Australian Children's Laureate

e:lit
A board made up of representatives from publishers, booksellers, creators and major national children’s literature organisations has been created to establish an Australian Children’s Laureate position. e:lit will be represented on the Australian Children’s Literature Alliance (The Alliance) by Val Noake.

The Alliance chair Bronwen Bennett said that the new board would help promote many of the outstanding success of Australian children’s literature.
‘Australia has a rich tradition in producing the very best children’s writing, from literary greats such as Colin Thiele and Patricia Wrightson through to the irreverent humour of Andy Griffiths. The Alliance will promote and support the value of books and reading for young Australians,’ she said.

‘The creation of a children’s laureate is an exciting initiative, and one that has been hugely successful in boosting children’s literature wherever it has been introduced.’

The initial focus of the board will be on creating a national children’s laureate position which it hopes to have in place for 2010 and a website to profile writing for young people.

Australia Council funding will support the establishment of the board including a staff member based at the State Library of Victoria.