Leaf Journal

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Creative Writing lecturers are turning over a new Leaf with their academic journal

Tuesday, 11 July, 2023

Two Bath Spa University MA Writing for Young People graduates-turned-lecturers have teamed up to launch a new academic journal focused on writing for young people. 

Dr Elen Caldicott and Lucy Cuthew are the brains behind Leaf Journal, a new online journal featuring scholarly articles on the subject of children’s and young adult (YA) literature.

Lucy is a lecturer at Bath Spa University and Elen is a lecturer in Creative Writing at Lancaster University. Talking about how the two of them came together, Lucy said:

“Students on the MA in Writing for Young People produce fascinating insights in their research, and I knew this research could help other writers. I wanted to capture and share this work, so ideas could be built upon. I mentioned an idea to try and share this research somehow to a mutual friend, Dr Joanna Nadin, who told me Elen also wanted to start a journal.”

Lucy reached out to Elen, one year later their hard work paid off, and the first issue of Leaf Journal was published.

Elen said:

“I moved away from Bath Spa, and found myself missing the stimulating conversations I'd had with colleagues and students. I saw the journal as being a way to connect not only with the people I was missing, but with colleagues across the country and internationally. I'm so pleased to say that it has done exactly that.”

Lucy and Elen had a shared vision of creating a journal that was accessible, and would de-mystify academia. “We get so used to the jargon and vocabulary that it's easy to forget how baffling it can be for, say, a new PhD student or a Masters student to enter the conversation,” Elen said. “And, if anything is confusing, we want people to let us know so we can change it.”

They chose the name ‘Leaf’ because it conjured ideas of newness and growth, as well as of turning the pages of a book. Lucy and Elen also wanted the experience of reading the journal to feel “like sitting beside the fireplace with a clever friend, hearing them talk about a new insight or idea.”

“The articles featured capture the reflections of writers who are learning and growing in their creative work, and the journal is all about writing for young people, so books and reading are at its very heart,” Lucy said.

Leaf Journal has had more than 2000 views since it was published just over a month ago, which Lucy says is “the best kind of surprise”. They aim to produce a new issue, made up of two volumes, each year. The first volume is exclusively scholarly articles; the second is a blend of scholarly articles and conference or symposium proceedings.

An inaugural On Writing for Young People conference will also take place in November 2023.

Volume One of Leaf Journal is available to read online.