2026: The Pleasures and Problems of Pooh

Hint: Register as a "Guest"

This year’s hundredth anniversary of A. A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh, published in 1926, provides a springboard for reflection on the role of classic children’s literature.

“Here–we–are…all–of–us, and then, suddenly, we wake up one morning and, what do we find? We find a Strange Animal among us. An animal of whom we have never heard before! An animal who carries her family about with her in her pocket!” — Rabbit

Invited keynoters include:

Lara Saguisag, Associate Professor and Georgiou Chair in Children’s Literature and Literacy at New York University and President of the Children’s Literature Association
A Pooh Panel with Jennifer Harrison, editor of Positioning Pooh: Edward Bear after 100 Years; volume contributor and Millersville University professor Sarah E. Jackson; and distinguished East Carolina University emeritus professor C.W. Sullivan III.

Conference dates: Friday – Sunday, July 10-12, 2026
Location: Zoom

ART CHALLENGE
Illustrators are invited to submit images of your own creations related to Pooh and Pooh adjacent or influenced subjects. The symposium will include a digital art show and panel discussion session. Please submit artwork as JPGs or PNGs, no larger than 1000 pixels wide or no larger than 5mb. Submit online. Please be sure to include your contact information! Deadline June 30th.

GIRLS LITERATURE DISCUSSION GROUP
The final session of the symposium will be a meeting of the Hollins Girls’ Literature Discussion Group, for which we’ll be reading Tuck Everlasting upon its 50th anniversary of publication.

