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UNC Charlotte's English department is hosting the 36th annual Children's Literature Association Conference starting June 11, scattering more than 250 students and professors of children's lit around uptown Charlotte venues.
Academics will present papers, but organizers have included several events for the public:
June 12, 4:30 p.m., ImaginOn: Opening of the African American Doll Exhibit and a lecture by Dianne Johnson, an English professor of the University of South Carolina, children's book author and collector of African American dolls.
June 12, 8 p.m., ImaginOn: Silent Oz films with live piano accompaniment by ragtime pianist Ethan Uslan. During the silent film era, several movies were released based on the L. Frank Baum's Oz stories. Two will be shown that night.
June 14, 12:30 p.m., Levine Museum of the New South:Gail Haley, Mark de Castrique and Karon Luddy, three noted children's authors, will read selections from their books that deal with southern history.
It's third time UNCC English department's children literature program has hosted the conference, more than any other school.
The conference's Web site points out that the number three has special meaning in children's literature. "The third pig has the best house, the third wish is the best wish, and the third bear always has the best stuff. Thus, the theme for the 2009 conference is 'The Best of Three.'"
Organizer Mark West, a UNCC English professor, said staging the conference uptown gives out-of-town participants a real sense of Charlotte and makes it easier for the public to attend programs.
"The study of children's literature is not solely an academic pursuit for us," West said. "We are making portions of the conference open to the public in hopes that area children will be able to celebrate literature with us."
For more information about the conference go to http://www.english.uncc.edu/bestofthree/index.htm on the Internet.
