Why choose this course?

The first Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing in the UK, this course offers talented and aspiring writers the chance to refine their skills under the tutelage of acclaimed professionals while receiving accredited training and experience in teaching in higher education. You'll develop a unique combination of creative and practical skills on this course, which will prepare you simultaneously for a career as a published writer and an accredited teacher of creative writing.

What you will study

You'll attend writing workshops; examine literary genre and texts; take a module designed to prepare you for the world of publishing; and write a 15,000-word dissertation on a topic of your choice in the first year of the course. In the second year you progress to smaller group writing workshops; and take a suite of modules culminating in the University's postgraduate teaching certificate. The extensive one-to-one supervision for the dissertation leading to the MFA (no less than 40,000 words) will be provided by one of the course's permanent staff, one of our distinguished professors.

Teaching and assessment

Book-length creative dissertation; critical reading log of approximately 4,500 words. Assessment typically comprises exams (eg test or exam), practical (eg presentations, performance) and coursework (eg essays, reports, self-assessment, portfolios, dissertation).

After you graduate

Graduates from this Creative Writing course will be qualified to teach upon completion, and will gain classroom experience through teaching the first year undergraduate programme. You'll also write a book-length dissertation which may lead on to publication. You'll also develop a range of skills desirable to employers, such as communication skills, self-management, meticulousness in editing and presentation, the ability to reflect on one's 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 translator and a writer, particular careers may include work in publishing, journalism, advertising and marketing, film, television, radio, arts management, new media, business, teaching and therapeutic fields.