Reality vs Fantasy In Children’s Fiction

The Dorothy Neal White Collection is a research collection of children’s books that were enjoyed by young New Zealanders before 1940. The Friends of the Dorothy Neal White Collection support the work of this and other children’s literature collections held in the National Library of New Zealand.

‘Children don’t want fantasy, there’s no demand for it.’
When Eirlys Hunter finished her first Junior fiction manuscript in 1997, a publisher rejected it on the grounds that ‘children don’t want fantasy, there’s no demand for it.’ JK Rowling soon proved that publisher wrong, and since then there’s been an explosion in fiction for children that is set in worlds that diverge from the reality of their lived experience. Why is this?

In this informal talk Eirlys Hunter will discuss what fantasy is, and speculate on what fantasy can offer readers (and writers) that realism cannot.

The Dorothy Neal White Collection
The Dorothy Neal White Collection is a research collection of children’s books that were enjoyed by young New Zealanders before 1940. The Friends of the Dorothy Neal White Collection support the work of this and other children’s literature collections held in the National Library of New Zealand.

About the speaker
Eirlys Hunter has published seven books for children, and her most recent book ‘The Mapmaker’s Race was a finalist in the 2019 NZ Book Awards for Children & Young Adults. She teaches Writing for Children at the International Institute of Modern Letters, Victoria University of Wellington.