Children's Literature
A thriving centre for the study of children’s literature, history, and publishing.
Newcastle’s Children’s Literature Unit is one of the UK’s leading centres for the study of children’s literature. Research interests cover cultures of childhood and youth from the Renaissance, through the long eighteenth century, to the present day. We have a particular focus on book history and publishing.
Partnerships
Partnership working is central to the life of the Children’s Literature Unit. Newcastle is home to Seven Stories – the National Centre for Children’s Books – the only UK institution dedicated to original material relating to children’s literature. The Seven Stories Collectionrepresents over 250 authors, illustrators, and editors from the 1930s onwards, which supports our innovative work on modern and contemporary children’s literature. In collaboration with Seven Stories, the Children's Literature Unit hosts the annual Fickling Lecture on Developments in Children's Literature.
Other partnership working includes our collaboration with the British Library, which supported the development of their education resource ‘Discovering Children’s Books’ and their ongoing schools programmes. We welcome opportunities to collaborate with new partners.
Through partnership working we make connections between our leading academic research and the world of children’s books today. Many of our students undertake placements or develop collaborative research with partner organisations.
Research Culture
We have a thriving research community centred around the Children's Literature Unit Graduate Group (CLUGG). Our lively and inclusive community includes an annual programme of lectures and seminars on aspects of children's literature and culture, and a regular series of work-in-progress seminars. This includes our Global Network Partnership, first established with the University of Pittsburgh in 2018, which allows our students to engage in international conversations about children’s literature and other career development and networking opportunities.
Our scholars are connected to a wider network of researchers on all aspects of childhood and youth through the Newcastle Centre for Children and Youth. This supports us in our innovative, interdisciplinary work which includes participatory work with children and young people, oral history, and digital innovation.
