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USBBY conference in Austin 26-27 October 2019


The first day at the USBBY regional conference, held at the University of Texas, in Austin, Texas was very interesting. There were two panels of authors and illustrators discussing their work which have been really interesting. I met illustrators and authors whose work I already knew: Grace Lin, Christian Robinson and Allen Say, and new authors and illustrators including Baptiste Paul, Ekua Holmes and Cynthia Leitich Smith. In the break out sessions on Day 1, my favourite  was presented by two Canadian academics from Canadian IBBY (Jenny Kay Dupuis and Mary Beth Leatherdale) who have made a list of 100 picturebooks reflecting indigenous stories and voices. They’ve called it From Sea to Sea. Their motivations were several: to ensure indigenous children can hear their own stories, and that non-indigenous children have a window into indigenous perspectives, to highlight the high quality of indigneous publications, to break down stereotypes. It was really inspiring. Even if I only got to hear this one session, attending this conference would have been worth it. 
But wait, there was more....
There was a session about the CorettaScott King Award which celebrates a 50 year anniversary this year.  This award was created in order to recognise books by African American writers, and there was another presentation about an award for books with environmental messages, called the Green EarthBook Award.

And lastly there was a keynote speech from the British writer Nicola Davies. I’m sure several people thought I was her during the day, our names and accents being fairly close. This Nicola is a zoologist who writes non fiction encouraging children to be aware of their environment and their place in it. It was an excellent after-dinner speech which was very well received.


Day 2 was also full and inspiring, starting with a panel of Mexican illustrators, including Aldolfo Cordova, Tania de Regil and Amanda Mijangos. It was inspiring to see the work of these talented artists and to hear them talk about their work.  

After morning tea there was a breakout session and I was able to hear David Wiesner talk about his wordless or silent picturebooks, He has done a lot of research to document the emergence of the silent picturebook which seems to have developed alongside the emergence of movies in the 1930s. This was of particular interest because in 2020, the Waikato Picturebook Research Unit will host our annual picturebook seminar with the theme of silent picturebooks. Afterwards I asked David if he would be prepared to be interviewed and recorded for the seminar, and he agreed, so I am thrilled about that.

Day 2 also featured a panel of authors and illustrators from IBBY Canada, including Elise Gravel, Qin Leng and Irene Luxbacher who shared how they go about their work and what motivates them. 
The last session I attended was by Hans Christian Anderson Award winner Roger Mello, talking about his work for hist latest book Charcoal Boys, which has a focus on child labour.

This was an unforgettable start to my Fulbright experience. I met with US colleagues who I know well, and met new people. I was introduced to the work of many authors and illustrators I didn't know previously. It was an honour to be there.

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