Creative Writing and English

Creative writing and English literature are disciplines that illuminate each other. Literary study teaches you to read closely, to understand how writers achieve their effects, and to see the craft that underlies the seemingly spontaneous. Creative writing puts you in the writer's position, asking you to make the decisions that produce the text and to discover, through practice, how much conscious artistry is involved in what great writing makes look effortless.

Studied together, each deepens your engagement with the other.

R. Tolkien and Winifred Holtby. This heritage creates a rich context for literary study and for thinking about how place shapes creative work.

You will study a wide range of literary texts across periods and forms, developing your skills in critical analysis and interpretation, while also producing your own creative writing across prose fiction, poetry, and other forms. Writing workshops are central to the creative writing element: you will share your work with peers and tutors, receiving and giving feedback, and learning to revise and develop your writing in response to critical dialogue.

This is a three-year full-time programme with a typical entry tariff of 120 UCAS points.

Graduates from creative writing and English programmes go on to careers in publishing, journalism, communications, copywriting, education, arts administration, the charity sector, and broadcast media. Many pursue their own creative work alongside other professional activity, and the degree provides an excellent foundation for postgraduate study in creative writing, English literature, publishing, or teaching.