Children's Literature in Newcastle
Be inspired and informed by CLUGG, the Children's Literature Unit Graduate Group at Newcastle University, UK
Newcastle University Centre of Research Excellence for Children and Youth Launch Event
CLUGG in April and May
An Introduction to 2022's CLUGG Members
Locating the Child in American Studies, Part 1
Rebels, Riots, and the American Teen
18th century children's literature
Aidan and Nancy Chambers
archival research
Brian Alderson
childhood reading
childhood studies
children's book archives
Children's Literature Unit
CLUGG
David Almond
David Almond Fellowship
Elinor M Brent-Dyer
Fresher at Fifty
Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group
Jean Estoril
Leila Berg
MLitt in Children's Literature
modern and contemporary children's literature
Noel Streatfeild
PhD in Children's Literature
Refugee Tales
Robinson Library
School of English Literature
Seven Stories
studying at Newcastle
Twentieth Century Schoolgirls
Victorian nonsense rhyme
Vital North
Tag: MLitt in Children's Literature
A Fresher at Fifty
The Occasional Diary of a Mature Postgraduate Student at Newcastle University's Children's Literature Unit
Jennifer Shelley
Episode two: an Ancient Monument
Driving to the station to catch the train to Newcastle University last September my mind went back to 1984 when I was starting university for the first time. Back then, my mum and dad drove me from Dundee to Edinburgh, where I was to spend four years studying English literature – and making friends that I'm still close to today.
Now, however, my mum's sadly no longer with us, and rather than being an 18-year-old excited about leaving home for the first time, I'm 50 years old, married, and living in the Perthshire countryside with my husband, greyhounds and chickens.
But the me of today still has a few things in common with that eager teenager: for one thing, my taste in music hasn't changed much – David Bowie is blasting out of the car's CD player, just as he was back in the 1980s, although back then it would have been a cassette player. And the 50-year-old me was also excited about starting a new degree, although a bit nervous about what it would entail.
Jen in her halls room back in the 80s
Even getting to this point had been a bit of a journey: having decided to apply to do an MLitt in children's literature, one of the first steps was pulling together the information to prove I met the entrance requirements. Essentially what I needed was a 2:1 or higher in a related subject, so that should have been tickety-boo: but I hadn't reckoned with my great age.
The application form required 'transcripts', by which it meant a documentation that showed all the courses I had taken – and the marks achieved – in my undergraduate degree. I had my degree certificate, but had never even heard of transcripts.
A call to my alma mater – the University of Edinburgh – confirmed that they could send me an academic statement, but the kind young man on the other end of the phone explained it might take some time. 'You see, our records don't go back that far, so we'll have to dig it out of the archives,' he said. Yes, it seems there is a room somewhere in Edinburgh University filled with big books containing the details of past students – and to retrieve mine would involve someone physically going to the room and wading through these tomes and taking a copy. This process was set in motion, and when the document finally arrived, it turned out to be merely confirmation of my first degree and overall result. The ever-helpful and patient postgraduate admissions staff at Newcastle confirmed that this was okay – they are happy to be flexible with mature students, it seems – so the application progressed, and ultimately was successful.
Arriving at the university campus in all its freshers' week pomp also brought back memories, although there were of course some differences: this time, I was (sadly) largely disregarded by the eager young students peddling leaflets about societies, or offering cut-price beers or nightclub entry to people who looked like they might be freshers. 'I'm a student too,' I screamed (but silently).
After the process of registration was completed – one member of staff kindly confirmed I wasn't quite the oldest she'd seen that day – I had an initial meeting with my supervisor, Lucy Pearson. More of an informal chat, we discussed my areas of interest and she recommended some initial reading. She also reminded me of events set up to welcome postgraduates, including a get-together (with quiz!) held by the Children's Literature Unit, and a drinks reception organised by the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics.
The latter, I confess, was an eye-opener: chatting with a couple of recent graduates about to embark on PhDs, I enquired about their subject areas, and realised I didn't even understand what they were. What on earth was ecocriticism, for example (when I found out I immediately started wondering if I could apply it to Elinor M Brent-Dyer's Chalet School books – and why not?).
All in all, it was a lot to take in, and a lot to think about – would this ancient monument be able to cope?
We really hope so! In the meantime, if you missed episode one of A Fresher at Fifty, read it here.
Posted on 1st June 2017 31st May 2017 Author StoneTags Children's Literature Unit, ecocriticism, Elinor M Brent-Dyer, Fresher at Fifty, MLitt in Children's Literature, School of English Literature, studying at Newcastle, University of Edinburgh2 Comments on A Fresher at Fifty
Postgraduate Open Day
Our second Children's Literature Open Day for this academic year was held on February 8th 2017. It was a great chance to welcome visitors to Newcastle and to showcase the kind of work we do here at Newcastle. We were also lucky enough to welcome Costa Award-winner Frances Hardinge to Newcastle for a public event.
