The RKEU, which has been existing as an Interest Group since the autumn of 2017 (it transformed out of the English Subject Group which was run by Janice Morris and Dr Helen Hendry), was approved in the spring of 2019.

Lead: Dr Mary-Louise Maynes

The RKEU includes colleagues from different programmes (English, Education Studies, Early Childhood Studies, BA Primary QTS, PGCE programmes and the Library) at different points in their careers. What unites the group is methodology and a shared love for Children’s Literature and Literacies. The Unit supports researchers to work on individual and collaborative projects, relating to all matters of Literature and Literacy.

A concrete example of the kind of work LiLi aspires to do is the Annual LiLi Lectures, a series which started in 2019. The latest ‘Power-up Literacy’ is available to view by clicking here.

RKEU LiLi also organises guest lectures, given by internal as well as external speakers. To listen to Lauren Christie (University of Dundee; 20 October 2021) and her paper on The Magic of Literature, Bibliotherapy and the Power of the Imagination, please click here.

The group organised the Monster Conference (2018) and published a special collection Monsters: Interdisciplinary Explorations in Monstrosity,

Humanities & Social Sciences Communications (2019-2020), https://www.nature.com/collections/ffgefcehaf, co-edited by Drs Sibylle Erle and Helen Hendry (now The Open University). The Monster Project at BGU (2017-2020) included the successful “Monsters@BGU” event, which was organised by Dr Mary-Louise Maynes in October 2018. In collaboration with the Chaplaincy, the group organised Academic and Creative Responses to Death and Dying (2017-2021).

The RKEU is outward looking and involves external partners (Autistic Voices, The Meadows Primary School, Lincoln Cathedral, St. Barnabas Hospice and UKLA) in collaborative research, event-partnership, outreach activities and student engagement, such as shadowing UKLA Book Awards and inviting authors and illustrators of literature written for children to undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. The RKEU has run Masterclasses on Non-Fiction and Fairy Tales.

The RKEU has its own PhD students as well as MA (Children’s Literature and Literacies), running as part of the MA English Literature. This MA is a specialised and interdisciplinary Master’s degree which aims to provide professional development and academic progression in this subject by enhancing subject expertise for related careers and further research qualifications. This programme aims to build on the existing professional experience of qualified teachers and the knowledge of recent graduates who have obtained degrees in related disciplines. Click here to find out more and to apply.