Congrats Elina Druker!

Photo: Stefan Tell

Elina Druker, PhD and member of the ALMA jury, has been appointed University Lecturer in comparative literature with at focus on children and young people. This is the first lectureship with this direction at Stockholm University. The award office caught Elina for a comment between her lectures at the university.

Congratulations on your new job! What significance does it have, do you think, that Stockholm University has instituted this lectureship?

Thanks, I´m really happy! Stockholm University has had a professorship in literature focusing on children’s and young adult literature since the early 80s. It’s great that we get a lectureship in the same direction, it will strengthen our literary profile further.

What are the current issues within the research field of children’s and young adult literature today internationally?

The Research areas expand in different directions, indicating that the topic has been established in many countries. Intermedial research, gender studies and cognitive studies are exciting areas among other things.

You are involved in the project “Children’s Literature, Culture and Cognition”, can you tell us about this?

It is a series of books on new European and Scandinavian children’s literature research, which will be launched soon. We are four editors from four different countries, so it is a very exciting and stimulating cooperation.

Do you have any hopes and aims with this new lectureship?

My special interest is picture books, so I hope to draw attention to the picture book further in my work. It is an area within children’s literature where very much is happening right now, both in Sweden and internationally.

Elina Druker begins her new employment on February 1, 2013.

Tags: Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, children's literature, Culture and Cognition, Elina Druker, jury