Creative Writing MA

The Creative Writing MA helps you to develop the craft of creative writing, either on a general level or through specialising in your chosen genre.
The creative dissertation and critical essay give you the chance to further specialise. You also explore writing in a range of forms and styles and take a module exploring critical theory and experimental/avant-garde writing.
You work in workshops, studying one-on-one or in small groups with experts in your chosen area. The course is taught by a combination of:
appointed staff – many are published authors or active researchers, which keeps your learning dynamic. Current staff include author Vesna Goldsworthy;
peer review – giving you the chance to discuss your own and other students' work in a mutually-supportive environment.
This provides a range of different voices and styles to broaden your experience of the creative process. You'll also have access to and engage with a number of practising and published writers, including award-winning published authors such as Paul Bailey (twice-Booker nominated winner of the E M Forster Award and George Orwell Prize), Hanif Kureishi (Whitbread First Novel and PEN/Pinter Prize winner), Winsome Pinnock (George Devine, Unity Theatre Trust and and Pearson Plays on Stage Award winner) and Diran Adebayo (Betty Trask and Writers Guild Award winner).
The taught modules aim to prepare you for the job market. Alongside your creative writing studies, you gain skills in:
data collation, review and synopsis;
communication (oral, written and electronic);
time management;
computing;

This course is ideal if you have a personal or professional interest in the craft of creative writing. It is designed to enhance your career if you work in an area that needs an appreciation of the written word, such as publishing, journalism, teaching or communications.

You'll develop a range of skills desirable to employers, such as communication skills, self-management, meticulousness in editing and presentation, the ability to reflect on your own work and to respond to constructive criticism, the ability to write for particular purposes and the ability to work constructively with others.

In addition to a possible career as a writer or translator, particular careers may include work in publishing, journalism, advertising and marketing, film, television, radio, arts management, new media, business, teaching and therapeutic fields.

a second class degree or above, or equivalent, in creative writing, English literature, literature and language, drama or theatre studies or a similar subject; and/or
a demonstrable interest in creative writing.