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Vol. 1 No. 2 (2023): Leaf Journal: On Writing for Young People
Vol. 1 No. 2 (2023): Leaf Journal: On Writing for Young People
Published:
16.05.2025
Editors' Letter
Editors’ Letter, Volume 1, Issue 2
Managing Editors Elen Caldecott and Lucy Cuthew introduce the articles and papers presented in this issue of 'Leaf Journal'.
Lucy Cuthew, Dr Elen Caldecott (Author)
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Scholarly Articles
Under the Hood of the Verse Novel: A Consideration of Variation in Form and Technique in the Contemporary Verse Novel for Young Adults
Verse novelist Tia Fisher looks broadly at the development of the form, analysing what constitutes a verse novel and why it isn’t just ‘chopped up prose’.
Tia Fisher (Author)
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Conference Proceedings
On Writing for Young People Conference 2023, Keynote Speech
Prof Emerita Julia Green sets out the origins of the discipline of Creative Writing for Young People at Bath Spa University and beyond.
Julia Green (Author)
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Crossing the Class Divide
In an era of #OwnVoices, Joanna Nadin asks how can a writer for young people, whose own class identity is blurred at best, articulate class authentically and usefully?
Joanna Nadin (Author)
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London and the Gothic in Leon Garfield’s Smith and Joan Aiken’s Black Hearts in Battersea
Alison Baker demonstrates how the use of historical settings, supernatural elements and the sublime in 'Smith' and 'Blackhearts in Battersea' subvert the tropes of Gothic fiction.
Alison Baker (Author)
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Dissociation and Embodiment in Young Adult Literature: What Authors Need to Consider in the Climax
This paper looks at the neurological and psychological roots behind dissociation and embodiment in Young Adult texts.
Alyssa Hollingsworth (Author)
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How Writers Use Ghosts to Explore Grief in Contemporary Young Adult Fiction
Charlotte Taylor interrogates how contemporary YA writers use ghosts in their novels to explore ideas about adolescence and grief.
Charlotte Taylor (Author)
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Where’s the Deaf Representation?
At a time when the publishing industry is promoting inclusivity, Fran Benson asks where are the deaf characters and what can we learn from hearing authors writing outside their experience?
Fran Benson (Author)
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Book Lengths and Target Age Groups: Writing for Young People in Regions Outside the UK and US
Kristien Potgieter explores South African books for young people, ranging from chapter books to Young Adult novels to discuss some regional differences in age groups and target book lengths.
Kristien Potgieter (Author)
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Ghostly Goings On. Can Ghost Stories Provide the Perfect Allegory for Loneliness and Neglect in Children’s Writing?
Is it possible that ghosts provide the perfect personification of parental neglect (real or perceived) in a way that is accessible to young readers? Nell Griffin considers the question.
Nell Griffin (Author)
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All Children, Except One, Grow Up’: Adultification in Alex Wheatle's Crongton Knights and Jewell Parker Rhodes' Ghost Boys
In this paper, Piu DasGupta looks at “adultification” – what it means, and its implications for children’s literature and children’s writers.
Piu DasGupta (Author)
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De-constructing the Imaginary Child in Greek Cypriot Contemporary Young Adult Fiction Novels
This paper focuses on Andri Antoniou’s polyphonic novels and examines how the Greek Cypriot Young Adult fiction author subverts the “adult’s desire for the child”.
Rosy-Triantafyllia Angelaki (Author)
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Learning Craft From Children’s Authors
Sarah Dyer suggests steps to support new scholars in efficiently writing a practice-informed essay and to support them in unlocking a way to learn from children’s authors.
Sarah Dyer (Author)
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Well-versed? If Novels in Verse Are So Accessible, Why Don’t We Have More?
Tia Fisher explores reasons for the ‘niche’ status of verse novels and suggests ways we might make them as popular in the UK as they are in the US.
Tia Fisher (Author)
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How to Write Children’s Literature About War and Other Vulnerable, Controversial Topics
Ukrainian writer Viktoriia Medvied explores the question of how to translate the unspeakable into plain language and protect Ukrainian children through multilingual fairy tales about the war.
Viktoriia Medvied (Author)
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The Post-Apocalyptic Space, Character, and Morality in Middle-Grade Children’s Literature
Through this paper, Vlad-Madalin Marinescu presents insights on the importance of children’s spaces when writing the post-apocalyptic novel.
Vlad Marinescu (Author)
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Project Proceedings
Literature Across Borders: The Pilot Year Part 1: The Staff
Reflections on the planning and delivery of the pilot year of ‘Literature across Borders’, a collaboration between Ashoka University and Bath Spa University, facilitated by the Green Literature Festival.
Alexia Casale-Katzman , Meghaa Gupta, Alexander Robert Phillips (Author)
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Literature across Borders: The Pilot YearPart 2: The Students; Subhi Suvradeep Banerjee, Rupert Barrington, Rebekah Curtis, Dharani Dhavamani, Sarah Dyer, Pooja Kadaboina, Charlotte Taylor, Janette Taylor
Eight reflections from students involved in the Pilot Year of the Literature across Borders project, facilitated by The Green Literature Festival.
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