Children's Literature

Entry requirements

Applicants should have a good honours degree (at least an upper second or a GPA of at least 3.3). Applicants must also submit a single critical writing sample of 3,000-5,000 words as part of their application. An application without a critical writing sample will be treated as incomplete. A writing sample should demonstrate the ability to critically analyse a text or texts (this may or may not be a text written for children). The writing sample can be a new essay, or an essay you have already submitted as part of your undergraduate degree.

Months of entry

September

Course content

Children’s literature is a broad category, encompassing everything from picturebooks to Young Adult fiction, from four-hundred-year-old texts to the latest publications. This taught master’s programme addresses its various genres, readerships, publishing trends and modes of criticism. The core module gives a thorough grounding in the field. Option modules enable you to forge your own path of study. Completing a dissertation, under expert supervision, allows you to develop your own research interests. While the focus is on literary analysis, for the last number of years the programme has also offered a creative writing option module.

Situated in Dublin, a UNESCO City of Literature, and taught within a world-leading School of English, the programme pays special attention to the role of the Irish contribution to the development of children's literature in English. The course also places a particular emphasis on archival research, allowing students to explore Trinity’s Pollard Collection of Children’s Books – the largest collection of children’s books in Ireland – as well as working with the award-winning National Collection of Children’s Books project. The faculty are recognized nationally and internationally as experts in the field.