Seven Stories Northern Bridge Consortium Collaborative Doctoral Award

Fully-funded PhD opportunities

Wanted! Outstanding candidates interested in fully-funded doctoral projects in collaboration with Seven Stories: The National Centre for Children’s Books, based in Newcastle upon Tyne. Seven Stories is a groundbreaking museum, archive and visitors’ centre with a mission to preserve and celebrate Britain’s rich heritage of children’s literature. As the National Centre for Children’s Books, Seven Stories hold manuscripts, artwork and archival material relating to British children’s books from c.1930 to the present day, representing over 250 leading authors and illustrators ranging from Enid Blyton to Michael Morpurgo, and correspondence and other material from editors and publishers. See here  for an overview of current holdings. Seven Stories shares this collection with the public through events in their visitor centre, and exhibitions which tour nationally. Through their award-winning creative learning and engagement programme they work closely with schools and community groups.

To take advantage of this opportunity you will:

  • be a resident of UK or EU
  • be seeking to begin a PhD in October 2019
  • have an outstanding academic record, including a first degree in a relevant subject and (in most cases) a master’s degree either in hand or shortly to be completed OR relevant and equivalent working experience
  • have an interest in working on a doctoral project in collaboration with Seven Stories, in one or the areas listed below.

Applications for a Collaborative Doctoral Award are invited in the following research areas:

Children’s and youth literature projects will make substantial use of one or more archival collections at Seven Stories. Critical and creative projects will be considered. While the Seven Stories collection represents material from the 1930s onwards, proposals on the history of children’s literature, as well as work focused on the 20th and 21st centuries, are welcomed. Themes of interest to Seven Stories in this application round are:

  • Makers of children’s literature: children’s book history; editing; publishing; education; bookselling
  • The art of children’s books: children’s book illustrations; picturebooks; comics; development of printing technologies; art history; visual experience; materiality
  • Childhood and place: national identity; global childhoods; cosmopolitanism; heritage and historical fiction

The child and the book: children; childhood heritage; literary heritage; the book as object; memory; childhood reading; reading contexts Museum and gallery studies projects will focus on Seven Stories’ role as a museum, focussing on our visitor centre and touring exhibition programme. Themes of interest to Seven Stories in this application round are:

  • Children and museums: children; young people; early years; museums; galleries; heritage; archives; digital technologies

Creative practice projects are invited in any artistic medium or discipline, that respond to our collections, spaces, work and audiences, and could adopt the form of residencies within our venues. Themes of particular interest to Seven Stories are:

  • The evolution of children’s books: children’s books; production; experience; distribution; experimental practice; participation; collaboration
  • The future of storytelling: storytelling; technology; artificial intelligence; machine learning; immersive technologies; interactivity; virtual reality; augmented reality; mixed reality In each of these research areas, we particularly welcome projects which explore themes around inclusion, diversity and representation: race and heritage; disability; gender and gender identity; sexual orientation; age; socio-economic status; religion; culture; children’s rights and human rights.

How to register an interest in a Collaborative Doctoral Award with Seven Stories:

Potential applicants are asked to select the research area they would like to pursue, and contact Dr Annie Tindley (northernbridgedirector@newcastle.ac.uk) to discuss ideas. They will then submit a project summary which will undergo an initial assessment in November 2018. Projects selected at that point will be supported into the main competition. For more information about Seven Stories please explore the website.

For queries about eligibility, suitability and for general enquiries please contact sarah.rylance@ncl.ac.uk

Current Northern Bridge Collaborative PhD Student Helen King says of the application process:

I found Seven Stories and my supervisors really supportive throughout the Northern Bridge process. It’s a lengthy process and I felt daunted by it at the start, but they were enthusiastic about my ideas whilst also challenging me to keep improving my proposal. I was made really welcome when I came for a visit so I got a real sense that I’d enjoy studying here. It’s important to remember that your potential supervisors have a wealth of expertise both on their subject and the application process. It’s also worth remembering that if they have accepted your expression of interest it means that they think your research is exciting and worth doing, and they will be rooting for you to get a place.

Roald Dahl and the Big Friendly Neuroscientist – a Public Engagement Odyssey

7 November 2018, 18:00-19:00, David Shaw Lecture Theatre, The Medical School, Framlington Place, NE2 4HH

Tom Solomon is Professor of Neurology at the University of Liverpool. In 1990, as a junior doctor in Oxford, he looked after world-famous author Roald Dahl. The two developed an unlikely friendship, and every third night, when Solomon was on call, they would chat into the wee small hours about Dahl’s fascinating medical encounters. These included inventing a medical device to treat water on the brain, campaigning for vaccination, and devising a rehabilitation regime which led to the formation of The Stroke Association.

Twenty-five years later these tales became the basis of Solomon’s highly acclaimed popular science book Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Medicine, which received extensive coverage on national television and radio. Following promotional events at Cheltenham Literature Festival, and science festivals, Solomon developed Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Medicine into a sell-out smash hit family show at Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and London’s West End.

