MA in Childrens Literature

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.

Why study MA Children's Literature at Goldsmiths?

• 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.