Books Beyond Borders
- Photo: childrens Laureate
The stories we read as children stay with us all our lives. They are part of our culture and travel with us wherever we go. Some stories are universal, some are unique to an individual country; but all play an important role in feeding the imagination and helping us grow.
Ireland in the 21st century has become a melting-pot of cultures, ethnicities and identities and our schools reflect that reality. You might hear a multiplicity of mother tongues in any one classroom and yet the stories they are telling have the power to unite the listeners and inspire the imagination.
Books Beyond Borders, a collaboration between the Laureate na nÓg/Children’s Books Ireland and the Austrian Embassy, aims to explore the topic of books and reading in multi-cultural societies. The event will incorporate two main strands: in the first, children from international communities in Ireland present examples of books from their own cultures; the second will focus on discussion of the issues surrounding multiculturalism in educational contexts and the role played by books and reading in integration in multi-cultural societies focusing on the situation in Austria and Ireland.
The discussion will be led by Laureate na nÓg, Siobhán Parkinson, and Austrian writer, Rachel van Kooij, and will draw on children, their teachers, educators in the wider context and anybody involved in the worlds of children’s literature, education, multiculturalism and in integration.
Books Beyond Borders will be a two-day seminar, at the National Library, on 21st and 22nd October.
