Agenda

27-28 November 2025
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
“coldtonguecoldhamcoldbeefpickledgherkins…”: 
Eating Indoors and Outdoors in Children’s Literature

The conference proposes to explore the role of food in children's literature, analysing how these elements contribute to the construction of meaning, identity, and memory. The objective is to discuss how the spaces of children's nourishment—ranging from kitchens to outdoor picnics—influence the experiences of child characters and how, in turn, these locations are transformed through practices of narrative and cultural adaptation. Topics addressed will include the representation of food spaces, the relationship between environment and consumption, and the social and symbolic implications of the act of eating.
The conference will host interdisciplinary contributions that investigate how the triangulation between children, places, and food constructs identity processes and opens new perspectives on the child's imaginary.

Keynote speakers:

Vanessa Joosen (University of Antwerp), Diane Purkiss (University of Oxford)