The 37th IBBY World Congress in Moscow is approaching

September is approaching, and with it the 37th IBBY World Congress in Moscow! Already postponed from 2020, we are happy and grateful to IBBY Russia that it will take place very soon! After a long year of travel restrictions and isolation, the 37th IBBY Congress is an exceptional opportunity to meet, either virtually or in-person, and exchange news, views and share experiences – everything that makes an IBBY World Congress so special.

The Congress will take place both offline, i.e. in-person, and online simultaneously. To make the Congress accessible to all those who cannot make the journey to Moscow, the Congress organizing team has worked very hard to prepare a high-quality and easy-to-use online platform, thus making the whole experience as rich as possible.

To give you a taste of this exceptional event, here is a quick overview of the programme and the various speakers.

Celebrating diversity with the motto “Great big world through children’s books”, the programme covers a variety of topics such as: literary translation of children’s literature in a wide range of countries; books for children with visual impairments and other disabilities; the anthropological perspective related to book creation; different traditions of storytelling; the future of non-fiction; the role of wordless or silent books, as well as many other important topics related to children’s literature worldwide.

A number of well-known speakers from different countries will be present online and offline to give insights into their work and the role of children’s literature. Keynote speakers include Bart Moeyaert from Belgium, David Almond from the UK, Roger Mello from Brazil, and Cao Wenxuan from China. Other speakers are experts in reading promotion, such as Zohreh Ghaeni from Iran, Christiane Raabe from Germany, Mempo Giardinelli from Argentina and Christian Elongue from Cameroon.

You can find the detailed programme for each day here.


The main Congress venue will be the Pushkin Museum. Besides the scientific programme, there will be several exhibitions of high-quality children's books. The IBBY exhibitions will include the 2020 Hans Christian Andersen Award winners, finalist and nominees, the IBBY Silent Books Collection 2019, the IBBY 2020 Honour List selection, and the 2019 IBBY Selection of Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities. Other exhibitions include BIB’19 winners, and contemporary Russian children’s books. All exhibitions will also be accessible on the digital platform of the Congress.

On 11 September, the Hans Christian Andersen Award Ceremony will be celebrated with a gala dinner in the sumptuous Pashkov House to honour the winners of the 2020 Hans Christian Andersen Award, Jacqueline Woodson and Albertine.

The 2020 IBBY Reading Promotion Awards will be celebrated at the main venue: the 2020 IBBY Asahi Reading Promotion Award and the 2020 IBBY-iRead Outstanding Reading Promoter Award. We are thrilled that Marit Törnqvist will attend the Congress in-person to collect her IBBY-iRead Award. All other winners will participate digitally. The IBBY Honour List 2020 will be presented through an exclusive film and several nominees will be present.

The Congress organizers have set up a special section on the Congress website under the heading "Congress 2021: Electives" where articles and materials related to each of the Congress subthemes are posted. If you have not visited the Electives yet, just click here, to discover a huge wealth of interesting articles.

It is still possible to register for the Congress, either in-person (offline) or online. Go to registration page on the website here. You can also book your accommodation here, or select a fine post-Congress tour or excursion, here.

We are looking forward to meeting you in-person or online!

37th IBBY World Congress 2021, 10-12 September 2021: https://ibbycongress2020.org/en/

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