radio, April 2007
As prize for writing competition, running writing workshops for finalists to develop stories for charity CD recording
Visiting Lecturer, Roehampton University, Spring 2007
CRW020N203S: Creative Writing for Children. Undergraduate course, 12 weeks
Visiting Lecturer, Queens University, Herstmoneux Castle in East Sussex, Winter 2007
Engl 207: Introduction to Children’s Literature. Undergraduate course, 12 weeks
Guest Lecturer, University of Antwerp, Belgium, May 2006
Invited to run one session on picturebooks as part of Contemporary British Children's Literature undergraduate course
Visiting Lecturer, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Autumn 2005
SEL245: Boundaries of Children's Literature. Third year undergraduate course, taught workshop sessions alongside lectures, focus on contemporary children's books, five two-hour sessions with two groups of students
Visiting Lecturer, Roehampton University, Autumn 2005
CHL 020L201: Critical and Theoretical Perspectives. Masters course, taught two sessions to two groups of students: 'Bakhtin, Chronotopes and the Carnivalesque', and 'Intertextuality'
Visiting Lecturer, Roehampton University, Spring 2005
CHL020L216S: Children's Literature of Migration. Masters course, taught two sessions: 'Migration to Multiculturalism' and 'Gender and Migration', second-marked essays
Visiting Lecturer, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Autumn 2004
SEL245: Boundaries of Children's Literature. Third year undergraduate course, taught workshop sessions alongside lectures, focus on contemporary children's books, six two-hour sessions with two groups of students
Visiting Lecturer, Roehampton University, Autumn 2004
CHL0 20L214: British Children's Literature from 1960 to the Present Day. Masters course, taught one session: 'Realism: Multicultural Texts'
Visiting Lecturer, Roehampton University, Autumn 2004
CHL 020L201: Critical and Theoretical Perspectives. Masters course, taught two sessions to two groups of students: 'Bakhtin, Chronotopes and the Carnivalesque', and 'Intertextuality'
Visiting Lecturer, University of Surrey Roehampton, Autumn 2003
CHL020/M213: British Children's Literature from 1900-1960. Masters course, taught seven sessions
PUBLICATIONS
Refereed Journals and Collections
Forthcoming: co-editor and inclusion of paper, 'Graphic Images: Depicting the Bombing of Hiroshima in the Graphic Novel Barefoot Gen,' in An Invitation to Explore: New International Perspectives on Children's Literature, to be published by Pied Piper Publishing in 2008
'Editorial Reflections: Cultural Expression and the Children’s Publication Process in the USA', Expectations and Experiences: Children, Childhood & Children's Literature, edited by Clare Bradford and Valerie Coghlan, Pied Piper Publishing, 2007
'A Publisher's Dilemma: The Place of the Child in the Publication of Children's Books,' New Voices in Children's Literature Criticism , edited by Sebastien Chapleu, Pied Piper Publishing, April 2004
'Creepy Kids: The Use of the Child's Perspective in Films of the Uncanny,' Children's Literature and Childhood in Performance , edited by Kim Reynolds, Pied Piper Publishing, 2003
Reference
'Blackman, Malorie': 100 words; 'Breinburg, Petronella': 100 words; 'Bruchac, Joseph': 300 words; 'Dhondy, Farrukh': 300 words; 'Gavin, Jamila': 150 words; 'Jimenez, Francisco': 100 words; 'Lester, Julius': 500 words; 'Na, An': 100 words; 'Rai, Bali': 100 words; 'Smith, Cynthia Leitich': 100 words; 'Williams-Garcia, Rita': 100 words; 'Woodson, Jacqueline': 300 words; 'Yep, Laurence': 700 words; 'Zephaniah, Benjamin': 100 words, Encyclopedia of Children's Literature. Ed. Jack Zipes. Oxford University Press, 2006
Websites
‘Interview with Gene Luen Yang,’ www.dadtalk.typepad.com/cybils, April 2007
'Report on Diversity Matter Conference', www.papertigers.org, July 2006
'Interview with Mitali Perkins, author' , www.papertigers.org, July 2005 'All There in Black and White?' report on launch of Diversity in Publishing Network, www.booktrusted.co.uk, May 2005
'Interview with Madeline Thien, author', www.papertigers.org, April 2005
