Dr hab. Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak is Associate Professor at the Institute of English Studies. She is the co-founder (in 2003, with prof. Marek Oziewicz) of the Center for Young People’s Literature and Culture at the Institute of English Studies, University of Wrocław. She coordinated the Center in the years 2013-2022 and remained its member until 2024. She is also co-founder and member of the Programme Advisory Board of the Centre for Research on Children’s and Young Adult Literature at the Faculty of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, at the University of Wrocław. Her research focuses on contemporary children’s and YA literature and culture, childhood studies, posthumanism, and participatory research with children as co-researchers. She has published among others on research with children, new materialist approaches in children’s literature, intergenerational relations, the Anthropocene, and poetry created by children. In 2016, she published the monograph Yes to Solidarity, No to Oppression: Radical Fantasy Fiction and Its Young Readers (2016). The collected volume Intergenerational Solidarity in Children’s Literature and Film (2021), which she co-edited with Zoe Jacques, received the Edited Book Award 2023 from the International Research Society for Children’s Literature. She also co-edited (with Irena Barbara Kalla) Children’s Literature and Intergenerational Relationships: Encounters of the Playful Kind (2021) and  Rulers of Literary Playgrounds: Politics of Intergenerational Play in Children’s Literature (2021), (with Macarena García-González) Children’s Cultures after Childhood (2023), and (with Terri Doughty and Janet Grafton) Cultures and Pedagogies in the Anthropocene: Multidisciplinary Entanglements (2025). Since 2015 she has served as the reviews editor in International Research in Children’s Literature and since 2018 she has been a member of the editorial board of Book 2.0. She is also a member of the scientific board of the series LETTERATURA PER L’INFANZIA: Studi, Testi e Pratiche educative, published by Franco Angeli (since 2022) and the editorial board of the series Anthem Young Adult and Children’s Literature, published by Anthem Press.

Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak was awarded scholarships from the Foundation of Polish Science (2003 and 2004), Internationale Jugendbibliothek Munich (2005), the Kosciuszko Foundation (2013, Rutgers University) and The Polish-U.S. Fulbright Commission (2014, Rutgers University). In the years 2016-2017, she participated in the activities of the team working on the project “Learning to Include”, which received funding from The U.S. Department of State’s Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund (AEIF) in the category Human Rights and Social Inclusion of Vulnerable Populations. The project was coordinated by Bartosz Wilimborek Warsaw Centre for Education and Social Innovations and Trainings. The activities in the project focused on developing and promoting various methods of school education concerning disability. From 2014 to 2019, she co-represented Poland in the COST Action E-READ: Evolution of Reading in the Age of Digitization, participating in the work of the Developmental Aspects of Reading group and serving as a Stakeholder Liaison Officer: Reading/Literacy Promoters.

In 2017–2018, Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak received and carried out a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (Horizon 2020) at Anglia Ruskin University. She is also a recipient of the M. Bekker Programme scholarship from the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (Anglia Ruskin University, 2020). From 2018 to 2024, she served as the coordinator (on behalf of the University of Wrocław) of the Erasmus Mundus International Master: Children’s Literature, Media, & Culture programme. Since September 2023, she has been participating in the implementation of the Erasmus Mundus International Master: Children’s Literature, Media, & Cultural Entrepreneurship programme. Since 2023, she has been the academic lead (on behalf of the University of Wrocław) of the international project Seen and Heard: Young People’s Voices and Freedom of Expression, conducted in collaboration with the University of Malta, Humboldt University, and Amnesty International Poland. As of 2025, she is also the academic lead (on behalf of the University of Wrocław) in the international project CoREM: Collective Remembrance: Engaging Youth Through Curatorial Practices, funded by the European Commission. The lead institution for the project is Pompeu Fabra University, and the coordinator is Dr. Macarena García-González.

Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak is also involved in outreach and organizational activities. From 2017 to 2021, she was a member of the executive board of the International Research Society for Children’s Literature (IRSCL) and coordinated the IRSCL mentoring program. In 2017, she served as a mentor in the first edition of the TopMinds program, initiated by the Top 500 Innovators Association and the Polish-American Fulbright Commission. In 2019, she was a member of the jury for the Book of the Year Award of the Polish Section of IBBY. Since 2023, she has been affiliated with the Center for Climate Literacy at the University of Minnesota, where she co-edits the journal Climate Literacy in Education for educators. She is also a member of the children’s literature team at the Museum of Childhood Ireland. Between 2021 and 2023, she took part in a project on intergenerational communication, carried out by the Margines Foundation in cooperation with the Polish Donors Forum and with support from the BNP Paribas Foundation. One of the outcomes of this project was a publication co-authored with Dr. hab. Ewa Maciejewska-Mroczek (University of Warsaw) titled It’s Best to Ask: How to Communicate with Young People? How to Talk About Them? Since 2024, she has been participating in the international educational project EDU-CLIMA: Cross-disciplinary EDUcation for CLIMateAction, carried out as part of the ARQUS Innovation Fund 2024 (Ad Hoc Bottom-up Initiatives).

