Philippa Pearce Memorial Lecture – Bookmonitor

The 2018 Philippa Pearce Lecture- Peopling The Dark – Frances Hardinge

Frances Hardinge delivered the Philippa Pearce Lecture to a packed auditorium on April 18th at Homerton College, University of Cambridge.

Are books too scary? Can we iron out the monsters? Should we face the monsters alone?

Some of the questions which Frances eloquently suggested to the audience, why do we think children should not be given answers, but left with the monster lurking, when we just want them to be safe and not to think about scary things?

Frances’s novels, which include The Lie Tree, The Cuckoo Song and A Skinful of Shadows are full of shadows and half glimpsed faces, things which in the dark are scary. Adults tend to come in and put on the light and explain that there is nothing to be scared of, but when the light goes out, Frances explained that the scary monster is back. Frances recalled how she had first read The Shadow Cage by Philippa Pearce and it had struck a deep chord.

Children’s fiction has a wealth of unseen things, some are cowed and shrouded, faceless and use of nonsense words and vague descriptions, for example the Jabberwocky the work of Lewis Carroll. In Victorian children’s books, Frances explained that monsters would be used to impose sanctions, e.g. the monster will get you. Stormtroopers of fear and imagination, the use of cautionary tales.

In today’s world of books for children there is a wealth of material which brings in darkness and scariness, the fear and the imagination of children and young people, for example, Harry Potter and the dementors. We can try to iron out the monsters, we can offer daytime explanations but there remains some uncanny gravitas which no electric light bulb can help!

Frances also pointed out that all children’s authors are adult but maybe it is the inner-self that is still part of the childhood.

A thought-provoking lecture and Frances Hardinge gave an excellent informative journey through the materials on the dark side.

Francis Hardinge at Homerton College, Cambridge to deliver the 2018 Philipp Pearce Lecture

Sue Martin

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The Philippa Pearce Lecture Tenth Anniversary, with Frances Hardinge

The Philippa Pearce Lecture celebrates its tenth anniversary with a lecture by children’s author Frances Hardinge.

Thursday,19th April, 2018 at 5.00 pm – The Mary Allen Building, Homerton College, Cambridge, CB2 8PH.

Frances’ highly acclaimed children’s novels include Fly By Night, Twilight Robbery, the Carnegie-shortlisted Cuckoo Song and Costa Book of the Year winner, The Lie Tree.

Image credit: David Henson. Frances Hardinge, London, 2009

Frances’ lecture, entitled “Peopling the Dark“, will explore unseen and half-seen figures of menace and malice in Philippa Pearce’s The Shadow Cage and other children’s literature.

This prestigious annual lecture at Homerton College, University of Cambridge is a highlight of the literary calendar for a wide-ranging audience of academics, writers, illustrators, publishers, teachers, students and other lovers of children’s literature.

The lecture offers a unique platform for the very best children’s authors, poets and illustrators to reflect on their art. Always thought-provoking as well as entertaining, the lectures have tackled such topics as the implications of exposing children to fear, and what poetry is for, and the place of digital technologies in children’s literature.

Following the inaugural lecture and tribute to Philippa Pearce in 2008, the line-up of speakers has included Michael Rosen, Philip Pullman, Michael Morpurgo, Malorie Blackman, Kevin Crossley-Holland, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Meg Rosoff, Allan Ahlberg and Chris Riddell.

The event is held in association with Homerton College, Cambridge, and is part of the College’s 250^th anniversary celebrations:

The lectures were established in 2007 by the family, friends and colleagues of the distinguished children’s author, Philippa Pearce. Her children’s novels include the well-loved classic, Tom’s Midnight Garden (Carnegie Medal, winner,1958).

Exploring concepts of time, connections between past and present, and relationships between children and parents, all convey a sense of the East Anglian landscape where Philippa’s family had lived for generations, and where she spent most of her life. As Philip Pullman said, “She was one of the very finest writers British children’s literature has ever had.”

The Tenth Anniversary Philippa Pearce Lecture, Thursday, 19 April at 5.00 pm, in the Mary Allen Building, Homerton College, Cambridge. A wine reception follows. Tickets are free but do book in advance.

An event not to be missed.

Sue Martin

Chris Riddell The Age of the Beautiful Book

The Philippa Pearce Memorial Lecture 2017 was presented by Chris Riddell, award winning author, illustrator, political cartoonist and Children’s Laureate 2015-2017.

Not many lectures start with a cartoon of the anticipating audience and the back of the presenter’s head on the large screen! An intriguing way of getting the messages across, and amazing to see book characters come to life before your very eyes! Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse, the first in the Goth Girl series, evolved in the screen in front of the audience at Homerton College, Cambridge

Discover Chris’s work on his web site here.

An exploration into the development of the book itself was a joy to listen to, so often we hear of the ideas behind the book but Chris was keen to portray the business of getting the book into print. A meeting with the book development side of the publishers meant that Goth Girl books have plenty of book bling, deep blue, silver foil, varnish effect and above all sprayed edges. At the back of the books is a tiny book in an envelope attached to the back cover; further information about Ishmael the mouse. Brilliant idea!

The book then travels to the ends of the earth (that may mean China, I suspect!) and back to our country for sale.

The Age of the Beautiful Book was much more than a lecture about illustration in children’s books, but about how that precious book does become beautiful, something to keep and treasure.

Chris talked a little about his own childhood, as the son of a vicar, and how important books are in exploring new worlds; he talked about finding worlds in wardrobes or indeed down rabbit holes. He has a warm and reassuring tone and when he mentioned that he had, ‘ a vague and reassuring feeling that God doesn’t mind that he doesn’t believe in him’, there were many quiet nods and mmm’s.

This empathy with people is shown throughout his illustrations and he has some ingenious ways of bringing books to life. Now, as he is thoroughly into social media, he has a good way of illustrating characters in all sorts of books and then sending photos to gain many, ‘ little blue thumb likes’! ‘Pictures turbo post words’ he said.

Chris is also an advocate for the real book, the attraction to the senses, tactile, the smell, the sound of turning the pages and being a feast for the eyes. Reading is a pleasurable thing to do and should not be turned into a grammatical exercise only. He wants children to draw for fun and for expression and we had some amazing cartoons on what would happen if education ever created assessments for drawing; ‘analyse the makeup of the graphite, the ergonomics of pencil sharpening… it would suck the life joy out of it!’

An enthralling lecture, this Philippa Pearce Memorial Lecture on Friday evening September 8^th with Chris Riddell will be remembered for its engagement, fun and how to bring the best in children’s books alive through beautiful books.

Sue Martin