English and Creative Writing

Want to find your voice? Immerse yourself in the literature and culture that shaped who we are now, while honing your own craft as a writer. Learn how to write poetry, fiction, non-fiction, screenplays and more. Become an effective researcher and experience the professional writing process. Read, write, think and grow – set your imagination soaring. Studying English and Creative Writing broadens your horizons while giving you the skills needed to excel in the contemporary world.

• Personalise your degree by choosing from a wide variety of optional modules in literary studies and creative writing, or widen your horizons by taking specialist modules in other subjects in the school.

• Learn from internationally recognised research-active staff and published and award-winning writers and journalists.

• Benefit from assessment through coursework, with no written exams.

• Make the most of a rich cultural life with The Arts Institute programme and the University’s links with local cultural organisations, like The Box and Theatre Royal.

In your first year, you'll study historical, theoretical, aesthetic and creative approaches to literary analysis. You’ll read literature which investigates the making of the modern world; engage with exciting theories of reading such as eco-criticism, psychoanalysis and Marxism; and write creatively in a wide range of genres including prose, poetry, drama and professional writing. You will also learn key research and essay-writing skills.

In your second year, you’ll write creatively in many forms including theatre and script-writing, autobiography and biography, travel writing, and literary adaptation. You will hone your skills as a writer in weekly workshops with tutors and peers. You’ll also study the writers who've shaped our literary canon, taking core modules in Romantic and Victorian literature, and selecting from a range of specialist creative, literary and work-based learning options. You’ll also have the opportunity to take specialist modules in other subjects in the School.

Undertake an optional placement year where you can build a number of key employability skills. Put theory onto practice, get a taste for your chosen career and expand upon your professional network.

In your final year, you’ll hone your reading and writing. You’ll study modern experimental writing and choose from literary and creative modules focusing on specific forms, from science fiction to modern poetry and screenwriting. Or, you’ll have a further opportunity to choose a module from another subject in the school if you wish to branch out. You’ll also design and develop your own year-long dissertation project, which you'll work on with focused support from your personal supervisor.

The modules shown for this course or programme are those being studied by current students, or expected new modules. Modules are subject to change depending on year of entry.