Born and raised in the USA, Elsa Marston is a children’s author who specializes in books, both fiction and non-fiction, about the Middle East. “A lot of my writing is about the Middle East and Arab-Americans.” says Elsa. “That’s because my late husband, Iliya Harik, was from Lebanon; family connections and his work as a political scientist (Indiana University) took us to that part of the world many times. I want to share with young readers my own interest in those lands and peoples, and equally important, help contribute to better understanding of the Arab/Muslim world. In that way I hope to continue Iliya’s life’s work, along with my own.”
From June 12 to the 14, Elsa will be attending an international conference on children’s literature in Beirut, Lebanon and told us:
I think this is the first time anything quite like this, at least with this scale and scope, has been done in the Arab countries, although there are IBBY chapters in Lebanon and Palestine and probably elsewhere. The preliminary program looks very interesting… an idea of some of the concerns that are gradually starting to take hold in the literature of that part of the world. Up till very recently, literature for children and teens consisted mostly of translations of European fairy tales and simplified western novels, and Arabian Nightsy stories. The idea that fiction for young people could reflect the lives of those young people and their societies had not quite caught on. (It must be admitted, the same thing was true here with respect to the Middle East, until about a dozen years ago! And that’s basically what I’ll be talking about.)
Elsa expects the conference to be largely in Arabic, with English and French mixed in liberally; and program highlights include:
Day #1
1st session: Social and Cultural Environment in Children’s Books
Illustration of Children’s Books in Italy (Italian speaker)
Illustration of Children’s Books in Sudan
2nd session: Representation of Conflict in Children’s Books
Beverley Naidoo speaking about conflict and resolution in her own work (re South Africa)
Conflict and the Enemy Image in Syrian Children’s Books
Palestinian Children’s Books: Occupation, Violence, Displacement
Day #2
1st Session: Influence of Censorship on Writing
Censoring Children’s Books in Nazi Germany and After the War (German speaker)
Censoring Children’s books in Iraq’s Past Regime
2nd session: The Role of the Family in Children’s Books
Effect of New Teaching Methods on Children’s Books in France (French speaker)
The Role of Family in Tunisian Children’s Books
The Role of Family Members in Lebanese Children’s Books
Day #3:
1st session: Art and Imagination in Children’s Books
Illustrating War: Comparing an Egyptian and a Lebanese Book
Imagination in Lebanese Children’s Illustration
Impact of Color in Illustrated Books
2nd session: Artistic Structure
Collage in Children’s Drawings in Iran
The Birth of Snakedog (European speaker)
U.S. Literature for Young People About the Arab World (Elsa Marston)