Participation in grants and projects:

1. Shaping a Preferable Future: Children Reading, Thinking and Talking about Alternative Communities and Times. Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (Individual Fellowship). Project leader (in cooperation with Eugene Giddens, Anglia Ruskin University). Implementation period: 21.08.2017 – 20.08.2018. Location: Anglia Ruskin University. Grant amount: €97,727.40.
2. Ecopoetic Entanglements: Children’s Poetry Mobilizing John Clare’s Artistic Legacy. M. Bekker Programme, Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange. Project leader.
   Implementation period: 02.03.2020 – 02.08.2020. Location: Anglia Ruskin University.
   Grant amount: PLN 86,000.
3. Erasmus Mundus International Master: Children’s Literature, Media and Culture.
   Implementation period: 2018–2024. Coordinator on behalf of the University of Wrocław. Grant amount obtained by the project team (led by prof. Evelyn Arizpe): €3,929,000.
4. Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree: Children’s Literature, Media and Cultural Entrepreneurship. The University of Wrocław has the status of key associate partner.
   Implementation period: 2023–2029. Grant amount obtained by the project team (lead by prof. Evelyn Arizpe): €5,742,000.
   
   
5. Seen and Heard: Young People’s Voices and Freedom of Expression. KA220-HED – Cooperation partnerships in higher education. Partner institutions: University of Malta (leading institution), Humboldt University in Berlin, Amnesty International Poland. Project leader at the University of Wrocław. Implementation period: 01.09.2023 – 31.08.2026.
   Grant amount obtained by the project team (led by dr. Giuliana Fenech: €400,000.
6. CoREM: Collective Remembrance: Engaging Youth Through Curatorial Practices.
   CERV-2024-CITIZENS-REM. Partner institutions: Pompeu Fabra University (leading institution), History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Holocaust Fund of the Jews from Macedonia, POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Consorci del Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, and the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute Foundation. Project leader at the University of Wrocław. Implementation period: 01.09.2025 – 31.08.2027. Grant amount obtained by the project team (led by dr. Macarena García González): €372,505

Books:

Yes to Solidarity, No to Oppression : Radical Fantasy Fiction and Its Young Readers / Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak Wrocław : Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego, 2016. – 184 pp

Edited volumes:

Children’s Literatures, Cultures, and Pedagogies in the Anthropocene: Multidisciplinary Entanglements /edited by Terri Doughty, Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak and Janet Grafton. Bloomsbury Academic 2025. 246 pages. Published in Open Access funded by The Initiative of Excellence – Research University (IDUB), grant in the amount of 8,000 GBP.

Children’s Cultures after Childhood / edited by Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak, Macarena García-González. Amsterdam : John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2023. – 232 pages. Published in Open Access funded by The Initiative of Excellence – Research University (IDUB), grant in the amount of 7,000 euro.

Rulers of Literary Playgrounds: Politics of Intergenerational Play in Children’s Literature / edited by Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak and Irena Barbara Kalla. New York : Routledge, 2022. – 260 pp.

Children’s Literature and Intergenerational Relationships. Encounters of the Playful Kind / edited by Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak, Irena Barbara Kalla. Cham : Palgrave Macmillan, 2021. – 252 pages

Intergenerational Solidarity in Children’s Literature and Film / edited by Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak, Zoe Jaques Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, 2021. – 284 pages.

Articles in journals:

Thinking and doing with childism in children’s literature studies / Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak, Macarena García González // Children and Society. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12619

Our Com(mon)passion: Entangled Reflections on the Backstages of Our Research / Macarena García-González, Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak // Critical Studies in Teaching and Learning. – Vol. 8, special issue (2020), pp. 111-125

New Materialist Openings to Children’s Literature Studies / Macarena García-González, Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak// International Research in Children’s Literature. – Vol. 13, no. 1 (2020), pp. 45-60

Thinking with Deconstruction: Book-Adult-Child Events in Children’s Literature Research / Justyna DeszczTryhubczak // Oxford Literary Review. – Vol. 41, no. 2 (2019), pp. 185-201

