Academic biography

Jennifer Mooney is an assistant professor in the School of English, chair of the MA in Children’s and Young Adult Literature degree programme, and co-director of the Centre for Research in Children’s and Young Adult Literature. 
Before joining the School of English as an assistant professor, she lectured in English literature at Marino Institute of Education, Dublin, where she taught English Language, Literacy and Literature on the BEd programme and was responsible for a specialist master’s module in children’s literature.

A qualified and experienced primary school teacher, she has taught English at all levels of the education system in Ireland and internationally. Jennifer is a published creative writer, with expertise in playwrighting (stage and radio) and poetry. Jennifer’s master’s degree was in children’s and young adult literature. Her doctoral research explored the relationship between feminist theories of power and empowerment and the creative work of Irish author Louise O’Neill in the context of contemporary young adult literature.

Her teaching and research interests include gender and sexuality in young adult literature and popular culture, recent critical concerns with posthumanism and ecocriticism, and Irish studies. She serves on The Irish Society for the Study of Children’s Literature board and is reviewer for Children’s Books Ireland magazine, INIS.