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EMC Twilight: Belonging and unbelonging in children’s literature (EMC_Free)

Availability
Places available
Price
£0 per place
Location
44 Webber Street
Duration
5-6pm

Drawing on their experience in teaching, community, academia and writing, Sita Brahmachari and Darren Chetty discuss global diaspora representation, identity, history, and why storytelling matters. How can we offer an experience of literature to young people that recognises our shared humanity and acknowledges difference? To what extent should children’s literature build or unsettle readers’ notions of belonging?

Sita and Darren will draw on Sita’s latest novel Phoenix Brothers and Beyond the Secret Garden, the book Darren co-authored with Karen Sands O’Connor and published by EMC.

Beyond the Secret Garden available to buy at the event for £15 (retails at £24.95)

Sita Brahmachari’s latest book, Phoenix Brothers, also available to buy, plus selected EMC publications

How to get to the English and Media Centre, 44 Webber Street, London, SE1 8QW

Once you are on Webber Street, look out for the big gates and a sign saying CLPE. You’ll see EMC’s sign to the right of the entrance.

National Rail:

  • Waterloo and Waterloo East are within 10 minutes walk
  • London Blackfriars is a 10-15 minutes walk

Underground:

  • Southwark on the Jubilee Line
  • Waterloo on the Jubilee, Bakerloo, Waterloo & City and Northern Lines

Buses:

  • The following bus routes go close to Webber Street: 1, 139, 168, 171, 172, 344
Photo of Dr Darren Chetty

Dr Darren Chetty

Darren contributed to the best-selling book The Good Immigrant (Unbound) with a chapter entitled ‘You Can’t Say That! Stories Have to Be About White People’. For younger readers, he co-authored, with Jeffrey Boakye, What Is Masculinity? Why Does It Matter? And Other Big Questions (Wayland) and contributed to The Mab: Eleven Epic Stories from the Mabinogi edited by Matt Brown and Eloise Williams.

Since 2018, He has written a regular column for Books for Keeps with Professor Karen Sands O’Connor examining Black & racially minoritised characters in children’s literature, entitled 'Beyond the Secret Garden'. A book based on the column was published by the English Media Centre in 2024. His first picture book I’m Going To Make A Friend, illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat, will be published in the UK and US in May 2025.

Darren has judged the Blue Peter, YA, The Week Junior, CLiPPA, and Little Rebels book awards and the BookTrust Lifetime Achievement Award. He provided training for the Carnegie judges and advises on the CLPE Reflecting Realities research and Penguin / Runnymede Trust Lit in Colour project.

Photo of Sita Brahmachari

Sita Brahmachari

Sita Brahmachari is an internationally award-winning Children’s and YA author whose work is translated into many languages. Since her Waterstone’s Award Winning debut novel Artichoke Hearts (2011) Sita’s stories have been nominated for the Carnegie Medal and the UKLA Book Award. She has an MA in Arts Education and has worked widely in theatre and education with diverse communities to mentor young voices. Sita co-created and scripted a celebrated theatre production inspired by Shaun Tan’s graphic novel The Arrival (2013). Her most recent YA novel When Shadows Fall was shortlisted for the Yoto Carnegie Medal (2023). Sita was shortlisted for the Ruth Rendell Literacy Award (2023). Sita has been Book Trust Writer in Residence, is Associate Lecturer in Children’s and YA Literature at Goldsmiths University and is Writer in Residence at Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants. Sita is a Royal Literary Fellow and a Fellow of The Society of Authors and an Honorary Member of the Youth Libraries Group.

Please note: this course is free to attend but a fee of £10 will be charged for no shows.

  • Bookings for this event will close at 8am (London, UK) on Tuesday 21st October or when capacity is reached, whichever is the sooner. 
  • This event is free but must be booked online. 
  • To book this course you must be signed into one of the following accounts:
    • UK Trust/Academy – Head Office (purchasing) 
    • UK Educator Admin (purchasing)
    • UK Teacher – Home Address Only
    • UK Private Individual
    • Overseas
  • If you have a UK Educator Standard account you will not be able to book the course. Sign in to your account and add it to your Wishlist. See the list of people able to book courses at your organisation by clicking ‘My Account’, then ‘Our Admin Users’.
  1. This free event must be booked online. Please note: a fee of £10 will be charged for no shows.
  2. Click 'Book now’ (right-hand column).
  3. Add the number of places you need. 
  4. Fill in the names and email addresses of the people attending. To secure your place, please make sure you add the attendee details immediately and checkout within 24 minutes. Otherwise the booking will expire and you will have to begin the process again.
  5. Click submit and then Go to basket.
  6. Checkout. 
  7. Once you have booked your place, you will see a screen indicating your order has been successful. You may want to make a note of your order number. The person making the booking and the attendee will receive an automatic acknowledgement of your booking.

Cancellations

  • Please note: this course is free to attend but a fee of £10 will be charged for no shows.
  • This in-person event will not be live-streamed.