As we announced at the last congress, the 18th Biennial Congress of IRSCL will be held at Kyoto International Conference Hall, in Kyoto, Japan, August 25-29, 2007. We, the members of IRSCL 2007 Japan Committee are now preparing for program, and the main theme of the congress is decided: Power and Children‘s Literature: Past, Present and Future.

The congress logo is above. We associate the butterfly with power. There's the famous chaos theory saying, "A butterfly flaps its wings in China and it rains in Chicago." Even the smallest action can have profound implications.

Children's books share with butterflies a sense of being beautiful but not particularly powerful. With this butterfly, you can think about power in unconventional ways.

Several keynote lecturers have already agreed to come: Roberta Seelinger Trites, Susan Napier, and Masahiko Nishi. Prof. Trites from Illinois State University specializes in YA literature, Prof. Napier from Texas University majors in Japanese animation films, and Prof. Nishi from Ritsumei University will talk on the relationship between children's literature and marginality. Besides lectures and paper presentations, our program includes evening attractions, such as watching a Kamishibai play, folktale story-telling, and so on. You can choose an excursion, either to a well-known cultural treasure or to the International Institute for Children's Literature, Osaka, where several welcome programs are planned.

Before and after the congress, you can also explore Kyoto, which is a city full of picturesque and historical sights.

We are renewing the local homepage for the Kyoto congress. See the latest news at

http://www.irscl.info/index.htm

Call for Papers:

Start planning now to give a paper at or attend the next International Research Society for Children's Literature Congress, to be held in Kyoto, Japan, in the summer of 2007. The theme will be: Power and Children's Literature: Past, Present and Future

Suggested sub-themes are:

Keynote speakers will include:

more information here