A webinar on children's literature, diversity and representation
How can alternative, underrepresented narratives, voices and images be introduced into the book market? What good examples can we share? And what can the various actors in this field - authors, illustrators, publishers, libraries and readers - learn from each other? What contribution can these decision-makers make to a more diverse, representative, integrative and norm-critical children's literature?
These are questions that the Goethe-Institut is trying to solve together with local and international participants in this webinar. We invite you to take part in the webinar, which aims to provide insights into children's literature, into the work of its creators and users. In the second part of the webinar, we hope to openly share visions, new standards that question the status quo, and best practices to achieve the goals of DRIN and in a secure digital space.
Invited speakers:
- Prof. Dr. Maisha Auma (Germany)
© Prof. Dr. Maisha Auma
Prof. Dr. Maureen Maisha Auma is an Educator, Gender Studies Scholar, and Activist. She is Professor for Childhood and Difference (Diversity Studies) at the University for Applied Sciences, Magdeburg- Stendal, since April 2008. She was a Visiting Professor at the Centre for Transdisciplinary Gender Studies and the Institute of Education at the Humboldt University Berlin from 2014 to 2019.
She was a Visiting Professor at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Gender Studies of the Technical University Berlin from 2020 - 2021. She currently holds the Audre Lorde Guest Professorship for Intersectional Diversity Studies in the DiGENet, Diversity and Gender Equality Network of the Berlin University Alliance (BUA). Maisha has been active in the Black queer-feminist collective “Generation Adefra, Black Women in Germany” since 1993. Her research focuses on: diversity, inequality, and plurality in textbooks and didactical materials in East and West Germany, intersectional sexual education as empowerment for Black communities and communities of color, critical whiteness, intersectionality, decoloniality, and critical race theory.
Together with Peggy Piesche and Katja Kinder she carried out a consultation process in cooperation with the LADS, the State Agency for Equal Treatment and Against Discrimination for the State of Berlin in 2018. The project was entitled: „Making Visible the Discrimination and Social Resilience of People of African Heritage in Berlin.“It was a project within BLACK BERLIN, the UN-Decade for People of African Heritage 2015 - 2024.
Prof. Dr. Maisha Auma will give a key note on "Bridging the Diversity Gap in Children's Literature".
- Reinhard Kleist (Germany)
© Reinhard Kleist
Reinhard Kleist was born in 1970 near Cologne and studied at the school for Graphic and Design in Münster, where he graduated with the silk screen album “Abenteuer eines Weichenstellers” by the author H.C.Artmann. While he was studying, he worked on the two books “Lovecraft” and “Dorian”. Reinhard Kleist lives now in Prenzlauer Berg/Berlin and works in a studio on Kastanienallee in Prenzlauer Berg. He works as a comic book artist and illustrator for books, Cds, advertisement, magazines and animation.
In 2006 the book “Cash – I see a darkness” came out and has since then been translated into fifteen languages.
Reinhard Kleist is doing a lot of workshops in countries like Mexico, Brasil, Jordan, Indonesia, China, Thailand, Canada with the Goethe Institut. In 2013 I had the chance to work with ARTE in a refugee camp in Northern Iraq. The results can be seen here:
ARTE Refugees
In September 2017 my book “Mercy on me” about the life of singer Nick Cave was released and comes along with an album sized Artbook. More infos about the book here:
NICK CAVE COMIC
Currently I work on a Graphic Novel about the life of the boxer Emile Griffith and prepare myself for a future work on David Bowie.
Reinhard Kleist will give insights about his work and his experiences with publishing books.
- Alexandra Stang (Goethe-Institut Finnland)
© Alexandra Stang
Alexandra Stang works as Head of Information & Library at the Goethe-Institut in Finland and leads the project DRIN on diversity in children’s literature.
Alexandra Stang will give an introduction into the Project "DRIN"
A webinar by the
Goethe-Institut Sri Lanka in collaboration with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Education, the SLBbY, Read Plus Foundation, Room to Read and the National Institute of Library and Information Sciences (NILIS), University of Colombo.
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