Staff Profile

Introduction

I work in the field of children's literature, with a special interest in children's publishing and the development of children's literature since the mid twentieth century.  My work is focused around the cultural contexts for reading and the ways in which these shape literature: I am currently working on a new history of the UK's Carnegie Medal.

 Background

I completed my BA and MA work at Bristol University, moving to Newcastle for my PhD, which was part of a collaborative project between Newcastle University and Seven Stories, the Centre for Children's Books. Following completion of my PhD in 2010, I worked in part-time roles with the Open University and Newcastle University, before taking up my current post in 2011.

Roles and responsibilties

I am currently leader of Newcastle's Children's Literature Unit, one of the leading centres for research in children's literature in the UK.

I am Undergraduate Chair of the Board of Examiners for the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics.

Overview

My research interests include 20th & 21st century children's literature and publishing, prize culture, and teenage literature. I am interested in the socio-historical contexts for reading and texts, and much of my work draws on archival evidence. I work closely with Seven Stories, The National Centre for Children's Books. 

Current work

I am currently working on a history of the CILIP Carnegie Medal, considering the Medal as a focus for discourse around childhood, children's books, and national identities. I'm blogging about my observations on past winners at: https://carnegieproject.wordpress.com/.

Research supervision

I've supervised 1 PhD and 10 MLitt projects to completion.

I'm currently supervising PhDs on author-activist Beverly Naidoo, and on female protagonists in fantasy YA.

I welcome applications from prospective postgraduate students on my research areas, and particularly encourage projects which draw on the Seven Stories Collection.

Undergraduate teaching

Module leader: Home, Heritage, History: 20th Century Children's Literature (Stage 3 module)

Module convenor and lecturer: Transformations (Stage 1 module)

Postgraduate teaching

Programme leader and supervisor: MLitt in Children's Literature

• Pearson L, Sands-O'Connor K, Subramanian A. Curating National Literatures. International Research in Children's Literature 2019, 12(1), v-vii.
• Pearson L, Sands--Connor K, Subramanian A. Prize Culture and Diversity in British Children’s Literature . International Research in Children's Literature 2019, 12(1), 90-106.
• Pearson L. Prizing the Nation: postwar children's fiction. In: Plain G, ed. British Literature in Transition 1940-60: Postwar. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019, pp.209-224.
• McKie K, Pearson L. Seven Stories, le Centre national du livre pour enfants au Royaume-Uni [Seven Stories: the National Centre for Children's Books, UK]. Genesis 2019, 48, 153-154.
• Pearson L. The Right to Read: Children’s Rights and Children’s Publishing in Britain. Strenae 2018, 13.
• Hunt P, Pearson LR. Genres, Markets and the Book Industry: Children’s Books. In: Andrew Nash, Claire Squires and Ian Willison, ed. The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain: 1914-2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016. Submitted.
• Kidd K, Pearson L, Pyke S. Serendipity and Children’s Literature Research in the Library. International Research in Children's Literature 2016, 9(2), 162-178.
• Pearson L, ed. Jacqueline Wilson. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.
• Pearson L. 'This started like a fairy story’: fantasy, realism and bibliotherapy in Jacqueline Wilson. In: Pearson, L, ed. Jacqueline Wilson. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.
• Pearson L. La littérature britannique pour enfants sur le marché international [British Children’s Books in the International Market]. La Revue des livres pour enfants 2013, 269, 110-117.
• Pearson L. The Making of Modern Children’s Literature in Britain: Publishing and Criticism in the 1960s and 1970s. Farnham: Ashgate, 2013.
• Pearson LR, Hunt P. Children's Literature. London: Longman, 2011.
• Pearson LR. Finding Secondary Sources. In: Grenby, M.O., Reynolds, K, ed. Children’s Literature Studies: A Research Handbook. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, pp.62-70.
• Pearson L, Reynolds K. Realism. In: Rudd, D, ed. The Routledge Companion to Children’s Literature. London: Routledge, 2010, pp.63-74.