About the Journal

Publishing scholarly articles on the practice of creative writing for young people. Follow us on Instagram and Bluesky.

Aims and Scope - What We Are Looking For

Leaf Journal seeks to publish articles in the English language which fall within our aims and scope. Namely, articles on creative writing for children which are practice-based, or practice-led, or articles where the study of children’s literature has a writerly application. Put simply, we mean that if, while writing or studying children’s books, you have noticed something which would be useful for other creative writers, you might decide to share that ‘something’ by writing a piece for us. You should read a few of our published articles to see what sort of content we are interested in.

Who We Are

Leaf Journal was started by two authors, Dr Elen Caldecott and Lucy Cuthew, who both lecture in Creative Writing for Young People. We saw excellent insights being produced by Masters students, PhD candidates and faculty members at our respective universities, produced as part of their creative practice and their scholarly writing. We decided to establish a journal that could capture those insights and share them with the curious writers and researchers to come.

We know that the act of writing for young people, and thinking reflectively about that writing, can produce knowledge and insights which are of value to the academy and to writers who want to explore a deeper engagement with their craft.

We are supported by an Editorial Board of writers and researchers.