Nicole Hayes

Nicole’s thesis title is Representations of Mothers and Motherhood in Australian Young Adult Fiction. This research considers representations of mothers and motherhood in Young Adult fiction across the current Australian publishing landscape (specifically, books published from 2010-2020), with an eye to identifying prevailing tropes and patterns. The aim is to draw on these findings to identify alternative models offering more thoughtful, progressive and dynamic representations of mothers and motherhood. The creative component of this thesis, a young adult novel set in a dystopic landscape caught in a fertility crisis, will aim to offer examples of representation of mothers and motherhood that go beyond common tropes and patterns.