Future-Proofing Equality in Children’s Publishing Symposium

Presented by the Centre For Fiction, Manchester Metropolitan University

📅 Friday 14th November 2025 – 9.00am – 6.00pm

📍 Grosvenor East Theatre, Manchester Metropolitan University

In both historical and contemporary contexts, from the UK’s Section 28 to Russia’s ‘Law for the Purpose of Protecting Children from Information Advocating a Denial of Traditional Family Values’ and Florida’s HB 1467 and HB 1069 laws, the censorship and banning of children’s literature is traditionally the frontline of wider attempts to censor literature.

This Centre For Fiction one-day symposium explores the impact of an accelerating global political resistance to equality, diversity and inclusion (or, ‘woke’) in children’s publishing, and provides an opportunity to listen and learn from the experiences of authors, publishers and booksellers in the US, where the full force of executive, judicial and litigious power is having a chilling effect on minority representation in children’s books.

Bringing together children’s publishers, writers, illustrators, specialists, academics and students, this symposium will facilitate urgent conversations and bold ideas around equity in children’s storytelling – by acknowledging the present, listening to voices from the frontline, examining how the industry can resist regression, and considering meaningful action to create an inclusive future for children’s literature.

For Full Agenda and information about the research click here