Roehampton University
Open Spaces. Open Minds.
National Centre for Research in Children's Literature (NCRCL)
Children's Literature International Summer School (CLISS)
CLISS 2007 overview
Please note: Cliss 2007 successfully took place in July and details of the programme are listed below.
- CLISS 2007 booking form (doc)
- CLISS 2007 programme (pdf). (To read this document you will need Adobe Reader software. Click here to download this free software.)
- CLISS 2007 tutor biographies
CLISS is not a conference but a concentrated five-day period of study for which delegates prepare, attend lectures and contribute to seminars. Its purpose is to provide a forum in which participants and researchers in the field can exchange ideas and generally broaden their knowledge of the subject, and it offers an excellent opportunity to develop collaborations and extend individual research.
Areas of study for CLISS 2007 included:
- Children’s Publishing (with academic seminars as well as sessions run by practitioners in the publishing industry)
- Comparative Children’s Literature
- Creative Writing for Children (which will include both lectures and writing workshops)
- Gender in Children’s Literature
- Origins and Developments
- Radical Visual Texts.
For those following the Creative Writing strand, there were four lectures by leading figures on all aspects of writing for children. There were also four hands-on workshop sessions with a creative writing tutor, Lisa Sainsbury, who worked with delegates on the writing craft.
You can view the CLISS 2007 programme (pdf).To read this document you will need Adobe Reader software, click here to download this free software.
You can also view the CLISS3 programme (doc) (held in 2005)
CLISS 2007 had space for around 80 participants to stay in a mixture of ensuite and standard accommodation. Delegates could also attend on a non-residential basis. For more information see the virtual tour of the Roehampton campus. For directions to the University see the 'How to find us' page.
For further details, please contact Laura Atkins, the conference manager
Email: L.Atkins@Roehampton.ac.uk,
Tel: 020 8392 3008 (on Thursdays or Fridays)
CLISS 2007 participants
CLISS 2007 took place from 11-15 July 2007, and featured leading international authors and academics in the field, including:
| Sarah Adams (UK) | Junko Yokota (USA) |
| Farrukh Dhondy (UK) | Alison Morrison (UK) |
| Michele Gill (UK) | Maria Nikolajeva (Sweden) |
| Janni Howker (UK) | Pat Pinsent (UK) |
| Peter Hunt (UK) | Lisa Sainsbury (UK) |
| Vanessa Joosen (Belgium) | Claire Squires (UK) |
| Gillian Lathey (UK) | Liz Thiel (UK) |
| Kerry Mallan (Australia) | Gaby Thomson (Austria/UK) |
| Michelle Martin (US) | Eleanor Updale (UK) |
| Rod McGillis (Canada) | Christine Wilkie-Stibbs (UK) |
For more information on these participants see the tutor biographies.
Praise for CLISS
- ‘Brilliant speakers, lots of discussion, very well organised’.
- ‘A very rewarding experience! Wonderful contacts, great seminars and lectures where both theory and day-to-day working with children’s books meet’.
- ‘I have enjoyed each moment’.
- ‘The most wonderful summer school I ever attended'.