The Department of literature was founded in 1939 and the Department of journalism - in 2004. In 2021, the two departments were combined into the Department of literature and journalism.
The lecturers of the department are responsible for organizing the work of the university's periodicals and electronic publications: A.A. Reshetova is Editor-in-chief of the "Bulletin of the Ryazan State University named for S.A. Yesenin" (HAK), O.E. Voronova is Editor-in-chief of the journal "Modern Yesenin Studies" (RSCI), Yu.V. Lazarev is Editor-in-chief of "Russian Philology and National Culture" (RSCI).
Every year, the department organizes an international (All-Russian) research and practical conference "Word. Literature. Writer"
an international conference dedicated to S.A. Yesenin’s birthday (jointly with the IMLI RAS) and the State Museum-Reserve of S.A. Yesenin
an international panel with the participation of the Russian Center and the Yesenin Center of the Republic of Moldova "Pushkin and Yesenin"
and the department holds anniversary conferences dedicated to Ya.P. Polonsky and A.I. Solzhenitsyn (every 5 years).