Focus IBBY: 56.2/2018

The 36th IBBY International Congress in Athens

It is a pleasure and a special honor for the Greek Section of IBBY—also known as The Circle of Greek Children's Book—to host the 36th Congress of the International Board on Books for Young People. The Congress, with the theme East Meets West around Children's Books and Fairy Tales, will take place in Athens from 30 August to 1 September 2018, at the Athens Megaron International Conference Center. The Congress has been included in the events celebrating Athens 2018 World Book Capital.

IBBY's international congresses take place biennially around the world and serve as an important occasion for bringing together its members, as well as others who are involved in children's books, and the promotion of reading. In addition to sessions focusing on literary theory, the congresses serve as a frame for the official IBBY meetings, such as IBBY's General Assembly, the IBBY exhibitions and the conferment of its international awards and honors.

These include the Hans Christian Andersen Award, the IBBY-Asahi Reading Promotion Award, and the IBBY Honour List.

Taking place in a region where the continents of Africa, Asia and Europe meet, the 36th IBBY Congress will celebrate the meetings of cultures in and through literature for children and young people. The East meets West theme of this Congress is also reflected in all aspects of life in Greece: architecture, politics, pop culture, food, art, music, education, and, of course, literature.

Over our long history, the flow of people, cultures, religions and languages, and their interactions have produced both intense cultural richness and tensions. The effects of the current globalization make this richness even more forceful. Children's literature plays an active part in the tensions between sameness and difference, the local and the global, the national and the transnational. Comparative approaches explore children's literature production, flow and interaction analyzing relevant literary products, phenomena, processes and educational approaches. IBBY's founder, Jella Lepman, believed that the sharing of children's stories across national, cultural and linguistic boundaries could bring about intercultural communication and understanding—a vital ingredient for global peace and prosperity. And today, we need intercultural communication and understanding more urgently than ever.

The Congress theme offers a forum for delegates from across the globe to reach for ideas, connections, as well as influences and comparisons, within and across continental, national, cultural, linguistic, and other boundaries.

The central topics of the congress are:

1. 1. Difference, sameness, and diversity in children's literature

2. 2. Translation, transfer, reception, and comparison across languages, nations, and cultures

3. 3. Engaging children and young people with international and multicultural literature

The President of the 36th Congress Organizing Committee is Vassiliki Nika—President of the Greek Section of IBBY

The Scientific Committee comprises: Chair: Petros Panaou, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Language and Literacy Education, University of Georgia, USA. Members: Evelyn Arizpe, Senior Lecturer, Children's Literature and Literacies, School of Education, University of Glasgow, Scotland; Sophia Kalantzakos, Global Distinguished Professor, Environmental Studies and Public Policy, New York University/ NYUAD; Tzina Kalogirou, Professor of Modern Greek Literature and Literature Teaching, Department of Primary Education, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens; Meni Kanatsouli, Professor of Children's Literature, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki; Vicky Patsiou, Professor of Modern Greek Literature, Department of Primary Education, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens; Elizabeth Poe, Retired Professor of Children's & Young Adult Literature and English Education, USA; Dimitris Politis, Associate Professor of Children's Literature and Theory of Literature, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Patras; Tasoula Tsilimeni, Professor of Children's Literature, University of Thessaly; Angela Yannicopoulou, Professor of Children's Literature, Department of Preschool Education, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. The Congress logo was designed by Dikaios Hatziplis, and the poster by Evi Kallionaki.

News and updates will be posted on the official website of the Congress www.ibbycongressathens2018.com, the IBBY Congress Athens 2018 Facebook page, as well as the @ibbycongr2018 Twitter feed.

We look forward to meeting you to the 36th IBBY International Congress in Athens from 30 August to 1 September 2018.

The Greek...