The introduction of the modern Olympic Games in 1894 was seen as a revival of the ancient games in Olympia and paved the way for modern mass sport. Gymnastics and sports clubs dedicated to health, physical training and socializing sprang up all over Europe. This development was directly linked to social and economic progress, which allowed wider sections of the population to enjoy “leisure” for the first time. As early as 1906, picturebooks such as Sport und Spiel (Sport and Play, 1906) by Karl F. E. von Freyhold reflected this development for children.
Children’s books about sport are non-fiction and fiction. Non-fiction books, for example, explain a particular sport or are dedicated to the life of a famous athlete. Fiction uses the build-up of suspense associated with the necessary training, competition, victory, and defeat. It makes a difference whether the stories are for girls or boys and about team versus individual sports. Since the practice of a sport always takes place in a special environment, the family, the teacher, or coach, but also friends of the athletes play important roles in the narrative structure. The practice of sport is always morally charged. For example, coaches can be both understanding and brutal and competitors can be fair or selfish. Stories about sport are often about learning and reflecting on sporting values and virtues and becoming independent of false advisors.
The reference to morality and emotion can be exploited in the context of war and propaganda. In stories about the world wars (war novels), for example, it is shown how the innocent enthusiasm for air sports leads to murderous aerial combat (for instance, the Flambards series (1967–1969) by K. M. Peyton). In propagandistic books of socialist realism, the focus is on the one hand on the use of sport for peace and international solidarity, but on the other hand also on the functionalization of sport for the purpose of increasing the readiness to defend oneself. However, sports literature can also show how sport makes an important contribution to international understanding (for instance, War Game (1993) by Michael Foreman).
The respective sport certainly has an influence on the structure of the narrative. It is therefore possible to write the literary history of individual forms of sport and exercise such as gymnastics, soccer, running, boxing, cycling, skiing, mountaineering, horse riding, sailing, gymnastics, bodybuilding, dancing, ballet, and hiking. One will come across regional preferences for sports, for instance Pelota in the Basque Country, or mountaineering in the Alp region.
Themes of class, race and gender can be closely linked to sport and it is no coincidence that in books about flight and migration, sport is seen as an important factor in assimilation and social integration. In this respect, both soccer and dancing are popular sports in books for children and young people.
Possible topics
- Classics of the sports novel
- Further genres: sports poetry, sports drama, sports songs
- Sports biographies
- Further media: comics; graphic novels; films; photobooks
- Sports and dystopia
- Sports and propaganda
- Sports heroes and idols
- Sports and humor: humorous representations of sports
- Sport, fun, and entertainment
- Sports literature for girls and boys
- Sports book series
- Narrative ethics of sports
- Fictive sports, for instance Quidditch
- Sports, health, and hygiene
- Sports and the human body
- Sports and (dis)ability
- European sports history, as reflected in children’s literature
- Sports, space, and place
We particularly encourage post-graduate students and early-career scholars to apply. The conference will be held in person.
Selected references
Crowe, Chris. 2004. More Than a Game: Sports Literature for Young Adults. Foreword by Chris Crutcher. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.
Dine, Philip, and Seán Crosson. 2010. Exploring European Sporting Identities: History, Theory. Methodology. In Sport, Representation and Evolving Identities in Europe, eds. Philip Dine and Seán Crosson. Frankfurt/M.: Peter Lang, 1–11.
Glenn, Wendy J., and Danielle King-Watkins. 2020. Fictional Girls Who Play with the Boys: Barriers to Access in the Transition to Male-Dominated Sports Teams. Children’s Literature in Education 51, 309–331.
Hartstaff, Sarah. 2020. Identity, Representation, and Coming-of-Age in Football Fiction for Children. The Lion and the Unicorn 44 (2), 181–190.
Heinecken, Dawn. 2016. Empowering Girls Through Sport. Sports Advice Books for Young Female Readers. Children’s Literature in Education 47, 325–342.
Hogue Wojahn, Rebecca. 2006. Sports Books. In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children’s Literature, Vol. 4, ed. Jack Zipes. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 27–30.
Lewis, Mark, and Luke Rodesiler. 2021. Youth Athletes’ Activism and Coaches: Representations in Sports-Related Young Adult Literature. Research on Diversity in Youth Literature 4 (1), 1–22.
Roper, Emily A., and Alexandra M. Clifton. 2013. The Representation of Physically Active Girls in Children’s Picture Books. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport 84 (2), 147–156.
Singleton, Ellen. 2006. The Girls of Central High: How a Progressive Book Series for Girls Furthered the Cause of Female Interschool Sport. Children’s Literature in Education 37, 211–227.
Yilmaz, Aynur, and Şengül Pala. 2019. Sports in Children’s Picture Books. Universal Journal of Educational Research 7(3), 824–838.
Proposals Contributions to the conference are welcome in the form of oral presentations (20 min. + 10 min. discussion). Proposals should be prepared in a Word document and include the following information:
- full name(s) of presenter(s) with affiliation(s) and contact email(s)
- a title (max 10 words)
- five keywords
- an abstract (max 300 words)
- selected bibliography with academic sources (max. 5 references) – these are not included in the word count. Please use Author-Date CMOS 17.
- a bio sketch of 100 words
Your submission should be sent by email to
Key information
- All abstracts and papers must be written in English
- Abstract submission: 1 December 2025
- Notification of acceptance: 1 February 2026
- All submissions are blind reviewed
All proposals will be accepted for the conference based on their
- relevance for the general conference theme,
- originality, and
- the overall quality of the proposal.
Organizing Committee
Małgorzata Cackowska (University of Gdańsk)
Nina Goga (Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen)
Bettina Kümmerling-Meibauer (Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen)
Jörg Meibauer (Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz)
Sara Pini (IUAV University of Venice)
Scientific Committee
Maaheen Ahmed (University of Ghent)
Anna Czernow (Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań)
Giuliana Fenech (University of Malta)
Bjørg Oddrun Hallås (Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen)
Svetlana Kalezić Radonjić (University of Montenegro)
Élodie Malanda (Tilburg University) Nikola Novaković (University of Zagreb)
Cécile Pichon Bonin (CERCEC, Center for the Study of the Russian, Caucasian, and Central European Worlds, Paris)
Carla Plieth (TU Darmstadt)
Sara Reis da Silva (University of Minho, Braga)
Krzysztof Rybak (University of Warsaw)
Björn Sundmark (University of Malmö)
Vassiliki Vasiloudi (University of Crete)
Jochen Weber (International Youth Library, Munich)
Conference fees (to be paid until July 1, 2026)
80 € reduced rate (students, PhD students)
110 € regular rate
[Quelle: Pressemitteilung]