Schedule
Friday, July 10th

2026
11:00 AM	Developmental (Re)Readings Adult Resonances in the Child’s Gaze: Literary Criticism and Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh Ekikereobong Usoro, University of Ibadan, Nigeria 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM
11:00 AM	Developmental (Re)Readings “Back to the Ways of Pooh”: Intergenerational Reading, Teaching, Learning, and Re-Learning with and from Children’s Literature Abigail L. Sloan, Blue Ridge Community College 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM
11:00 AM	Developmental (Re)Readings On Wellington Boots: Re-entangling through Rereading Winnie-the-Pooh Mary-Anne Potter, University of South Africa 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM
11:00 AM	Developmental (Re)Readings Winnie-the-Pooh and The Velveteen Rabbit as a Profound Embodiment of Self-Acceptance Tripti Sharma 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM
1:45 PM	Pooh’s Enduring Appeal Authorship in Action: Learning from Pooh—Misunderstanding and Humor in Contemporary Picture Books Kari-Lynn Winters, Brock University 1:45 PM - 3:00 PM
1:45 PM	Pooh’s Enduring Appeal Finding Ourselves in Gentle, Imperfect Heroes Kim Howard 1:45 PM - 3:00 PM
1:45 PM	Pooh’s Enduring Appeal How Commercialization Expands a Children’s Book into a World: Pooh and Beyond Leah Keggi 1:45 PM - 3:00 PM
1:45 PM	Pooh’s Enduring Appeal Reading Pooh in India, 1962 Uma Krishnaswami 1:45 PM - 3:00 PM
3:15 PM	Pooh's Roots Escaping Christopher Robin Kathleen Murphey, Community College of Philadelphia 3:15 PM - 4:30 PM
3:15 PM	Pooh's Roots How Art and Text Created an Icon: Winnie-the-Pooh and the Collaboration of A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard Annette Bay Pimentel 3:15 PM - 4:30 PM
3:15 PM	Pooh's Roots The Real Winnie the Pooh: Exploring the Canadian Origin Story Jody L. Ballah, University of Cincinnati - Blue Ash College 3:15 PM - 4:30 PM
4:45 PM	Lyrical Tributes A Comment on Allegorical, Lyrical, and Musical Reclamation in Music by H. Fraser-Simon and Kenny Loggins Alison D. Ligon, Morehouse College 4:45 PM - 6:15 PM
4:45 PM	Lyrical Tributes Riverbanks and Acre Woods: A. A. Milne and Harold Fraser-Simson’s Arcadian Melodies Hannah Emily Neuhauser, University of Texas at Austin 4:45 PM - 6:15 PM
4:45 PM	Lyrical Tributes Small Poems for Small Bears: A Sonnet Cycle of the 100 Acre Wood Scott Ennis 4:45 PM - 6:15 PM
7:30 PM	Write/Draw-In Nicole Green Tami Traylor 7:30 PM - 8:15 PM
Saturday, July 11th
11:00 AM	Imaginative Play at Pooh Corner After-Life Archetype Vanessa Santala, York University 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM
11:00 AM	Imaginative Play at Pooh Corner Exploring the Hundred Acre Woods: Transformation of Imaginative Expression in Pretend Play as Studied in the Pooh Books Krishnapriya Kamalakshan 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM
11:00 AM	Imaginative Play at Pooh Corner From Play to Resilience: Emotional Well-Being in Children’s Literature through Winnie-the-Pooh Sofia Tsatsou-Nikolouli, University of Thessaly 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM
12:30 PM	Lunch Talk: AMA Lisa Rowe Fraustino 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
1:45 PM	Critical Perspectives on Pooh Crafting a Winnie-the-Pooh for 2026 Mark I. West, University of North Carolina at Charlotte Katharine Kittredge, Ithaca College 1:45 PM - 3:00 PM
1:45 PM	Critical Perspectives on Pooh Dining off Pooh: Recipes of White Childhood Innocence Donna Varga, Mount Saint Vincent University 1:45 PM - 3:00 PM
1:45 PM	Critical Perspectives on Pooh Knighting and Nostalgic Affect: Medievalism in The House at Pooh Corner Emily E. Redman, Grace College and Seminary 1:45 PM - 3:00 PM
1:45 PM	Critical Perspectives on Pooh Owl’s Notices and Eeyore’s Accidents: Social Structure, Satire, and Melancholy in Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh Devendar Sandhu, Jayshree Periwal International School 1:45 PM - 3:00 PM
3:15 PM	Neurodivergence in the 100 Aker Woods Christopher Robin Was My Friend: Reading Winnie-the-Pooh Through an Autistic Lens Michelle Worthington 3:15 PM - 4:30 PM
3:15 PM	Neurodivergence in the 100 Aker Woods Hums, Loops, and Honey-Pots: Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh as Stim Lit Tess Ezzy, University of New England (Australia) 3:15 PM - 4:30 PM
3:15 PM	Neurodivergence in the 100 Aker Woods Pooh-ification of Pedagogy: Homeschooling at the Hundred Acre Wood Academy Amie Rose Rotruck 3:15 PM - 4:30 PM
Sunday, July 12th
11:00 AM	Adaptation Studies A Multimodal Intertextual Analysis of the Shift from Picturebook to Graphic Novel in the Adaptation of Winnie-the-Pooh Treessa Dolly, University of Madras 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM
11:00 AM	Adaptation Studies Expand the Pooh-Verse: Reimagining Public Domain Characters for New Generations Craig Macnaughton 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM
11:00 AM	Adaptation Studies Pop-ups, Projections, and Poohsticks: The Remediation of Pooh’s Woodland Game Jodie Coates, University of Cambridge 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM
11:00 AM	Adaptation Studies Quiet and Refined Is What Grown-ups Like Best: Moral Messaging in the Theatrical Adaptation of The House at Pooh Corner In Which Tigger’s Bounce Is No Longer Allowed; Or, How to Avoid the Bureau Drawer Lisa Murphy, Hollins University 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM
1:45 PM	Social and Emotional Support Characters Bears and Belonging: Environmental Change and Identity in Pooh and Paddington Brittani Allen, Cardiff University 1:45 PM - 3:00 PM
1:45 PM	Social and Emotional Support Characters Moral Geography of Belonging: Spaces, Routine, and Normalized Hierarchy in Winnie-the-Pooh Kamal Singh, Vivekananda Global University 1:45 PM - 3:00 PM
1:45 PM	Social and Emotional Support Characters Pawsitive Energy: Winnie-the-Pooh and Tigger, Too, the Hundred Acre Wood Crew as Our Emotional Support Animals Mialie T. Szymanski, Kent State University 1:45 PM - 3:00 PM
1:45 PM	Social and Emotional Support Characters Whimsy, Belonging, and Big Feelings: Using SEL to Reimagine Classic Children’s Literature for Identity Affirming Childhoods Zamora Logan, Liberty University 1:45 PM - 3:00 PM

2026: The Pleasures and Problems of Pooh

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