Coed Graduate Programs > Children's Literature

Children's Literature

Hollins offers a unique summer master's program in children's literature. One of the few in the country to offer a humanities graduate degree in children's literature at all, we are, we believe, the only one to offer it in the study and writing of children's literature.
   At Hollins you will have the opportunity to be part of a uniquely diverse group of scholars, writers, and teachers. You will have the choice of a program concentrating solely on the study of children's and young adult literature as a genre which has received far too little scholarly attention in the past, or a program in which you may do up to half your work in creative writing, from picture books to young adult novels, and produce a creative thesis as your final project. Or you may choose a program somewhere in between. It is Hollins' firm belief that any scholar of literature benefits from the experience of writing, and any serious student of writing must study closely the best works of others.
   In small, informal classes, you will work with writers and scholars in the field who come from Hollins and from institutions across the country. In between you will live on Hollins' historic and beautiful campus, minutes from the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Appalachian Trail.
   You will hear lectures by visiting speakers who in the past have included Perry Nodelman, Nancy Willard, Lucille Clifton, Jack Zipes, Eleanor Cameron, and Alison Lurie. You will have the opportunity to participate each summer in the annual Francelia Butler Children's Literature Conference, an entirely student-led event showcasing both creative and scholarly work from students in the program.
   The program is closely associated with the nationally known Hollins creative writing graduate program, and like that program seeks to help writers find not a "Hollins" voice but their own voice, their own way of seeing and telling their world to children.
   In three to four summers (depending on how you structure your program) you can complete your degree in a stimulating academic community where the field of children's literature is respected as one of scholarly importance.

Painted Rock

Course offerings for Summer 2004
June 21 - July 30, 2004

Creative Writing
William Miller, Han Nolan, Karen Adams Sulkin

Minority Images in Children's Literature
Carolivia Herron

Myth and Folktale
J. D. Stahl

Gender and Identity in Science Fiction and Fantasy
Brian Attebery

The Modern Young Adult Novel
Lisa Rowe Fraustino

History and Criticism of Children's Literature
Karen Sands-O'Connor

See Courses for a comprehensive list of course offerings.

Summer 2004 Events

	Patricia Gauch, vice president of Philomel Books, has edited three Caldecott-winning books during her career, as well as written thirty-seven. She talks about the heart of children’s book publishing and writing.
	George Ancona, author and photographer whose more than eighty books for children, including Pablo Remembers: The Fiesta of the Day of the Dead and Fiesta U.S.A., explore family, culture, and custom.
	Nancy Willard, author of the Newbery Award-winning A Visit to William Blake’s Inn, and numerous other books for children, including Pish-Posh Said Hieronymus Bosch, The Nightgown of the Sullen Moon, the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, The Tale I Told Sasha, The Tortilla Cat, and Shadow Story, as well as novels, essays, and poetry for adults.
	SCBWI Conference. Don’t miss this chance to attend a Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Conference on campus.
	Hollins in the U.K. Information Session. Meet with Karen Sands-O’Connor and Roderick McGillis to find out all about our 2005 summer session in the U.K.
	Student Reading. Students in the program read from their creative work for 5- to 10-year-olds. Children invited!
	Faculty reading. Hear our faculty authors read from their own work. Children invited!
	Tenth Annual Francelia Butler Student Conference on Children's Literature. Keynote address by Roderick McGillis, professor of English at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and author of The Nimble Reader: Literary Theory and Children’s Literature; A Little Princess: Gender and Empire; and Voices of the Other: Children’s Literature and the Postcolonial Context.

033004

Courses

Faculty

Details

Books by Graduates and Students of the Children's Literature Program

Meet Some Students and Graduates

Children's Literature Journal

Campus Tour

Online Application

Summer Session in the United Kingdom, June 26-July 31, 2005

Academics

. . . . . . .

CONTACT
Graduate Studies Office
Hollins University
Roanoke, VA 24020
(540) 362-6575
hugrad@hollins.edu

Amanda Cockrell
Director
(540) 362-6024
acockrell@hollins.edu