Productive Remembering of Childhood: Child-Adult Memory-Work with the School Literary Canon / Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak, Mateusz Marecki, Ewa Chawar, Magdalena Kaczkowska, Katarzyna Kowalska, Aleksandra Kulawik, Maja Ożlańska, Milena Palczyńska, Natalia Parcheniak and Eryk Pszczołowski // Humanities. – Vol. 8, iss. 2 (2019), no. art. 74, pp. 1-13

Children’s Voices in the Polish Canon Wars: Participatory Research in Action / Ewa Chawar, Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak, Katarzyna Kowalska, Olga Maniakowska, Mateusz Marecki, Milena Palczyńska, Eryk Pszczołowski, and Dorota Sikora. Special Issue: “Possible” and “Impossible” Children. // International Research in Children’s Literature. – Vol. 11, no, 2 (2018), pp. 111-131

Reading About Solidarity and Collective Action : Social Minds in Radical Fantasy Fiction / Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak // Children’s Literature in Education. – Vol. 51 (2020), pp. 144-159. First published online: 01 Nov 2018.

Whose Canon?: The Absence of Children’s Voices in the Polish Canon Battle / Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak, Mateusz Marecki // The Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth. – Vol. 11, no. 1 winter (2018), pp. 81-87

Using Literary Criticism for Children’s Rights : Toward a Participatory Research Model of Children’s Literature Studies / Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak // The Lion And The Unicorn : A Critical Journal of Children’s Literature. – Vol. 40, no. 2 (2016), pp. 215-231.

Reading as Synthesis of Immersion and Interactivity: Multimodal Metaphors in “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” Combo / Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak and Mateusz Marecki // Anglica Wratislaviensia. Vol. 53 (2015), pp. 45-54.

“We are the nation of dreams” (M.T. Anderson, feed) : exploring and creating visions of the h+ future with young adults / Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak, Agnieszka Małek-Bohusz. – Bibliogr. – Streszcz. w jęz. ang. // Filoteknos : literatura dziecięca-mediacja kulturowa-antropologia dzieciństwa : children’s literature-cultural mediation-anthropology of childhood. – Vol. 5 (2015), s. 17-28. – Tytuł numeru: The Fantastic Realms.

Understanding motherhood as maturation : maternity scripts in Lois Lowry’s ” Son” / Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak, Mateusz Marecki // Children’s Literature in Education. – Vol. 46, no.2 (2015), pp. 190-205

The World Turned Upside Down: Exploring Alternate History with Young Adults / Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak [and] Mateusz Marecki // Children’s Literature in English Language Education. – Vol.1, no. 1 (2013), pp. 1-18

Salman Rushdie’s magical kingdom : “The Moor’s last sigh” and a fairy-tale utopia / Justyna Deszcz // Marvels and Tales. – Vol. 18, no. 1 (2004), pp. 28-52.

Beyond the Disney Spell, or Escape into Pantoland / Justyna Deszcz //Folklore – Vol. 113, no. 1 (2002) pp. 83-91.

Chapters in edited volumes:

Deszcz-Tryhubczak, Justyna and Macarena García-González. Speculating about Post-Anthropocene Childhoods with Donna Haraway’s “The Camille Stories”: A Response from Children’s Literature and Culture Studies. In: Children’s Literatures, Cultures, and Pedagogies in the Anthropocene: Multidisciplinary Entanglements. Edited by Terri Doughty, Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak and Janet Grafton. Bloomsbury Academic 2025. 246 pages. 231-241.

Research with Young Readers: Participatory Approaches in Children’s Literature Studies / Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak // In: The Routledge Companion to Children’s Literature and Culture / Claudia Nelson, Elisabeth Wesseling, Andrea Mei-Ying Wu (eds.). – New York : Routledge, 2023. – pp. 80-92

Ethics, epistemologies, and relational ontologies in researching children’s cultures / Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak, Macarena García-González// In: Children’s Cultures after Childhood / edited by Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak, Macarena García-González. Amsterdam : John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2023. – pp. 1-17

Research with children, weeds, and a book / Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak // In: Children’s Cultures after Childhood / edited by Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak, Macarena García-González. -Amsterdam : John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2023. – pp. 122-136

Arboreal Entanglements: Childrenforest and Deforestation in Ecopoetry by Children / Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak, Charlotte van Bergen // In : Plants in Children’s and Young Adult Literature / edited by Melanie Duckworth, Lykke Guanio-Uluru. – New York : Routledge, 2023. – pp. 115-129

