MA Literature for Children and Young Adults

at Plymouth Marjon University

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.