'Interview with Patricia Billings, Publisher of Millet Press', www.papertigers.org, July 2004
'It's Not an All-White World of Children's Books Any Longer', www.papertigers.org, February 2004
'Author and Editor Feature: Interviews with Malorie Blackman and Annie Eaton on the Development of Noughts and Crosses' www.achuka.co.uk, May 2002 (this is no longer available on the Achuka website, so I've provided a version of it on my website which sadly lacks the nice flash layout created by Michael Thorn of Achuka)
CONFERENCE PAPERS AND INVITED LECTURES
Speaker at Write Club, ‘Children’s Books: No Harm Done?’ with writer Nicky Singer (Feather Boy, GemX, The Innocent's Story, Doll), moderated by Nick Tucker, 10 April 2008
Member of panel, ‘Children’s Publishing around the World,’ run by Oxford International Centre for Publishing Studies, at the London Book Fair, 15 April 2008
‘Editorial Reflections: Cultural Expression and Children’s Publishing’, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford International Centre for Publishing Studies, October 2006
'Graphic Images: Depicting the Bombing of Hiroshima in the Graphic Novel Barefoot Gen by Keiji Nakazawa', Child and the Book Postgraduate Conference, University of Newcastle, 7-9 April 2006
'The Author Speaks?: How Cultural Expression is Affected by the Juvenile Publication Process', Nordic Network workshop, Children's Literature and Narrative Theory, Finland, September 20-25 2005
'The Role of the Editor: Selection or Censorship?', International Research Society for Children's Literature Conference, Trinity College Dublin, 13-18 August 2005
'Editorial Reflections: How the Juvenile Publication Process Affects Books Produced by Non-White Authors', Child and the Book Postgraduate Conference, University of Antwerp, 15-16 April 2005
Panellist, 'Multicultural Children's Literature and Publishing', Centre for Literacy in Primary Education, Multicultural Book Festival, London, 12 October 2004
'A Publisher's Dilemma: The Place of the Child in the Publication of Children's Books', The Child and the Book: Current Scholarly Approaches to Children and Literature, University of Surrey Roehampton, London, 4 April 2004
'The Current State of African American Children's Publishing in the United States', Co-Presenter with Nicholas Tucker, Streatham Public Library, London, November 2003
'Creepy Kids: The Use of the Child's Perspective in Films of the Uncanny', Fifth Annual IBBY/NCRCL Conference, University of Surrey Roehampton, London, 16 November 2002
'Down the Rabbit Hole: My Experiences in the United States Publishing Industry', University of Surrey Roehampton cluster talk, February 2002
'Introducing Lee & Low Books' and 'Editing Children's Books', Children's Literature and Diversity Conference, Salisbury State University, Maryland, July 2000
'Developing Work for Publication', Invited lecturer for Illustrating and Publishing Children's Books Course taught by Mira Reisberg, San Francisco City College, Autumn 1997 and Spring 1998
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY
Festival Director, The Brighton Children's Book Festival, April 2007 and 2008, in partnership with THE SOUTH, http://www.bcbf.org.uk
Judge, 2007 Cybils (Children’s and YA Blogger’s Literary) Award in the graphic novel category,
selected winning books in 12 and under, and 13 and up groups, www.dadtalk.typepad.com/cybils
Co-Founder and member, Arts Council of England steering committee focused on diversity and children's publishing, working towards a series of conferences to start in June 2006 with an aim for 250 delegates and a 2-day event with £70,000 funding, www.artscouncil.org.uk/diversitymatters
Co-Organiser, 'The Child and the Book: Past, Present and Future,' third annual Postgraduate Conference, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, April 2006, to be followed by publication of selected papers in an edited collection to be published by Pied Piper Publishing. www.ncrcl.ac.uk/childandbook.htm
Chair and Organizer, 'Author Panel Discussing How East Meets West in their Work,' British IBBY/NCRCL Conference,13 November 2004, Roehampton University
