Drama and Creative Writing with a Year Abroad

Drama and creative writing are disciplines that share a fundamental concern with storytelling and the making of meaning through language and performance, and studying them together produces a particularly rich and productive dialogue. Drama encompasses the analysis and creation of performance, from theatrical traditions across cultures and periods to contemporary devising, playwriting and performance studies. Creative writing develops the ability to produce original work in fiction, poetry, drama and other forms, combining craft instruction with the development of an individual voice.

Together they train you to be both a practitioner and an informed critic of creative work.

The University of East Anglia has a distinguished creative writing programme with a long track record of producing writers who go on to publish and perform professionally, and the drama component complements this with a rigorous engagement with performance and theatre-making. This four-year full-time programme includes a year abroad, built into its structure as a distinctive feature that gives you the opportunity to study in another country, encounter different theatrical traditions and broaden your creative horizons. The typical entry tariff for this programme is around 136 UCAS points.

You will study dramatic literature and performance theory alongside creative writing workshops, where you produce original work and receive feedback in seminar settings. The programme develops your ability to write for the page and for the stage, to analyse texts as a critic and interpret them as a practitioner. Playwriting, fiction and poetry are typically covered, and you will have opportunities to direct, devise and perform as well as write.

Graduates of drama and creative writing programmes pursue careers across the arts, media and creative industries. Writing for stage, screen, radio and digital platforms is a direct application of the skills developed on the programme. Graduates also work in theatre directing, producing, arts administration, literary management, publishing, journalism, education and community arts.

The year abroad adds an international dimension to a graduate's profile that can be particularly valuable in arts organisations with cross-border ambitions. Postgraduate study in creative writing, drama or performance studies is well supported by the UEA environment.