MA Children's Literature  MA Children's Literature Goldsmiths, University of London ../webroot/files/Institutions/cover_photo/1534093864Goldsmiths,-University-of-London.jpg

The academic study of children’s literature has developed over the past 30 years, and is now a recognised multidisciplinary field of enquiry. This programme will enable you to explore the relationship between reader, writer, text and context, and consider the processes that underpin those interactions.

• This course will deepen your familiarity with a range of children’s literature, from ‘classic’ works, to contemporary texts. Through this, you’ll develop a detailed knowledge of the issues and debates in the field, analysing children’s literature using theories from education, cultural studies, anthropology, sociology, history and philosophy. 
   
• We want you to be critical. You’ll interrogate why certain texts appear on the national curriculum while others don’t, and what this tells us about the way children are expected to learn.
   
• Students on this programme's creative writing pathway will be able to work with published creative writing lecturers to create short stories, novels, and poems for children. Award-winning author Michael Rosen is just one of the leading teaching staff on this programme. All of our staff are actively involved in research in the fields of education and children’s literature.
   
• The programme aims to incorporate and respond to your unique background as an individual with an interest in children’s literature, and strives to remain open and responsive to the experiences students bring with them. You may come from a publishing background or work in education or children's media. If you have a passion for the academic study of children's literature then this is the course for you.

We also offer an MA Children's Literature: Children's Illustration for those who want to illustrate children's books.

You should have (or expect to be awarded) an undergraduate degree of at least second class standard in a related field.

You might also be considered for some programmes if you aren’t a graduate or your degree is in an unrelated field, but have relevant experience and can show that you have the ability to work at postgraduate level.

Additional Entry Requirement for the Creative Writing Pathway

To apply to study on the Creative Writing Pathway you should follow the usual application process, submitting a substantial piece or pieces of original creative writing, up to a maximum of 3,000 words, with your application. This work does not have to be in the form of writing for children/young adults. It will be considered by the Module Leader of the Workshop in Creative and Life Writing. 

Your submission should include one item from the following list: 1 short story; 7-10 poems; 1 or 2 extracts from a novel; 1 or 2 extracts from non-fiction writing, for example, memoir.

International qualifications

We accept a wide range of international qualifications. Find out more about the qualifications we accept from around the world.

If English isn’t your first language, you will need an IELTS score (or equivalent English language qualification) of7.0 with a 7.0 in writing and no element lower than 6.5 to study this programme. If you need assistance with your English language, we offer a range of courses that can help prepare you for postgraduate-level study.

Coursework, essays, project, dissertation, creative writing (optional).

Download the programme specification, for the 2019-20 intake. If you would like an earlier version of the programme specification, please contact the Quality Office.

Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of these modules may be available every year.