Nowadays, academics are encouraged to engage patients and the public in their research. In this lecture Professor Solomon will talk about Roald Dahl and his marvellous medical encounters, and show how he used this opportunity to engage patients and the public in his work. For more information on Tom please see his website.

This event is free but please book your place here. Teachers and school groups are welcome, this talk will be most suitable for sixth form age students and beyond.

Venue: The David Shaw Lecture Theatre is located inside the Newcastle University Medical School on Framlington Place, NE2 4HH, building 60 on campus maps. It is accessible by lift and is fitted with an induction loop. There is no parking on site but there are car parks nearby. We recommend using public transport where possible. It is approximately 15 mins walk from Haymarket metro / bus station.

28 Tales for 28 Days: The Mother’s Tale

CLUGG is sharing space and broadcasting writers’ stories of those who experience indefinite immigration detention in the UK and those who work with them.

Today’s tale centres on the experience of family separation, as told to Marina Warner and read by Sinéad Cusack:

Read more about Refugee Tales and the #28for28 campaign here.

28 Tales for 28 Days: The Unaccompanied Minor’s Tale

CLUGG is sharing space and broadcasting writers’ stories of those who experience indefinite immigration detention in the UK and those who work with them.

Today’s tale centres on the reality for unaccompanied minors who seek sanctuary in the UK and find age 18 they are detained indefinitely, as told to and read by Inua Ellams:

Read more about Refugee Tales and the #28for28 campaign here.

28 Tales for 28 Days: The Dependant’s Tale

CLUGG is sharing space and broadcasting writers’ stories of those who experience indefinite immigration detention in the UK and those who work with them.

Today’s tale is from the perspective of a child, showing the impact of government policy on the life of her family, as told to Marina Lewycka and read by Julie Hesmondhalgh:

Read more about Refugee Tales and the #28for28 campaign here.

28 Tales for 28 Days

CLUGG is sharing space

We are sharing our blog and broadcasting writers’ stories of those who experience indefinite immigration detention in the UK and those who work with them. Many organisations, including the Royal Society of Literature and Literature Cambridge, are doing the same. Over 28 days, you will find tales here, showing the fundamental power of literature to bring about change.

The UK is the only country in Europe that detains people indefinitely for administrative purposes and without judicial oversight under immigration rules. Rooted in the work of the Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group, and supported by the University of Kent, Refugee Tales shares the tales of those who have been indefinitely detained in immigration detention. To highlight the call for a 28 day time limit for immigration detention, Refugee Tales is releasing 28 tales online – one each day over 28 days on the website www.28for28.org. Writers and actors lend their words and voices to asylum seekers, refugees and people in indefinite detention. CLUGG supports the Refugee Tales call for an end to indefinite detention. Over the next month we will be sharing 3 of the 28 tales that centre around the child’s experience. In the meantime, watch the Refugee Tales statement:

#28for28

About Refugee Tales

Through Refugee Tales, writers collaborate with asylum seekers, refugees and people in indefinite detention who share their stories. Taking Chaucer’s great poem of journeying – Canterbury Tales – as a model, writers tell a series of tales as they walk in solidarity with detainees. As they walk, they create a space in which the language of welcome is the prevailing discourse.

Being Human Festival: From Source to Sea

17 – 18 November 2018, Seven Stories

As part of Being Human Festival: From Source to Sea, Seven Stories, in association with Newcastle University, is hosting several free events. Read on for details and come along!

Once upon a Tyne

17 November, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm; 13:30 – 14:30 pm

Discover the original scribbles and doodles behind children’s books in this hands on session with the Seven Stories Collection. This insightful session will be led by the Seven Stories Collections Team and the Children’s Literature Unit at Newcastle University.

Inspired by the Tyne and the rivers, seas and oceans that feature within the Seven Stories Collection, explore manuscripts from authors including David Almond and Robert Westall, and artwork from illustrators including Polly Dunbar.

Session lasts 60 mins and is suitable for everyone interested in children’s literature. Tickets are free and can be found here. No visitor admission is required.

Undiscovered Land: Write like David Almond

17 November, 2:30 – 4:30 pm

‘Writing will be like a journey, every word a footstep that takes me further into undiscovered land.’ David Almond, My Name is Mina.

Join Ann Coburn, children’s author and Lecturer in Creative Writing at Newcastle University for a free creative writing workshop.

Through a series of creative exercises you will start your own story inspired the work of celebrated North-East writer David Almond. Learn how to convey a sense of place in your writing and incorporate elements of memory, history, magic and transformation.

Session lasts 2 hours and is suitable for adults. Tickets are free and can be found here. No visitor admission is required.

Tales of the Tyne

18 November, 2:30 – 3:30 pm

‘They thought we had disappeared, and they were wrong. They thought we were dead, and they were wrong. We stumbled together out of the ancient darkness into the shining valley.’ – David Almond, Kit’s Wilderness.

As the mines closed and the shipyards fell silent, the North East saw the end of a long and vibrant tradition. Where next for the communities who had grown up with the old industries woven into the fabric of their lives? David Almond’s wild and beautiful stories explore the end of the old North East, and the possibilities for new beginnings.