All about the Children's Literature Unit
We kicked off with an introduction to the Children's Literature Unit by Dr Lucy Pearson, who is just one of a great team of children's literature scholars here at Newcastle. Professor Kimberley Reynolds (19th and 20th century children's literature), Professor Matthew Grenby (18th century children's literature), and Dr Pearson (modern and contemporary children's literature) are at the heart of the Children's Literature Unit, but they are joined by Creative Writing colleagues Ann Coburn and Zoe Cooper – both award-winning authors for children – and by a host of colleague whose work deals with children and childhood, including Professor Kate Chedgzoy (Renaissance childhoods), Dr Helen Freshwater (child performers and family theatre) and Dr Martin Dubois (Victorian nonsense rhyme and fantasy literature). This diverse team takes a whole range of approaches to children's literature studies, but perhaps the most distinctive aspect of children's literature at Newcastle is a common interest in historical approaches and book history. In different ways, CLU scholars are interested in how children's books came to be and how they live in the world.
Alongside the staff who work in this area, there are of course our brilliant postgraduate students, who meet twice a month to share their work (and to create this blog!). Having a thriving group of scholars and students working on different aspects of children's books means there is always someone to share your ideas with, a chance to learn something new, and a place to get a bit of moral support.
The Percy Building, home to the School of English at Newcastle University.
Two of our postgrads came along to share their experiences of Children's Literature at Newcastle. Masters student Liam Owens spoke about the research he's been doing on the MLitt in Children's Literature. Liam says:
"Studying the MLitt is fantastic. It gives me the freedom to research the areas of children's literature which interest me, and the structuring of the course means I'm able to write on as few or as many topics as I like. This term I've just completed a research assignment on the representation of the posthuman in the works of twice Carnegie winner, Patrick Ness. Now I'm in the middle of conducting research on digital story apps and arranging empirical research with a local primary school. Without the MLitt, I would never have been given the opportunity to research children's literature in such diverse ways."
One of the illustrations from Patrick Ness' A Monster Calls (2011).
Lucy Stone spoke about her PhD research, which draws on the amazing archives at Seven Stories:
I was 13 and beginning to learn German when I first read Judith Kerr's When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit (1971). The story stuck with me over the years. It was at the University of Cambridge while I was undertaking an MPhil in Education that I learnt of Seven Stories here in Newcastle where Kerr donated, along with the manuscripts of her published picturebooks and novels, her childhood drawings, paintings and writings. I was struck by their colour, light and life, which appeared to be in contrast to the childhood of exile I understood Kerr to have led, despite the light and warmth infused in When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit. Newcastle University works in close collaboration with Seven Stories and I was very fortunate to be awarded first a David Almond Fellowship and now a Research Excellence Academy Studentship to study the Collection and find out how and why Kerr's juvenilia resounds with such joy and shows a humanity and remarkable talent.
One of Judith Kerr's watercolours made as a child, included in her memoir Creatures (2013). You can view the original at Seven Stories.
Seven Stories and the Robinson Library
Students visit Seven Stories.
One of the most exciting aspects of working on children's literature at Newcastle is our partnership with Seven Stories: the National Centre for Children's Books. Archivist Kris McKie came along to share some details of the collection, which now represents over 250 authors and illustrators! You can explore the collection on the Seven Stories website, and if you're interested in coming to work on archive material keep a look out for our annual David Almond Fellowships, which provide small bursaries to support work on the Seven Stories Collection.
The University's Robinson Library also has fantastic children's literature collections, including the Book Trust collection, and an extensive collection of modern and contemporary British children's books.
Fantasy Worlds with Frances Hardinge
We were beyond thrilled to finish our Open Day with a fantastic event with Frances Hardinge! Frances' books are favourites here in the Children's Literature Unit and when our partners at Seven Stories suggested we might be able to invite her for a joint event we were very excited. The event was an in-conversation with PhD student Aishwarya Subramanian, whose research on British children's fantasy after Empire has given her lots of thoughts on fantasy worlds and the way that authors play with them.
Frances and Aishwarya in conversation.
The discussion ranged from the role of the YA writer to the place of the fantasy author in our current political context. Frances spoke about her interest in times of transition: many of her books focus on historical moments of change (the impact of Darwinism in The Lie Tree; the aftermath of World War One in Cuckoo Song) or feature actual revolutions (Gullstruck Island and Twilight Robbery to name just two!). These ideas of transition seem especially relevant now, and Frances spoke about her desire to encourage readers to ask questions and the pleasure of writing for young people, who are naturally given to this.
Frances also spoke about the flexibility of young readers, which affords her the opportunity to write books which don't conform to any one genre. In merging genres, she also takes the opportunity to pull in lots of interesting ideas she's picked up along the way – her approach to history was a great reminder of just how much fun research can be!
Perhaps the highlight of the evening was Frances' spontaneous recitation of the whole of 'Jabberwocky', which was word perfect. The poem helped to instil a love of language in Frances at a young age – one which has gone on to enrich and enliven her books. We can't wait to see which worlds she wanders into next, and whether she finds a good use for place names such as Clenchwarton (a small village in Norfolk).
If you're interested in studying children's literature at Newcastle, find out more on our children's literature pages or contact one of the Children's Literature Unit. If you'd like to know about future public events, join our mailing list.
Posted on 23rd February 2017 22nd February 2017 Author StoneTags 18th century children's literature, 19th century children's literature, 20th century children's literature, archival research, Book Trust, child performers and family theatre, creative writing, David Almond Fellowship, fantasy literature, Frances Hardinge, Judith Kerr, MLitt in Children's Literature, modern and contemporary children's literature, open day, PhD in Children's Literature, renaissance childhoods, Robinson Library, Seven Stories, studying at Newcastle, Victorian nonsense rhymeLeave a comment on Postgraduate Open Day