Literature for Children
Clark Blaise introduces the topic and the writers. Kang In-ae says that because she is a children’s writer some didn’t believe she would be admitted to the International Writing Program. In-ae observes that literary publics in Korea and the United States do not esteem children’s literature as highly as literature for adults. She believes that children’s literature is important because it helps to deepen children’s understanding of the universe and human nature. She finds it encouraging that writers of adult fiction are beginning to write for children.
Liutaurus Degesys argues that one of the problems he sees in literature for children is that writers sometimes use the literature to make moral announcements. He says that writers need to be more self-conscious rather than self-confident. It is important for children to question the world around them and to have self-doubt.
Monica Mweseli reads two of her poems: “A Child is Special” and “Children Learn What They Live.” Mweseli views children as the future of our tomorrow and feels it is important to read to children at a young age because they are able to listen before they can speak. While staying in Iowa, Mweseli is working on a book of lullabies, songs, proverbs, and nursery rhymes for children 10 years and younger. She talks about how impressionable children age 13 and younger are, which makes having really great children’s literature so important. She discusses how the people of Kenya use oral literature to pass on values to children, which is an important role of children’s literature as well. She discusses how Western children’s books have become very popular in Kenya and how this is a problem because the Western books are so far removed from the Kenya experience and so children are unable to conceptualize some of the topics and characters dealt with in these Western stories. She feels it is very important to have native writers publishing books in every culture. Mweseli ends her talk by reading a poem titled “Mice are Nice” written by a 12-year-old from Kenya.
William Taylor reads from his novel The Blue Lawn. The Blue Lawn is about two young boys discovering their homosexuality. He has received an enormous response from readers who almost always say that he is sharing their story. The work was so popular that it was adapted to stage. Taylor has a problem with the way adults portray children as innocent and pure when children are kind, cruel, moral, and amoral, just as adults are. Taylor discusses a “myth of childhood” that exists because in many countries children are forced to work at a very young age and therefore it is really only the wealthy and privileged children who experience this. Some of Taylor’s books have been banned from schools and libraries because of their subject matter. Taylor ends his talk by reading an excerpt from his novel Agnes the Sheep.
Serah Mwangi thinks it is important to write for one’s own community and to bring children into another world to widen children’s experiences. Mwangi feels there is a real need for stories other than the traditional stories of Kenya because sometimes it is important to write about the negative side of life even when it doesn’t have a happy ending. Mwangi writes in English and this is an issue of contention in Kenya because some feel writers should write in their native tongue to preserve their culture. The reason Mwangi gives for writing in English is because she can reach a wider audience this way.
Questions are taken from the audience an hour and 20 minutes into the recording.
In: International Writing Program Archive
Authors: In Ae Kim , Liutauras Degėsys, Monica Nalyaka Wanambisi Mweseli, William Taylor, Serah Mwangi
Date Recorded: September 25, 1996
Program: --
Format: discussion
Contributors: Clark Blaise
Topics: Children's literature; realism; fiction; fantasy; realism; native languages versus the English language