This talk will explore the development of children’s literature and, in particular, the ‘holiday adventure’ genre within the context of the Lake District – a region which in 2017 was granted UNESCO World Heritage status and deemed an internationally significant Cultural Landscape. While the UNESCO nomination document makes clear the vital role of literature in shaping the way we think about and respond to this place, there is little reference to authors of children’s literature, whose texts have greatly influenced subsequent visitor engagement with the Lakes. Given the formative influence of children’s literature and the fact that these writers negotiate with key ideas developed by Wordsworth, in which children learn through engagement with Lakeland landscapes, this seems a surprising omission.

This talk considers the importance of these texts for children and in particular the way in which they help us perceive the region to be an evolving ‘cultural Landscape’.

About the speaker

Dr Penny Bradshaw is an Associate Professor of English Literature at the University of Cumbria and programme Leader for the University’s MA Literature, Romanticism, and the English Lake District, which includes a module on children's literature. Penny specialises in and publishes on regional literary contexts, and her latest project is An A-Z of Beatrix Potter, which is forthcoming with Bloomsbury Academic.