Join Dr Lucy Pearson from Newcastle University’s Children’s Literature Unit for a talk on how David imagines these endings and beginnings, followed by a tour of our Where Your Wings Were exhibition focussed on David’s work.

Session lasts 60 mins and is suitable for young adults and adults. Tickets are free and can be found here. No visitor admission is required.

 

Find out more about the Festival over on the Vital North blog.

 

Insights Lecture: Staring into Space with Lauren Child

October 23 2018, 5:30 pm

Curtis Auditorium, Herschel Building, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 7RU

It is now widely recognised that creativity is as important as literacy or numeracy, and that allowing ourselves the time, space and freedom to be creative is essential for good mental health… sometimes we need to stare into space, Lauren Child argues.

Join the UK Waterstones Children’s Laureate to explore how staring into space promotes creative thinking, letting us problem solve, understand who we are, and how we relate to others and the world we live in.

This event is part of the Insights Public Lectures series at Newcastle University, in partnership with BookTrust and Seven Stories: The National Centre for Children’s Books.

The event will be taking place at Curtis Auditorium, Herschel Building, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 7RU. Admission is free and on a first-come, first-served basis. No booking required.

Children’s Literature Association

Call for Papers: International Committee Focus Panel Session on BAME British children’s literature

Deadline: September 15, 2018

46th Annual Children’s Literature Association Conference

Hosted by IUPUI & IU East

June 13 – 15, 2019

Indianapolis, Indiana

The International Committee of the Children’s Literature Association is planning a special focus panel on Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) literature from the United Kingdom, to be presented at the 46th Children’s Literature Association Conference. This conference will be held in Indianapolis, Indiana, and hosted by Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis and Indiana University East from June 13 through 15, 2019.

The committee invites paper proposals that focus on the writing, editing and publishing of children’s literature from the United Kingdom by Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic authors and illustrators. The Committee is particularly interested in proposals that relate these books to the conference theme of “Activism and Empathy.” (Please see the definition of the conference theme here). We encourage scholars of color to apply.

Two abstracts will be selected, and the authors will receive “The ChLA International Honor Award,” which includes a grant of $500 each to cover expenses related to the conference (such as the membership and registration fees). Those papers selected for the International Focus panel will accompany a presentation by the Distinguished Scholar who will be invited by the Committee to present at the conference.

Please send 500-word abstracts accompanied by up to 250-word bios to the International Committee, Children’s Literature Association, at vanessa.joosen@uantwerpen.be with the subject line “International Committee Paper Submission.” The deadline for submissions is September 15, 2018.

Authors of proposals selected for the panel will be notified by October 1, 2018. The International Committee encourages those scholars who are not selected for the International Focus panel to submit an abstract through the general Call for Proposals so that BAME children’s literature will become part of other panels at the conference. The call deadline for the 2019 ChLA conference is October 15, 2018.

Two Postdoctoral Positions in the Children’s Literature Unit

We’re really excited to have two postdoctoral posts available here in the Children’s Literature Unit at Newcastle University, each lasting two years (if full-time). The successful candidates will work on projects funded by Newcastle University’s Research Excellence Academy and Research Investment Fund. These offer the opportunity to work closely on the Aidan and Nancy Chambers collection at Seven Stories, or to pursue a postdoctoral research project of the candidate’s own design. The former would suit someone with experience in working with literary archives and an interest in developing this experience further, as well as someone with an interest in one of the many areas covered by the collection, which spans the whole of Aidan and Nancy’s working lives. The latter will be more independent in scope since it involves a project of the candidates own, but we’re interested in work which aligns with research interests in collection and archives, heritage, or diversity and inclusion.

Research Associate in Children’s Literature (REA) – B131592R

This post will be attached to the project ‘New Stories of Modern British Children’s Literature: the Chambers Collection’, and will map research pathways into the Aidan and Nancy Chambers archival material newly acquired by Seven Stories, the National Centre for Children’s Books. Applicants for this post should supply an academic CV and a cover letter in addition to completing the electronic application form.

Research Associate in Children’s Literature (RIF) – B131593R  

This post will support research aligned with one of these three broad themes:
  1. Developing collections, archives and exhibitions of children’s books, with a particular focus on how we tell national stories of children’s literature.
  2. Children/young people and heritage.
  3. Diversity and inclusion in histories of children’s literature.
Details of how to apply for this post are given in full in the online ad.
Successful candidates will be based in the Children’s Literature Unit, within the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics, and will be joining a large and successful team of academics, doctoral students, and other postdoctoral researchers.
Applicants should have been awarded a doctoral degree in children’s literature, children’s culture, 20th-century publishing or a related area (or be in expectation that the award will be made by 31 October 2018), and should be able to demonstrate ongoing research interests that align with one or more of the designated areas.

For informal enquiries relating to these posts, contact Professor Matthew Grenby(matthew.grenby@newcastle.ac.uk) or Dr Lucy Pearson (lucy.pearson@newcastle.ac.uk).