New IRSCL Fellow: Jean Perrot

Sandra Beckett introduced the third IRSCL Fellow, Jean Perrot . Some of the qualities that identify Jean as an appropriate recipient are summarised by Sandra below.

The IRSCL Fellow was established in 2001 to honour someone who has made a significant contribution to the field of children's literature research and to the IRSCL. The first recipient of the award in 2001 was Klaus Doderer, the first president of the IRSCL and the second recipient in 2003 was Göte Klingberg, the second president of the IRSCL. At the Congress in Dublin, it gave us great pleasure to announce the third recipient of the award, Jean Perrot.

Jean Perrot needs little introduction to most members of the IRSCL. I?m sure that many of you have attended one of the numerous conferences that he has organized at the Institut International Charles Perrault, a center for research in children?s literature which he founded in Eaubonne in 1994 and directed for many years.

Jean received a Doctorate from the Department of Comparative Literature at the Sorbonne with a dissertation on Henry James. He is an Emeritus Professor of Comparative Literature at the Université Paris-XIII, but he resembles no retired professor I know. He seems to be as busy as ever promoting children?s literature around the globe.

His numerous publications include Art baroque, art d'enfance (Baroque art, children's art, 1991), Carnets d?illustrateurs (Illustrators' notebooks, 2000), and Jeux et enjeux du livre d?enfance et de jeunesse (Play and games: books at stake for children and young adults, 1999), a 2001 IRSCL Honour Book.

He has organized a host of international conferences and edited many important collections of essays. In 1991, he hosted the highly successful 10 th Biennial IRSCL Congress in Paris, and then edited the proceedings of the congress, Culture, texte et jeune lecteur , which were published with the Presses Universitaires de Nancy in 1993. He has also served on the board of the IRSCL.

Jean?s indefatigable promotion of international exchange and collaboration in the study of children's literature has had a major impact on the field. In 2001 he was awarded the International Brothers Grimm Award.