Course Overview

You’ve been writing poetry for so long that it’s become a vital part of your life. You may have tried one-off workshops or short courses but find they're no longer enough. Now it’s time to take it further!

Our part-time Creative Writing Poetry MA is your chance to immerse yourself in reading and writing poetry in UEA’s world-leading Creative Writing department. Over the two years of part-time study, you’ll discover more about your imaginative, artistic and intellectual potential as a poet. Your tutors will be committed to helping you to become the best and most exciting writer you can be. Over two years, you’ll discover more about your imaginative, artistic and intellectual potential as a poet. In your Poetry Workshops, you’ll work intensively on your writing practice with expert guidance and support from tutors and peers. You’ll develop your poetic ambition by learning more about poetry across time and place, about form and technique, practice and theory. You’ll read the kinds of poetry you’ve never come across before and discover a world of poetry beyond the forms and approaches you already know. We aim to support you in writing poetry of a publishable standard and to create an encouraging, exciting and rigorous environment. Through your two Poetry Workshops, you’ll be encouraged to test, extend and refine your poetic technique – an experience that is often exciting and sometimes uncomfortable but always rewarding.

Within UEA’s internationally-famous writing community and as part of the School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing (follow us on Instagram!), you’ll have the opportunity to meet some of the UK’s leading poets and poetry editors and benefit from their insight and expertise. Our annual anthology is professionally published and distributed to a key list of poetry houses and other contacts.

Norwich is a beautiful historic city and England’s first UNESCO City of Literature. UEA is also part of a thriving network of regional poetry activities, which offers plenty of opportunities to gain performance experience and to get involved in publication. UEA also hosts an annual Poetry Festival, showcasing the MA poets’ work. You’ll have the chance to attend a masterclass and discuss your writing one-to-one with the Poetry Festival Fellow. UEA is also part of a thriving network of regional poetry activity, which offers plenty of opportunities to gain performance experience and to get involved in publication.

During two years of intensive reading, writing, exploration and risk-taking, you’ll develop a body of work close in length to a first collection. As a graduate of our MA in Poetry, you might join the ranks of our alumni who have published their work to high acclaim, such as Mona Arshi, Sam Buchan-Watts and Sohini Basak. After completing the course, a variety of careers in the literary arts and creative industries will be open to you.