Creative Writing - MA

Teaching

Teaching and assessment

You take a total of four modules, for which you will produce approximately 7000 words each (or an equivalent number of poems or translations). In addition, you write a creative dissertation of about 12000 words (or an equivalent number of poems or translations).

Programme aims

This programme aims to:

• provide you with the opportunity to obtain a postgraduate qualification (MA) in one year, and to allow you, if required, a smooth transition to doctoral studies
• extend and deepen your understanding of your own writing practice through coursework and research
• enable you to develop an historical awareness of literary and creative writing traditions
• develop your independent critical thinking and judgement
• develop your independent creative thinking and practice
• develop your understanding and critical appreciation of the expressive resources of language
• enable you to make connections across your various modules and transfer knowledge between modules
• provide you with teaching, workshops and other learning opportunities that are informed by current research and practice and that require you to engage with aspects of work and practice at the frontiers of knowledge.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge and understanding

You will gain knowledge and understanding of:

• key texts from contemporary British, American, postcolonial and world literatures
• the main aspects of literary techniques and theory in either fiction or poetry, including point of view, form, style, voice, characterisation, structure and theme
• key literary traditions and movements, both contemporary and historical
• terminology used in literary criticism
• terminology used in creative practice
• the cultural and historical contexts in which literature is written, published and read
• critical theory and its applications to both reading and writing
• the study and creation of the ‘text’ and how this is influenced by cultural factors
• inter- and multidisciplinary approaches to the advanced practice of creative and critical writing
• research methods.

Intellectual skills

You develop intellectual skills in:

• the application of the skills needed for advanced academic study and enquiry
• the evaluation of your research findings
• the ability to synthesise information from a number of sources in order to gain a coherent understanding of theory and/or practice
• the ability to make discriminations and selections of relevant information from a wide source and large body of knowledge
• exercise of problem-solving skills
• communication of complex ideas in prose, poetry or both

Subject-specific skills

You gain subject-specific skills in:

• advanced creative writing skills in prose, poetry or both.
• the ability to produce work with ambition, depth, intellectual structure, sophistication, scope, independence and importance
• the ability to sustain a piece of creative work and make choices about form, content and style
• understanding of a ‘whole’ in creative practice (whether this is a novel, a collection of poems or short stories or some other advanced project)
• the ability to present creative writing professionally, both orally and in writing, demonstrating an awareness and understanding of current practice
• an advanced understanding of literary themes
• enhanced skills in the close critical analysis of literary and other texts
• informed critical understanding of the variety of critical and theoretical approaches to the study of texts and source materials
• an ability to articulate knowledge and understanding of texts, concepts and theories relating to advanced English or cultural studies
• well-developed linguistic skills, including a grasp of standard critical terminology
• appropriate scholarly practice in the presentation of formal written work
• an understanding of how cultural norms and assumptions influence questions of judgement

Transferable skills

You will gain the following transferable skills:

• advanced skills in communication, in speech and writing
• the ability to offer and receive constructive criticism
• the capacity to argue a point of view, orally and in written form, with clarity, organisation and cogency
• enhanced confidence in the efficient presentation of ideas
• the ability to assimilate, organise and work with substantial quantities of complex information
• competence in the planning and execution of coursework
• the capacity for independent thought, reasoned judgement, and self-criticism
• enhanced skills in collaborative intellectual and creative work
• the ability to understand, interrogate and apply a variety of theoretical and/or creative positions and weigh the importance of alternative approaches
• research skills, including scholarly information retrieval skills
• IT: word-processing, the ability to access electronic data and the ability to work efficiently and effectively in an online learning environment

Careers

Many career paths can benefit from the writing and analytical skills that you develop as a postgraduate student in the School of English. Our students have gone on to work in academia, journalism, broadcasting and media, publishing, writing and teaching; as well as more general areas such as banking, marketing analysis and project management.

Study support

Specialist resources

The Templeman Library has excellent research resources, as do the Canterbury Cathedral Archives and Library. There are a number of special collections: the John Crow Collection of Elizabethan and other early printed texts; the Reading/Raynor Collection of theatre history (over 7,000 texts or manuscripts); ECCO (Eighteenth-Century Collections Online); the Melville manuscripts relating to popular culture in the 19th and early 20th centuries; the Pettingell Collection (over 7,500 items) of 19th-century drama; the Eliot Collection; children’s literature; and popular literature. A gift from Mrs Valerie Eliot has increased the Library’s already extensive holdings in modern poetry. The British Library in London is also within easy reach.

Conferences and seminars

Our research centres organise many international conferences, symposia and workshops.

School of English postgraduate students are encouraged to organise and participate in a conference which takes place in the summer term. This provides students with the invaluable experience of presenting their work to their peers.

The School runs several series of seminars, lectures and readings throughout the academic year. Our weekly research seminars are organised collaboratively by staff and graduates in the School. Speakers range from our own postgraduate students, to members of staff, to distinguished lecturers who are at the forefront of contemporary research nationally and internationally.

The Centre for Creative Writing hosts a very popular and successful weekly reading series. Recent guests have included: poets Cole Swensen, Lee Ann Brown, Peter Gizzi, Sarah Crewe and Stephen Collis, fiction writers Avni Doshi, May-Lan Tan, Taymour Soomro, Niven Govinden and Megan Hunter, memoirist Crystal Rasmussen, and journalists Bidisha and Alex Peake-Tomkinson. Find out more on our YouTube channel.

Dynamic publishing culture

Staff publish regularly and widely in journals, newspapers and magazines including Granta, The Guardian, The Literary Review, Lit Hub, New Statesman, Poetry Review, PN Review, and Poetry London. They also edit poetry periodicals including Free Verse, Litmus, and Datableed.

Global Skills Award

All students registered for a taught Master's programme are eligible to apply for a place on our Global Skills Award Programme. The programme is designed to broaden your understanding of global issues and current affairs as well as to develop personal skills which will enhance your employability.