The Narelle Oliver lecture was established in 2015 to raise the profile and value of children’s literature, to stimulate discussion and disseminate the results of current research on children’s literature.

In 2017 the lecture changed its name from the Book Links lecture in Children’s Literature to the Narelle Oliver Lecture  in the memory of Narelle Oliver, her impact on Children’s Literature within Queensland as well as a being a founding member of Book Links.

We are pleased to announce that guest speaker for the 2019 lecture will be Bruce Pascoe. He will be talking about the importance of telling children the truth. This lecture will be part of the State Library of Queensland’s Talking Ideas series.  Bookings will open 5 March 2019 via Q-Tix.

Previous lectures:

2015 – Dr Robyn Morrow on ‘Reading the wider world: Books as bridges for young readers”.
2016 – Leigh Hobbs  on ‘The mystery of Visual Literacy, and, why humour isn’t taken more seriously’.
2017 – Libby Gleeson on ‘Books: The Possibilities for Change’.

2018 – Morris Gleitzman – Children need stories more than ever. Stories to delight, stories to beguile, stories to inspire, stories to move deeply.