Once Upon a Conference
There’s a running joke in the University of Georgia’s Department of Language and Literacy Education.
“Two very important things happened in 1969,” says clinical professor Petros Panaou with a grin. “We landed on the moon, and the Georgia Conference on Children’s Literature was born.”
An exaggerated comparison, maybe, but it’s hard to dismiss the impact of one of the longest-running literature conferences in the country. It’s an event where writers, illustrators, and educators meet each year to chart the future of children’s literature.
The conference was created to celebrate the authors who won the Georgia Children’s Book Awards. The awards were established by Shelton Root, a former professor in UGA’s College of Education, who wanted to build a community of readers and informed citizens.