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On the MA in Literature for children and young adults, you will explore some of the most powerful and captivating stories of our time. You’ll develop the skills and knowledge to excel in professions like education, library services, youth and community service, and children’s media.

Course Summary

Do you have a passion for children’s and young adults’ literature? Do you wish to explore how authors and selected literature promote both reading and engagement in issues such as community, identity, inclusion, the environment, climate change, mental health & well-being? Do you wish to produce your own creative writing for children or young adults? If so, then this is the course for you.

You'll learn through a blend of digital learning including online talks, lectures and readings by authors such as Philip Pullman, Katherine Rundell, Michael Morpurgo, Naomi Shihab Nye and others, and on-campus learning such as lectures, seminars and tutorials). You will explore how children’s literature has developed since the nineteenth century into an exciting, imaginative, contemporary mix of genres including the historical and adventure novel, graphic literature, fantasy and sci-fi, drama, poetry, picturebooks, film, theatre and digital ‘imagineering’, etc.

You will develop high-level skills in enquiry & critical appraisal and pursue your own author & genre-focused interests through a range of written assessments, in addition to producing your own portfolio of creative writing.

You will read very widely throughout the course - pre-course reading lists encourage you to dip your toes into the vast landscape of children’s and young adults’ literature. Through close studies of chosen books you will interrogate the relationship/s between authors, illustrators, readers, texts and contexts.

What might you become?

Many of our students are teachers, choosing to take their knowledge and learning into the classroom to develop and enhance reading for pleasure. Other students are librarians, education leaders, parents, actors, community arts workers and writers, all of whom plan to use their new-found knowledge to promote reading and wider learning.

Graduates have chosen to progress their careers in community & family learning, pupil support, acting & performance, teaching.