Program

8:00 – 9:00

Refreshments & Registration (Victoria Learning Theatre Lobby & Room 185)

9:00 – 9:30

Opening Comments (Room 182: Victoria Learning Theatre Lobby)

9:30 – 10:45

Panel 1: Picturing LGBTQ Youth Spaces (Room 156)

“It’s, like, not normal to have two moms”: Using Children’s Literature to Discuss LGBTQ Issues in the Elementary School Classroom
Kate Paterson – University of British Columbia

Queer Strengths: Rethinking Teen Depression in Tamaki & Tamaki’s Skim
Meredith Snyder – University of Alberta

Lumberjanes: Homosocial Spaces or the Benefits and Problems of Assimilation Texts
Sarah O’Reilly – Simmons College

Shutterbug*
Esther McPhee – University of British Columbia

Panel 2: Indigenous and Culturally-Diverse Graphic Narratives (Room 157)

Picturing Transformative Texts
Caroline Bagelman – University of Victoria

The People of Change Project
Angelica Faustino, Kathlyn Quan and Lorenzo Finau-Cruz – San Francisco State University

“This time I was ready for their help. It set me free”: Healing, Survivance, and the Importance of Community in Indigenous Graphic Novels
Brittany Johnson – University of Alberta

Catfish Rolling*
Clara Kumagai – University of British Columbia

Panel 3: Recontextualization and Subversion in Children’s Literature (Room 158)

Achebe’s “Missionary Drive to Save the Children”: Achieving Claws for Spots and Other Postcolonial Subversions in Nigerian Children’s Literature
Sydney Vickars – University of Toronto

Drawing Identity: Examining Graphic Autobiographies and Diaries as Subversive Archives for Surveillance and Construction of Identity and Promoting Graphic Life Narratives in the Library
Rotem Diamant – University of Toronto

Plumb Backwards: Complicating, Recontextualizing, and Realizing a Critical Classroom Edition of Ricochet River 25 Years Later
Dory Athey & Corine Gould – Portland State University

Jaida*
Kathleen Forrester – University of British Columbia

Panel 4: Diversity in Library Programs and Services (Room 191)

Measuring Up: Assessing the Representation of Cultural Diversity in Public Library Collections of Children’s Literature in Connection with Communities Served
Saguna Shankar & Lucy Kiester – University of British Columbia

Evaluating the Impact of North Vancouver City’s Library’s Summer Reading Club on Reading Skills
Gwen Doran – University of British Columbia

A Program Evaluation of Pilas! Family Literacy Program
Alexandra Wright Steiner – University of Oregon

11:00 – 12:00

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Renee Hill, Syracuse University (Room 182: Victoria Learning Theatre)

“Moving Beyond Tolerance: Why Striving for Cultural Competence is Essential”
Dr. Renee Hill’s talk addresses why adults who work in some capacity related to children’s literature must not be content to simply be ‘tolerant’ of diversity but must be committed to developing cultural competence skills in order to provide children with access to literature that presents diverse perspectives.

12:00 – 13:00

Lunch (Room 185)

Tours of the Words and Pictures Exhibit (Room 110: Rare Books & Special Collections Library)

Curated by Johanna Ahn, Chloe Humphreys and Leah Payne and hosted by UBC’s Rare Books & Special Collections Library. Words and Pictures celebrates the 80th anniversary of Canada’s Governor General’s Literary Awards. Tours will run at 12:00 and 12:30.

13:00 – 14:00

Panel 5: The Metamorphosis of Mythological Heroes (Room 156)

Isle of Knots*
Russell Hirsch – University of British Columbia

A New Wave in Narration: Diverse Protagonists in Rick Riordan’s The Heroes of Olympus
Emily Seitz – Simon Fraser University

Lynx*
Sam Markham – University of British Columbia

Panel 6: Shapeshifting and Identity in Young Adulthood (Room 157)

Ted Dawe’s Into the River: An Examination of Censorship and Racism
Fiona Trotter & Lucy Kiester – University of British Columbia

Reader-Narrator Relationships in Adolescent Diary Novels
Elizabeth Allison – San Diego State University

Henare VII – A Gory Hori Story for Boys*
David Geary – University of British Columbia

Panel 7: Visualizing Diverse Gender and Sexuality (Room 158)

Fusion Carnivalesque: The Semiotics of Gender Play in Steven Universe
Susan Shamoon – San Diego State University

Chasing the Great White Whale of Masculinity: Young Adults, Graphic Novels and the Embodiment of Manhood
Elizabeth Drake – San Diego State University

The Boys from Delano*
Ramón Esquivel – University of British Columbia

Panel 8: Connecting through Wordless Picture Books (Room 191)

The Conductor – An Emotional Connection Through Picturebooks
Lacey Hall – University of British Columbia

Books in the IBBY Collection: Wordless Picturebooks, No Borders
Laura Quintana Crelis – University of British Columbia

Fortune*
Emily Siess – University of Washington

14:15 – 15:15

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Naomi Hamer, University of Winnipeg (Room 182: Victoria Learning Theatre)

“Enter through the Gift Shop: Story Museums, Children’s Book Exhibits, and the Cross-Media Experience”
Dr. Naomi Hamer’s keynote will focus on the diversity of media involved in adapting children’s literature across various forms through transmedia storytelling, and the engagement with these texts by young people across multiple modes, platforms, and tie-in merchandise. Her work considers the opportunities and challenges created by the adaptation of children’s literature across diverse media.

15:30 – 16:30

Panel 9: Experiencing Feeling through Picture Books (Room 156)

Imaginative Dreamscapes: Using Picture Books to Help Young Students Cope with Mature Topics
Mystery Beck – University of British Columbia

Reading with the Fingertips: The Black Book of Colors
Cecilia Chan – University of British Columbia

No Fresh Fruit in the Winter*
Lily Erlic – University of Victoria

Panel 10: Fairy Tales, Fantasy, and Gender Studies (Room 157)

Survival of the Fittest: The Adaptation of Violence and Female Agency in Little Red Riding Hood
Maria Romano – York University

Intriguing Keys, Forbidden Doors, and Serial Killers: Exploring Neil Gaiman’s Coraline as a “Bluebeard” Adaptation
Marlo Humiski – University of British Columbia

Goblin Drums*
J. Elizabeth Mills – University of Washington

Panel 11: Di-VERSE-ity!: Verse and Nonsense Verse in Children’s Literature (Room 158)

Readership and Authorship in Jacqueline Woodson’s Brown Girl Dreaming
Kesi Augustine – New York University

Finding the Hidden Adult: Playing Hide and Seek with the Nonsense Verse of Dennis Lee and JonArno Lawson
Bonnie Tulloch – University of British Columbia

Friendly Fire*
Crystal Hurdle – Capilano University

Panel 12: Multimodal Storytelling: Picture Book Apps (Room 191)

Exploring Story in David Wiesner’s Spot
Natalie Schembri – University of British Columbia

The Evolution of Interaction: Pop-ups to Apps and Back Again
Cynthia Nugent – University of British Columbia

Kaleidoscope Song*
Fox Benwell – Bath Spa University

16:45 – 17:15

Closing Remarks (Room 182: Victoria Learning Theatre)


All presentations within panels are 15 minutes long.
*Indicates a creative writing presentation.

Click here to download the panel program as a PDF.