Children’s Literature

Department Website

The Creative Writing and Literature program at Stony Brook Southampton emphasizes creative work in fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. However, the program also extends its emphasis beyond the familiar categories of creative expression to treat all forms of writing as equally relevant to understanding and mastering a world constructed out of words. Students are free to take workshops in all genres, in the belief that writing outside the lines informs their primary areas of interest.

Courses are taught by a full-time core faculty of three, joined by a part-time faculty of distinguished visiting writers whose teaching and lecturing assignments rotate among the fall, spring, and summer sessions. These distinguished visitors provide creative breadth to the writing program, offering coverage in areas of writing that are essential in contemporary society, in particular fiction, non-fiction, poetry, scriptwriting, and writing for children.

The Advanced Certificate in Children’s Literature accepts up to12 serious children’s book writers each year for a part-time, year-long, 16-credit course of instruction that is customized, affordable, comprehensive, and professionally useful. Certificate students work independently with outstanding faculty mentors in spring and fall terms. During summer and winter terms, they come together as a cohort, in July at the Southampton Writers Conference and in January for a special Children’s Literature Publishing and Editing Practicum. The Advanced Certificate in Children’s Literature is unique in its design, suited for the types of writers who are interested in children’s books-librarians, educators, and parents with young children. These student writers are not able to take time off or relocate to enroll in a full-time MFA program. Unlike the few children’s literature MFA programs throughout the country and in the New York metropolitan area, the Stony Brook Advanced Certificate in Children’s Literature is a flexible but coherent pathway to completion of a creative project, in only one year.

Admission Requirements of Creative Writing and Literature Program

Application for admission to the Graduate School is made to a specific program for a specific degree. For the MFA in Creative Writing and Literature, applicants must fulfill both the Graduate School admission requirements and the specific requirements for the MFA in Creative Writing and Literature. See sections I and II for details on these requirements. Application forms may be found on line at http://www.grad.sunysb.edu./prospective/applying/index.shtml. Please note that applications for Admission to the MFA in Creative Writing and Literature are made to MFA in Creative Writing and Literature Program and not to the Graduate School.

Electronic official transcripts from any undergraduate and graduate institutions you have attended should be sent to the Office of Graduate and Health Sciences Admissions, at gradadmissions@stonybrook.edu.

Or snail-mailed directly to the graduate school:

Office of Graduate and Health Sciences Admissions
Stony Brook University
Health Sciences Tower, Level 2 - Rm. 271
Stony Brook, NY 11794-8276

For questions, please call Margaret Grigonis at (631) 632-5028

Admission to the Advanced Certificate in Children’s Literature

Admission to the Advanced Certificate in Children’s Literature is highly competitive. Students who are eligible to apply include those enrolled in a graduate degree-granting program at Stony Brook University and to students who have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university who meet the admissions criteria.

For applicants already admitted to the University, admission involves completing a “Permission to Enroll in a Secondary Certificate” form. Students also need to submit a statement of purpose and a writing sample (details below). Students are required to have an earned bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) with a cumulative grade point average of 2.75 on a 4-point scale. The Children’s Literature program considers only applicants for admission in Spring term. The following must be submitted to the Creative Writing and Literature Program by December 1:

• A statement discussing the student’s reasons for graduate study (1-2 pp, submitted with the online application)
• A writing sample consisting of up to 10 pages of creative writing for picture book or 25 pages for chapter, middle grade or young adult.
• Letters of recommendation from three instructors or writing professionals familiar with your creative work.