English with Creative Writing

Why study BA English with Creative Writing at Goldsmiths
The degree is ideal if you are curious about literature, with the imagination to turn that curiosity into creativity.

• This flexible BA English with Creative Writing degree allows you to choose from a range of topics – comparisons of literature across different cultures and art forms (also known as comparative literature), American literature and culture, and diverse aspects of language use in linguistics modules.

• Goldsmiths has one of the most established and long-running creative writing centres in UK Higher Education, and many of our graduates are now leading writers and editors in their field.

• Our teaching staff of celebrated writers and scholars are ready to support you and your work as a Goldsmiths student.

• We’re regularly visited by literary guest speakers, and our students have recently enjoyed events with Ali Smith, George Saunders, Bernadine Evaristo, Nikesh Shukla, Michael Rosen, Eimear McBride and Howard Jacobson.

• Our forward-thinking approach to the fields of creative writing and literary studies is supported by our hosting and running of the Goldsmiths Prize, awarded annually to work that pushes the boundaries of the novel.

• Your literary and creative studies will be supported by lectures and seminars that will give you practical advice to help you improve your essay writing and refine your research strategies.

• Our location on the doorstep of central London means that you will have easy access to one of the most diverse, historic, and dynamic literary centres in the world.

Year 1
In your first year, you'll take the following compulsory modules:
Explorations in Literature
Genre
Foundation Workshop in Creative Writing
Ideas in Practice
Creative-Critical Project

Year 2
In your second year, you will study the following compulsory module:
Creative Writing Workshop

You will also choose one module from each of the following pairs:
Reading the Past
or
The Long Nineteenth Century

Communicating the Climate Crisis (Goldsmiths Connected Curriculum)
OR
The Goldsmiths Elective

The Goldsmiths Project
OR
Work Placement (English)

Optional modules
You will also choose 2 optional modules worth 30 credits from a list provided by the Department of English and Creative Writing. Modules vary from year to year, but may include the following:
Homer and Contemporary Literature
Poetry since 1945
American Gothic
Language and Society
Aesthetics
Black British Literature
Music in Literature

Year 3
In your final year, you'll take 2 compulsory modules:
Creative Writing: Project Development
Challenging World Literature: Diversity and Difference
OR
Modern and Contemporary Literatures

Optional modules
You'll choose 2 to 4 modules (60 credits) from a list provided by the Department of English and Creative Writing.

Modules may vary from year to year, and examples have included the below:
Caribbean Women Writers
Decadence
Writing Lives
Shakespeare’s Sisters: Contemporary Women’s Writing 1960s to the present
Contemporary Indigenous Literatures and Cultures
American Crime Fiction
Literary London
Language and Gender

Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of these modules may be available every year.

You’ll be assessed by a variety of methods, depending on your module choices. These include portfolios of original creative writing and critical commentaries on your work for each of the workshops, coursework portfolios, long essays and examinations (various timescales and formats).