Childrens Literature

Course Overview

This taught master's programme in children’s literature encompasses everything from picturebooks through to Young Adult fiction and runs on a full-time (one year) or part-time (two years) basis. It examines the complexities of children’s texts; explores multiple genres, readerships, publishing trends and modes of criticism; pays particular attention to issues of diversity and inclusion; and covers a huge body of English-language literature from around the world, from four-hundred-year-old texts to the latest publications. This is a wonderful opportunity to spend a whole year (or two!) reading, researching, and debating children’s literature at Trinity College, right in the heart of Dublin, a UNESCO City of Literature.



Is This Course For Me?

This course is for you if you are passionate about all things related to children’s literature, if you are interested in exploring the unique complexities of adult authors writing for child readers, if you want to find out more about how young minds might be shaped by the books they read, if you are curious about the important role children’s literature plays in engaging with complicated cultural and literary debates, if you want to delve into the histories of children’s literature from around the world and across several centuries, and if you are intrigued by the power and potential of children’s literature.



Course Structure

The course is primarily delivered through small group seminar teaching. Students take a core module and four option modules, and complete a dissertation project.

Course Content

The centrepiece of the course is the core module Perspectives and Case Studies in Children’s Literature, which runs across two semesters. With a particular focus on issues of diversity and inclusion, the module covers a wide range of texts and genres, examines key authors and critical works, and addresses some of the major trends in the writing and reception of children’s literature from across the centuries. Students also take four specialist option modules, reflecting our commitment to cutting-edge research-led teaching. A range of options from other MPhil programme - including in Modern and Contemporary Literary Studies, in Irish Writing, and in programmes from across the Faculty - will also be available.



In the final phase of the course, students complete a dissertation of 15,000-16,000 words.

Admission Requirements

Applicants should have a good honours degree (at least an upper second or a GPA of at least 3.3). A sample of the candidate’s own critical writing (3,000-5,000 words) is also required.



English Language Requirements

All applicants to Trinity are required to provide official evidence of proficiency in the English language. Applicants to this course are required to meet Band B (Standard Entry) English language requirements. For more details of qualifications that meet Band B, see the English Language Requirements page.

Closing Date: 31st March 2025

1 year full-time / 2 years part-time.

Next Intake: September 2025

Career Opportunities

Students of different nationalities and backgrounds and disciplines have successfully completed the programme since it was established in 2011. Many graduates have careers in areas such as editing, publishing, arts management, journalism, curation, teaching, librarianship, and academia. Over the years, students have worked with leading academics in the filed, attended guest lectures by local and international scholars and authors, applied for funding opportunities to research archives at Yale University and Trinity, collaborated with Children’s Books Ireland on their ‘Bold Girls’ initiative, curated an exhibition in Trinity Library’s Long Room, (see Story Spinners: Irish Women and Children's Books), created podcasts with International Literature Festival Dublin, and immersed themselves in the vibrant children’s literature community at the School of English.