Paper Lanterns is a literary journal, founded in 2020 and published three times a year. Acting as a platform to promote the voices of young people in Ireland and across the world, this journal provides new and exciting content for a teen and young adult audience. It is also perfect for enthusiasts of teen and YA literature; from teachers and librarians, to parents and youth workers.
This is a YA journal for writers, artists, dreamers, and doers. This is a space for the underrepresented voices and a platform for publishing and promoting young writers and artists so they are seen and heard.
We also make space for those who were once young adults to submit their work! Those who proudly and loudly represent young voices in today’s world.
We are a magazine for writers, readers, and artists. Whether you want to submit your own work or just want feel part of the Paper Lanterns’ community and book club, there is plenty of room for you here.
Please explore our website, and get reading and writing YA work!
You can find reviews, interviews and features about us at Paper Lanterns in the Press.
The journal is divided into three sections. Our Creative Writing section showcases work from talented teens, as well as work from adult writers of teen and YA literature, tied in with beautiful artwork and photography. The Personal Essays, Article and Non-Fiction section includes essays on trends in the YA literary scene and inspiring observations from our younger contributors on the world around them. You can also expect some exciting interviews from authors and literature enthusiasts. Our Reviews sections offers an insight to the latest books for teens and young adults, from readers younger and older. You will also find details of our seasonal book club, where we give prompts for discussion and share some insights so you can host your own group. You can also find these books on our Goodreads.
Meet our Editors
Grace Kelley studied Drama and English in Trinity College Dublin, where she specialised in playwriting under the tutelage of Marina Carr. She spent a year of her studies in UC San Diego, where she was taught by writer/filmmaker Chris Kraus.
Grace recently completed her M.Phil. in Children’s Literature in Trinity College Dublin. Her studies there focused on pirates, islands, and fairy tales, most notably, Peter Pan, Captain Hook, and Neverland.
Grace’s writing has been shortlisted for The Red Line Book Festival and The Allingham Festival, and has been published with Palm-Sized Press, Red Line, and Reflex Fiction.
Amy O’Sullivan completed her undergraduate in English Literature and History in Trinity College Dublin where she discovered to her joy that she could read books for children and young adults and count it as study.
She went on to complete her M.Phil. in Children’s Literature in 2019, where she traced ownership of books and looked at class, narration and magic in the books of E. Nesbit. Her M.Phil. dissertation won the 2020 Irish Society for the Study of Children’s Literature Master’s Thesis Award.
She worked as a Marketing and Administration Assistant for Dublin Book Festival and worked in publishing in Dublin. She is now working as a civil servant.
Maggie Masterson was a children’s and young adult librarian in the Chicago suburbs before moving to Ireland to study children’s literature. She completed her M.Phil. in Children’s Literature in 2019, where she studied the illustration of fairy tales, and thought about books as souvenirs of childhood.
She is currently working on her PhD at Trinity, a book history project researching the construction of girlhood in the Pollard Collection of Children’s Books.
You can read our Child Protection Policy here and our Safeguarding Statement here.
