Dr Melanie Ramdarshan Bold
- Senior Lecturer in in Children's Literature Studies (Culture, Literacies, Inclusion & Pedagogy)
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5558-8807Biography
I am a Senior Lecturer in Children's Literature and Literacies in the School of Education, where I teach and research topics related to Children's and Young Adult literature and book culture. I joined Glasgow University in April 2021. Prior to my appointment at Glasgow University, I was an Associate Professor of Publishing and Book Culture for six years.
I am an expert in inclusive youth literature and have published widely on the topic; alongside numerous publications about contemporary book culture. My book Inclusive Young Adult Fiction: Authors of Colour in the United Kingdom, 2006-2016, was published by Palgrave in 2019. Some of the results of this research project have appeared in the Guardian. Cambridge University Press will publish my forthcoming book, Book Trade Activism and Anthologies: Advocating for Change in the UKYA Market, in 2022. I have also co-authored a Book Studies textbook ' The Publishing Business: A Guide to Starting Out and Getting on', which Bloomsbury published in 2018.
I am the editor of the book series: 'Young Adult Publishing' (Cambridge University Press), as well as the guest editor for a number of special editions including the “#ReflectingRealities and Inclusive Youth Literature in the U.K." edition of The Lion and the Unicorn (2020). My connection to inclusive youth literature extends beyond academia: I was a judge on the UKYA Book Prize in 2018, and am on the Advisory Boards for the CLPE Reflecting Realities project, the Pop-up Pathways into Children’s Publishing project, and the CILIP Carnegie & Kate Greenaway Children’s Book Awards. I have also written articles for non-academic publications such as Pen&Inc, a magazine that celebrates diversity and inclusion in Children's Publishing, and English 4-11, a United Kingdom Literacy Association (UKLA) publication. I have also
Research interests
My main research interest centres on contemporary authorship, publishing, and reading, with a focus on children’s and YA literature. I am currently working on several projects that explore issues of representation and inclusion in children’s and YA publishing. My book Inclusive Young Adult Fiction: Authors of Colour in the United Kingdom, was published with Palgrave (2019). Some of the results of this research project have appeared in the Guardian. Cambridge University Press will publish my book, Book Trade Activism and Anthologies: Advocating for Change in the UKYA Market, in 2022. I am working on a collaborative, interdisciplinary research project, Adolescent Identities with my research partner Dr Leah Phillips. This project investigates how YA reflects the realities of socially marginalised readers. We have been working closely with schools, libraries, and bookshops; hosting reading groups and focus groups with teenagers across the country; and engaging with the wider YA and bookish community online. Additionally, I am working in collaboration with the BookTrust, to examine the representation of children’s authors and illustrators of colour, published in the UK (2007–2022), and exploring ways of better supporting them. The first report on my work Representation of people of colour among children’s book authors and illustrators can be found, and downloaded, here. The statistics are also summarised here. The second report can be downloaded here.
Supervision
- Hsieh, Natalie Naihuei
Encountering Windows and Mirrors in the Diaspora: Using Young Adult literature to explore the stories and counter-stories of East Asian young persons - Khan, Amber
British Muslim adolescent women in UK Muslim young adult
Teaching
I teach the course "Children's Literature and Literacies: Critical Enquiry" for the MEd in Children's Literature and Literacies and for the International Masters "Children's Literature, Media and Culture". I also lecture for other courses and I have been guest lecturer at various universities nationally and internationally.
