Childrens Literature (M.Phil. / P.Grad.Dip.)

Overview

Please note that the deadline for 2025/26 applications has now passed. All places have been filled and there is a substantial waiting list. The application system will re-open in November 2025 for 2026/27 applications.
 

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.

Graduates from the programme have had this to say:
-    An engaging, absorbing and enlightening year that changed my life. If you are thinking about it, do it.
-    One of the best decisions I ever made was applying for this course. A fascinating syllabus and excellent lecturers.
-    An absolutely amazing course, with equally amazing people to meet along the way.

Career Opportunities

Students of different nationalities and backgrounds and disciplines have successfully completed the programme since it was established in 2011. The programme facilitates intellectual and creative development and provides students with valuable transferrable skills, particularly in terms of critical thinking, writing, presenting, and constructing persuasive arguments. Throughout the programme, we will encourage students to immerse themselves in the literary communities of Trinity, of Dublin, and of the island Ireland; to network and connect with the multiple arts and cultural organisations in the city; to step inside the amazing libraries and archives on our doorstep; and to bring their expert knowledge of children’s literature to the wider world. Many graduates have successful careers in areas such as editing, publishing, arts management, journalism, curation, teaching, librarianship, and academia. Several alumni are published authors of texts for children.

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. 

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