The Playground of Children’s Literature / Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak, Irena Barbara Kalla // In: Rulers of Literary Playgrounds: Politics of Intergenerational Play in Children’s Literature / edited by Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak and Irena Barbara Kalla. – New York : Routledge, 2022. – S. 1-9

4/11/2021 A Meta-critical Reflection on Academic Writing with Child Researchers / Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak, Mateusz Marecki // In: Ethics and Integrity in Research with Children and Young People / edited by Grace Spencer. – Bingley : Emerald Publishing, 2021. – (Advances in Research Ethics and Integrity ; vol. 7). – pp. 213-227

23/04/2021 Play, Children’s Literature, and Intergenerational Connectivity / Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak, Irena Barbara Kalla // In: Children’s Literature and Intergenerational Relationships. Encounters of the Playful Kind / Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak, Irena Barbara Kalla editors. – Cham : Palgrave Macmillan, 2021. – (Critical Approaches to Children’s Literature). – pp. 1-15.

Towards Intergenerational Solidarity in Children’s Literature and Film / Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak, Zoe Jaques // In: Intergenerational Solidarity in Children’s Literature and Film / edited by Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak, Zoe Jaques. – Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, 2021. – pp. 11-27

The Pleasures and Impasses of Teaching Young Adult Literature to Polish Graduates in English Studies / Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak // In: Teaching Young Adult Literature / edited by Mike Cadden, Karen Coats, Roberta Seelinger Trites. – New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2020. – (Options for Teaching). – pp. 172-178

Reading and digital media : European perspectives / Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak, Frank Huysmans// /in: Learning to Read in a Digital World / edited by Mirit Barzillai, Jenny Thomson, Sascha Schroeder, Paul van den Broek. – Amsterdam ; Philadelphia : John Benjamin Publishing Company, 2018. – (Studies in Written Language and Literacy ; 17). – pp. 1-29.

Feeling the Potential of Elsewhere: Terry Pratchett’s “Nation” in Theatre / Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak // In: Terry Pratchett’s Narrative Worlds : From Giant Turtles to Small Gods / Marion Rana (Herausgeber). – Cham : Springer International Publishing – Palgrave Macmillan, 2018. – (Critical Approaches to Children’s Literature). -pp. 211-226.

Ursula Le Guin’s powers as radical fantasy / Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak // In: Little red readings : historical materialist perspectives on children’s literature / ed. by Angela E. Hubler. – Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, 2014. – pp. 245-263.

Polish fairy-tale film : 130 years of innovation and counting / Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak, Marek Oziewicz // In: Fairy-tale films beyond Disney : International perspectives / ed. by Jack Zipes, Pauline Greenhill and Kendra Magnus – Johnston. – New York and London : Routledge, 2015.- pp. 152-165.

Kids and fish have no voice? : recent children’s literature about the People’s Republic of Poland as a platform for participatory historical culture / Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak // In: Children’s literature on the move : nations, translations, migrations / eds. Nora Maguire and Beth Rodgers. – Dublin : Four Courts Press, 2013. – pp. 134-150.

“‘Minister,”said the girl, we need to talk'” : China Mieville’s Un Lun Dun as radical fantasy for children and young adults / Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak // In: Critical insights : contemporary speculative fiction / ed. M.Keith Booker. – Ipswich, Massachusetts : Salem Press, 2013. – p. 137-151.

From multiculturalism to pop cosmopolitanism : Transcultural exchanges in Salman Rushdie’s children’s books / Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak // In: Salman Rushdie / ed. Bernard F. Rodgers, Jr. – Ipswich : Salem Press, cop. 2012. – (Critical insights). – pp. 182-197.

Other publications:

(with) Ewa Maciejewska-Mroczek,„Najlepiej zapytać: Jak się komunikować z młodymi osobami? Jak o nich rozmawiać?”, 2023.

Już zawsze zbyt spóźnieni? O badaniach nad literaturą dla dzieci i młodzieży w antropocenie / Justyna Deszcz-Tryhubczak // W: Przyszłość : szkice o sztuce dla dziecka / edited by Anna Maria Czernow and Joanna Żygowska. – Poznań : Centrum Sztuki Dziecka w Poznaniu, 2022.

(with) Macarena García-González: Children’s Literature as a Site of Slow Violence. 2021. Blog Reimaiging Childhood Studies.

Spotkanie jako sztuka a badania poświęcone literaturze dla dzieci w perspektywie post humanistycznej // W Spotkanie jako sztuka / edited by Anna Maria Czernow and Joanna Żygowska. Poznań : Centrum Sztuki Dziecka w Poznaniu, 2020.