Students on this programme often express a long-standing fascination with children’s and/or young adult literature, and enrol for a variety of reasons. Some students, for example, undertake the programme purely to find an outlet for their love of children’s and young adult literature, while others do so because they see it as a pathway to career development. Our graduates have used the programme as a means of furthering their ambitions as writers, while others have gone on to doctoral study. The programme facilitates these several motivations/aims, offering students a wide-ranging course of study in the history and development of children’s and young adult literature from the seventeenth to the twenty-first century, and introducing them to critical areas of research. Students read widely during the course of their first year, when the programme considers a range of topics, including the art and politics of children’s literature; form and genre; and the ever-evolving perceptions of what is deemed ‘suitable’ reading for children and young adults. In their second year, students concentrate on a specific area of research and, with guided supervision, write their dissertations.

This programme is open to applicants with an honours primary degree, minimum H2.1 (Level 8 NFQ) in a related subject. Applicants with an honours degree who do not meet the minimum entry of a H2.1 but can show substantial and demonstrable experience related to Children's and/or Young Adult literature may be considered for a place on the programme. As part of your application through the Posgraduate Applications Centre (PAC) please submit a personal statement (maximum 1.000 words), outlining why you wish to study for a Master's Degree in Children's and Young Adult Literature. As part of the selection process you may also be required to attend for interview. International applicants are expected to have educational qualifications of a standard equivalent to those outlined above. In addition, where such applicants are non-native speakers of the English language, they must satisfy the university of their compentency in the English language.