Founder and Co-Organiser, 'The Child and the Book: Current Scholarly Approaches to Children and Literature,' Inaugural Postgraduate Conference, University of Surrey Roehampton, held on April 2004, followed by publication of selected papers in the journal, The New Review of Children's Literature and Librarianship , published by Routledge
Contributing Associate Editor, ACHUKA website (www.achuka.co.uk), 9/01-9/02, features writer and events reviewer for UK-based children's literature website
Judge, Fiction for Children Prize, London Writers Competition, 6/02-9/02, writing competition sponsored by Wandsworth Council and Roehampton University
Co-Editor, Newsletter for MA in Children's Literature, Roehampton University, 9/01-6/02, completed two issues with a focus on international children's literature
Volunteer, World Book Day, Tate Museum of Modern Art, 3/02
Organiser, Events and PhD listservs for Children's Literature students, 9/01-present, created email lists to organise events, announce calls for papers, and facilitate discussions
Member, PEN Open Book Committee, New York, 8/99-7/01, committee working to increase diversity in publishing, organising awards and events
Mentor Editor, Rutgers University One-on-One Conference, 10/99 and 10/00
Member, Children's Committee, San Francisco Book Festival, 1997 and 1998
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
British Section IBBY (International Board on Books for Young Readers) committee
Centre for Research in Postcolonial and Transcultural Studies, Roehampton University
Child and Book Steering Committee Children's Literature Research Cluster, Roehampton University
Diversity in Publishing Network
International Research Society for Children's Literature
Nordic Network for Children's Literature Research
SELECTED AWARDS AND HONOURS FOR BOOKS
In My Family , Children's Book Press, 1996, Assistant Editor
Tomás Rivera Book Award
Skipping Stones Book Award
Américas Picture Book Award
I See the Rhythm , Children's Book Press, 1998, Assistant Editor
Corretta Scott King Award for Illustration
Publishers Weekly Best Book of 1998
'Starred Review,' School Library Journal
American Library Association Notable Book
From the Bellybutton of the Moon , Children's Book Press, 1998, Assistant Editor
Pura Belpré Award
Skipping Stones Book Award
'Starred Review,' School Library Journal
Sammy and the Dinosaurs , Orchard Books, 1999, Editor
Children's Book of the Month Club Selection
School Library Guild Selection
'Starred Review,' Publishers Weekly
'Starred Review,' School Library Journal
DeShawn Days, Lee & Low Books , 2001, Editor
'Starred Review,' School Library Journal
'Choices,' Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
2003 Rhode Island Children's Book Award, Masterlist
Children's Literature, Choice List 2002
Love to Langston , Lee & Low Books, 2002, Editor
'Starred Review,' Kirkus Reviews
Best Books 2002, School Library Journal
Bank Street Bookstore's Bestseller 2002
"100 Titles for Reading and Sharing," The New York Public Library, 2002
NCTE Notable Children's Book in the Language Arts for 2003 (National Council for
Teachers of English)
The Pot that Juan Built , Lee & Low Books, 2002, Editor
2003 ALA Notable Children's Book, American Library Association
Américas Award Commended Title, Consortium of Latin American Studies Program
Best Books 2002, School Library Journal
"Starred review," Publishers Weekly
"100 Titles for Reading and Sharing," The New York Public Library, 2002
Winner, 2002 Best Books of the Year Award, Parenting Magazine
Best Books of 2002, Nick Jr. Family Magazine
Starred Book of Merit, Five Owls Magazine
2003 Charlotte Zolotow Award, Highly Commended Title, Cooperative Children's Book
Center
International Children's Books of Note, United States of America, Bookbird
Notable Books for a Global Society, International Reading Assocation
NCTE Notable Children's Book in the Language Arts for 2003
Best Children's Books of the Year for 2002, Bank Street College of Education
Pura Belpré Illustrator Award Honor, ALSC/Reforma
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