CBI is delighted to announce the appointment of our new judging panel for the 2009-2010 Bisto Book of the Year Awards.

Chair- Maire Uí Mhaicín
Maire Uí Mhaicín, former senior lecturer in Irish language and literature at the Church of Ireland College of Education, has served on a number of Bisto Book of the Year judging panels over the years. She has taught courses in children’s literature to undergraduates and postgraduates, and has a special interest in the adaptations of traditional material for children’s stories.

Judges :(in alphabetical order)

Jennifer Carpenter
Jennifer Carpenter is a primary school teacher, working and living in Drogheda. She has a particular interest in picture-books and conducted research into how children read wordless picture-books as part of her Masters of Education degree. She is a regular reviewer for Inis magazine.

Valerie Coghlan
Valerie Coghlan is Librarian at the Church of Ireland College of Education, Dublin. She teaches courses on children’s literature and on school libraries in various institutions. Her particular interests are picture-books for all ages and Irish children’s literature. She is a former review editor of Inis and co-editor of Bookbird: an international journal of children’s literature. She is a founder member of CBI and is currently President of IBBY Ireland.

David Maybury
David Maybury is a writer, editor, person and Oddbally nose-picking champion 2009. He reads books and talks about them at davidmaybury.ie.

Luke Markey
Luke is a Transition Year student at Colaiste Cois Life. Having been told that transition year would be the perfect time to pursue personal projects, Luke finds that he has never been so swamped, but is thoroughly enjoying himself! Luke is currently studying for his fifth-grade piano exam, trying his hand at play writing and keeping an eye out for an elusive part time job.

Ríona Nic Congáil
Dr Ríona Nic Congáil is a lecturer in Modern Irish in St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra, specializing in children's literature and revivalist literature. She has written several Irish- and English-language articles on children’s literature. She is also an award-winning children’s author, having published two books for children in Irish: An Túr Solais and An Leabhar Órga. She is currently director of Cumann Scríbhneoirí Úra na Gaeilge (the Irish-Language New Writers Association) which she founded in 2007 in order to help nurture and develop the literary pursuits of emerging writers.

Eileen Phelan
Eileen Phelan teaches at a primary school in Dublin. She has been interested in children's literature for many years and has had a long association with CBI and its former organisation, CLAI, serving on its committees and boards. She has worked for educational publishers Fallons and Carroll Heineman as an editor and content consultant and is a graduate of the M.A. in Children's Literature at St. Patrick's College, DCU. Eileen has also tutored in the module on children's literature in the English Department at UCD.

Juliette Saumande
Juliette Saumande is a writer and translator of children's books with over twenty stories and picture-books published in her native France. She's been living in Ireland for the past few years where she has volunteered with CBI and completed a Master's degree in Children's Literature at Saint Patrick's College, Drumcondra.
 

The judging panel for 2008-2009 were: 

Chairperson- Keith O'Sullivan

Valerie Coughlan

Rachel de Barra

David Maybury

Éilís Ní  Dhuibhne

Mark O'Sullivan

Korky Paul

Eileen Phelan 

The judging panel for 2007-2008 were:

Chairperson- Keith O'Sullivan
Catherine Ann Cullen
Anne Marie Herron
Éilís Ní Dhuibhne
Mark O'Sullivan
Siúan Póirtéir