Graduate Diploma of Children’s Literature

Gain a deeper understanding of the stories we choose to tell future generations, and why and how we tell them. Study our Graduate Diploma of Children’s Literature to explore key literary genres, while analysing storytelling methods and formats and developing critical thinking skills. Deakin is the only university in Australia to offer a graduate diploma in this field.

Interested in developing a unique understanding of one of the world’s most important literary genres?

Begin your course by exploring the fundamentals of narrative theory and how they apply to children’s literature. Then choose a specialisation from six options, such as graphic narratives, where you will focus your knowledge and creative practice.

You’ll also benefit from the chance to master complementary abilities, such as the ability to pitch or market a book, in electives selected from the Master of Arts (Writing and Literature), Master of Creative Arts, or Master of Communication.

This course draws a wide range of students from a wide range of backgrounds, from English teachers looking to understand their curriculum better to working writers looking to better explore their genre of choice. The intersection of new voices, ideas, and experience offered in your course will in turn help you discover your views as a reader, strengthen your voice as a writer, and help you broaden your understanding of what children’s literature can do and be. We encourage you to seize every opportunity to collaborate with your classmates and debate new and old ideas with them.

Importantly, this course will provide you with more than expertise in one genre. The projects you will work on will train equip you with transferable skills such as critical analysis, communication, problem solving and research – incredibly valuable in every field of work.

Career outcomes

Graduates understand the importance of children’s writing in how we understand children and childhood. They expand their knowledge of a wide variety of text types for children and young adults to develop their understanding of how language and narrative shape the way we understand the world, and how literature can simultaneously reflect and provide insights into aspects of culture, place, and history. Studying children’s literature develops high-level writing skills, critical analysis, and the capacity to undertake independent and collaborative research. Writing and literature graduates have gone on to win awards like the Queensland Premier’s Literary Award Melbourne Prize for Literature for their published works.