Opening
Session
The proceedings were opened by the Chair, Ju Gosling, who
welcomed everyone present, many of whom had been at the first
Conference in December 1994, and introduced the panellists
whom she described as "the foundations of the school
story movement".
Helen McClelland said that: "I would never have imagined
how much the school story movement would grow. When I first
started researching for my biography of Elinor Brent-Dyer
in the 1970s it seemed an unpromising venture."
Mary Cadogan related how when she and Patricia Craig had been
writing You're a Brick, Angela!, they had been under
great pressure from the publisher to cut out or shorten the
school story chapters, as they reckoned that books for the
nostalgia market would be lucky to sell 500 copies. It was
interesting that 30 years ago there was a passion among men
for books and comics read as children. Mary paid tribute to
Bettany Press and Girls Gone By Publishers for the work they
had done in making the books available again.
Rosemary Auchmuty said that when she was writing A World
of Girls, the first academic study of school stories,
she had had no contact with other collectors. One of the changes
she had seen in the past ten years was that she personally
had read much more widely and was less wealthy! The best things
were the new friends she had made and the fun she had had.
As a result of the Bettany Press, Girls Gone By Publishers
and magazines, fans were now valued.
Gill Bilski said that for a long time collectors were solitary
beings, having no contact with others. Through a variety of
ways over the years, people came to realise they were not
alone. First there was the original Chalet Club; later the
Book & Magazine Collector - the first nationally
distributed magazine for collectors and readers. Leading on
from this came clubs, groups, magazines and, of course, publishing
- and interest from the media, usually local, occasionally
national.
More recently, widespread access to the internet has meant
that collectors can find other collectors almost instantly.
The network has spread worldwide and there's now no reason
for any collector to live in isolation. "As to how I
feel about the growth in both numbers and awareness, I have
to admit to mixed feelings depending on whether I have my
collector's or dealer's hat on. As a collector, I think it's
great that I can talk to and meet up with so many other people
who share my interest. There's a far wider availability of
books. I've found books which I never dreamt I would own.
"It has good points on the dealer's side too, with access
to more customers and more stock ... but ... It's hard to
find stock at a reasonable price. Prices in general have risen
because there's more demand. People see books on the internet
and assume dealers will pay that price. We won't. We have
to eat too ...The price rises are pricing some collectors
out of the market, and greater availability is making people
more picky about what they'll buy. So, yes, the growth is
amazing and great in many aspects, but not quite all the aspects
are good ones."
Sue Sims said that her magazine, Folly, catered for
all authors and collectors. She thanked Girls Gone By Publishers
who are bring back rare books for £10 (bad for dealers
but very good for collectors) and Bettany Press who pioneered
the reprinting of long-out-of-print books.
The Chair then opened the meeting to general discussion.
Mary Cadogan paid tribute to Rosemary Auchmuty as the person
who first applied academic standards to school stories. There
are now children's literature study courses at a number of
universities such as Reading and Newcastle She referred to
her own magazine which had started in 1941 for men who had
been looking back on what they read in the 1920s. The original
membership had died, but the magazine had continued. Mary
said that it was important to go beyond our own nostalgia
and encourage academic studies at universities, so that future
generations will have access to the books.
Ann Mackie-Hunter said that some people are still reluctant
to admit to reading children's books. One of their members
had complained about the address label on the back of the
envelope!
Ju Gosling said that while most collectors were more confident,
Black collectors were at a disadvantage because the books
were tagged as beomg 'white'.
An audience member commented that there was now a danger
of school stories becoming unavailable to children, although
collectors could still buy through Bettany Press and GGBP..
Helen McClelland commented that there was a difference between
the genuine academic and those outside who feel collecting
is not quite 'respectable'.. GGBP were to be congratulated
on making books available in the original text. Harper-Collins
published the EBD paperbacks rather reluctantly and finally
let them run down.
Clarissa Cridland said that the only reason GGBP could get
a contract with Harper-Collins was that they were winding
down their involvement. Children's publishing is now focusing
on fantasy or commissioned series by hack authors. The number
of younger readers for EBD now is minimal compared to the
1990s when they were available for £.99 in Smiths.
Sally Phillips
Photos by Lesley Simpson
