The Philippa Pearce Lectures
The Philippa Pearce Lectures are given each year at Homerton College. The talks commemorate Phillipa Pearce, writer of stories for children, amongst which the best-known and best-loved is Tom’s Midnight Garden.
Philip Pullman gave the 2011 lecture, entitled Both Perhaps Present, a quotation from TS Eliot’s Burnt Norton, Time present and time past are both perhaps present in time future, a fascinating excursion into tense. His talk can be seen on-line at http://www.pearcelecture.com/the-lectures/2011-2/
Malorie Blackman, who has recently become the Waterstone’s Children's Laureate for 2013-2015, gave the Lecture in 2012, and her talk can also be heard and seen on-line at http://www.pearcelecture.com/lectures/2012. It was an inspiring event, entitled 21st Century Storytelling: Will the advent of new technology create a paradigm shift in the writing and reading of children's literature? Although dealing mainly with stories for children and teenagers, Malorie Blackman spoke about many of the concerns and problems that are common to all writers.
Kevin Crossley-Holland gave the 2013 lecture Footprints on the Grass: Speaking of Gardens and Children’s Books. there is an audio-only recording of his lecture at http://www.pearcelecture.com/the-lectures/2013-2/
His web site is at http://www.kevincrossley-holland.com/ and his book, The Seeing Stone, the first of a trilogy about King Arthur, is published by Orion Childrens Books
THE 2014 LECTURE will be given by Frank Cottrell Boyce a screenwriter and novelist, known for his children's fiction and for his collaborations with film director Michael Winterbottom. He has won many awards, including the Carnegie Medal in Literature, Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, British Independent Film Award for Best Screenplay. He scripted the Oscar-nominated film Hilary and Jackie. His fiction for children, includes Millions (Who wants to be a Millionaire?), Framed and Cosmic.
Updated 24 November 2013
David Franks
