Department of Literature and Writing

Programs in the Department of Literature and Writing explore what it means to ask questions about and to discover your own answers to the fundamental questions about the human experience in an increasingly complicated and interconnected world.

Undergraduates in the Literature and Writing Department are invited to discover a cornucopia of cultural treasures crafted by a world of poets, writers, and sages, past, present and future. Put your own voice into these conversations as you immerse yourself in the stories we tell and the narratives we shape and reshape to reflect our discoveries about self and others. Stimulate your imagination as you find your unique path into careers through a panoply of fields that rely on incisive thinking and stellar writing. Our students enter countless fields as they leave the program prepared for multiple careers calling on critical thinking, excellence in verbal and written expression, and with a keen appreciation of the diversity of social, cultural, moral, and aesthetic values that texture our daily lives.

Graduate students across the Children’s Literature programs enwrap themselves in the contemporary world of literature published for children and young adults even as they study the historical contexts of the field. Whether in the MA, MFA, MA/MFA, or MAMS degrees, you’ll share a passion for making the world better one book, one reader at a time. Take the time to interrogate questions of canon, to understand discourses of social justice, to unpack constructions of childhood. Whether you leave the program to enter publishing, to launch your writing career, to facilitate others’ reading as a youth services professional, or to pursue doctoral studies, among other careers, you’ll join a renowned cadre of successful alumnx of creative writers and scholars, book reviewers and prize jury members, agents and gatekeepers.