The workshop “Surrounded by Conflicts: Children’s War Literature in the Making,” held at the Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies on 12-13 June, brought together an international group of scholars for two days of insightful and engaging discussions. Participants examined the production, circulation, and reception of children’s war literature across Eastern Europe and its diasporas from 1989/1991 to the present.

The event featured speakers with interdisciplinary backgrounds related to the study of Ukrainian, Georgian, Russian, Croatian, Polish, German, French, Anglophone and Scandinavian children’s literatures.

Through four thematic panels, participants addressed questions of authorship, pedagogy, publishing, translation, and memory, shedding light on the shifting role of children’s literature in times of war and upheaval.

We thank all contributors for their thoughtful presentations and look forward to future collaborations and publications stemming from these conversations.

Part of “PUBLISH: Children’s Books in the Russia-Ukraine War” joint research project, the workshop was made possible with the support of the Aarhus University Research Foundation.