Image: (c) Shaun Tan. Reproduced with permission of the publishers: Allen & Unwin.

The Australasian Children’s Literature Association for Research is an organisation for the advancement of research and scholarship in children’s literature. We engage with the full spectrum of children’s books from picture books, graphic novels, comics, non-fiction, and junior to young adult fiction, and are continually broadening our focus to take into account the broader range of texts children consume including film and televisual texts, computer games, magazines, websites, blogs and zines. Analytic styles and approaches in the discipline are equally varied and span cultural and ideological critiques, interpretation of historical location and archival materials, cross-cultural and translation studies, audience-centred and educational approaches, visual semiotics, and others. Scholars employ theoretical lenses from a range of disciplines in generative and expansive ways.

The organisation is the sum of its membership, a community of like-minded scholars with the shared agenda of contributing to knowledge about children’s texts. We welcome members from Australasia and beyond and provide an intellectual network that is both rigorous and generous, supporting our colleagues and mentoring new researchers entering the field.

This website is designed to act as a hub for this intellectual activity and includes member’s profiles with email contacts, links to similar organizations, spaces for discussion and other relevant information. We hope you will benefit from the resources provided here and that you will join us as an active member of the organization by clicking on the "join ACLAR" link in the left side panel. Fees are $55 per annum for students/low-wage and $75 per annum full membership. Becoming an official member allows you to build a web profile to enhance your public visibility and to interact with other researchers in the field. We are a non-profit organisation and fees help to fund our biennial conferences and to publish our associated refereed journal, Papers: Explorations in Children's Literature. We are particularly interested in expanding our network in Asia and may be able to subsidise fees for new members in the region - please contact the president for more information.

The 2012 Biennial ACLAR Conference National Library of Australia, Canberra ACT
20-22 June 2012

‘If We’re Being Honest: The Facts and Fictions of Children’s Literature’.

Debates about notions of honesty, openness, innocence and agency have abounded in both the study and practice of children’s and young adult literature. The 2012 Biennial ACLAR conference will explore the contemporary tensions between some of these key debates, with particular emphasis upon the role of children’s literature in the digital world. Confirmed keynote speakers include Prof. Clare Bradford (Deakin University) and writer/illustrator Shaun Tan.

Registration is now open. Speakers must register by 14 May to be included in the conference program.