Frances E. Russell Grant

The Canadian National Section of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY Canada) is now accepting proposals for the 2012 Frances E. Russell Grant. The $1,000 grant is intended to support IBBY Canada’s mission “to initiate and encourage research in young people’s literature in all its forms” and is given in support of research for a publishable work (a book or a paper) on Canadian children’s literature.

The deadline for proposals, which may be submitted in English or in French, is October 31, 2012.

The grant supports scholarly work only; works of fiction are not eligible. The types of works that are eligible for the 2012 Frances E. Russell Grant include:

1. Studies of individual authors and their work, especially if they are considered in their socio-historical context.
2. Comparative studies of two or more authors, which illuminate their stylistic differences, or consider their social and historical approaches.
3. Subject/genre overviews, for example, children’s fantasy or historical fiction.
4. Biographical studies of Canadian children’s authors or illustrators.
5. Studies of Canadian illustrators and their work.
6. Related subjects including contemporary theoretical approaches to the study of Canadian children’s literature.

The following materials are required: a proposal, a curriculum vitae, a synopsis of methods and stages by which the applicant will pursue the research, and a summary of what the funds are to be used for. The competition is open to Canadian citizens or landed immigrants. Please send proposals as e-mail attachments to: Deirdre Baker, Frances E. Russell Grant Chair, at russell@ibby-canada.org.

Proposals can also be sent by mail to:
IBBY Canada
c/o The Canadian Children’s Book Centre
Suite 217, 40 Orchard View Blvd.
Toronto, ON M4R 1B9
Attention: Deirdre Baker, Frances E. Russell Grant Chair

A jury, appointed by IBBY Canada, will select the successful applicant by December 31, 2012.

ABOUT IBBY AND THE FRANCES E. RUSSELL GRANT
The Frances E. Russell Grant was established by the late Marjorie Russell in memory of her sister, a long time supporter of IBBY Canada. Past winners include Paulette Rothbauer, Vivian Howard, Gail Edwards and Judith Saltman, Michelle Mulder, André Gagnon, Ronald Jobe, Carole Carpenter, Linda Granfield, and Françoise Lepage. For more information about the Frances E. Russell Grant, please visit the IBBY Canada web site at www.ibby-canada.org or write to info@ibby-canada.org.

The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) believes in the ability of children’s books to bridge cultures and, ultimately, to promote peace. Jella Lepman, founder of the International Youth Library, started IBBY in 1953 in postwar Germany. Her goal was to promote international understanding through children’s books. Established in 1980, IBBY Canada is one of more than seventy sections worldwide.

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The 2011 Frances E. Russell Grant has been awarded to Professor Paulette Rothbauer of the University of Western Ontario for her proposal to study “The Emergence and Promotion of English-Language Young Adult Literature in Canada.” Professor Rothbauer’s research will result in a book-length manuscript.

Deirdre Baker, Chair of the Russell Grant Committee, said, “Rothbauer has an exceptional research record and her proposal to examine the ‘currents of reception among critics and reviewers’ with respect to Canadian young adult literature produced in the 1970s to 80s promises to illuminate an area that has been overlooked in scholarship.”

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Recipients of the Frances E. Russell Grant

• 2011 – Paulette Rothbauer
• 2010 – No grant given
• 2009 **- Vivian Howard
• 2007 – Gail Edwards and Judith Saltman
• 2006 – Michelle Mulder
• 2005 – Michelle Cobban
• 2004 – Krista V. Johansen
• 2003 – Joanna Emery
• 2002 – Lynn Westerhout
• 2001 – Françoise Lepage*
• 2000 – Sydell Waxman
• 1999 – Mavis Reimer and Anne Rusnak
• 1998 – No grant given
• 1997 – Carole Carpenter
• 1996 – Suzanne Pouliot
• 1995 – Jean Stringam
• 1991 – Linda Granfield
• 1990 – Judy Arter
• 1989 – David Jenkinson
• 1988 – Dr. Ronald A. Jobe
• 1987 – Joan Weller
• 1986 – Judith Saltman
• 1985 – André Gagnon
• 1984 – Jacques La Mothe
• 1983 – Shirley Wright
• 1982 – Dr. Catherine Ross/ Dr. Corrine Davies

*Françoise Lepage (1946-2010) It is with sadness that we announce the passing of Françoise Lepage, recipient of the Russell Grant in 2001. Françoise taught children’s literature in the University of Ottawa’s French Department. Her children’s novel Poupeska won the 2006 Trillium Book Award for Children’s Literature and was a finalist for the 2006 Governor General’s Award for Children’s Literature. Her award-winning Histoire de la litterature pour la jeunesse: Quebec et francophonies du Canada was published in 2000, followed by her Dictionnaire des auteurs et des illustrateurs.

**2008-09

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Report from Russell Grant Winners

Last summer 2008, we were the recipients of IBBY-Canada’s Frances Russell Award for research in Canadian children’s literature

Over the course of the year 2008/09, we applied the award to our research, specifically covering some of the permissions fees to publishers for the reproduction of images from Canadian picturebooks for our forthcoming monograph, Picturing Canada: A History of Canadian Children’s Illustrated Books and Publishing . The funds are now disbursed.

We are very grateful for the support of IBBY-Canada, and we acknowledge your contribution of the to the distribution and dissemination of our research in our book.

Once the University of Toronto Press gives us a definite publication date for the book, which our editor tells us is scheduled to appear in the Spring 2010 catalogue, we will let you know, and we will certainly send you an invitation if there is a book launch.

Again, we extend our heartfelt thanks to IBBY-Canada for the interest that has been shown in our research, and for the support extended to us as we readied the manuscript for publication. Please let the Russell Award committee know how much we appreciate their confidence in our research.

Sincerely,

Gail Edwards and Judith Saltman