English Literature and Creative Writing

English literature and creative writing is a pairing that places you simultaneously inside and outside the literary texts you study. Literature develops your understanding of how writing works across different periods, genres, and traditions, teaching you to read closely, to think historically and critically, and to engage seriously with the questions great writing raises. Creative writing develops your capacity to make writing yourself, with the discipline and craft that serious practice requires.

The two complement each other in ways that neither achieves alone: studying literature makes you a more thoughtful writer, and writing yourself makes you a more sensitive reader.

At the University of Warwick this three-year full-time programme transforms your understanding of literature while fully preparing you for professions that value intellectual rigour, creativity, and the ability to communicate with purpose and precision. You will engage with texts from across the history of English-language writing alongside contemporary and international literatures, developing a wide critical repertoire. Your creative work will be developed through workshops and tutorials, with sustained attention to craft and the quality of your own voice.

The degree includes a year abroad, broadening your intellectual horizons and your sense of what literature and writing can be in different cultural contexts. The typical entry tariff of 168 points reflects the competitive nature of entry to a programme at Warwick.

You will graduate with the ability to read and write with precision and depth, to construct and sustain complex arguments, and to bring genuine creativity to whatever professional context you enter.

Graduates pursue careers in publishing, journalism, broadcasting, teaching, arts administration, marketing and communications, policy, and the wider creative industries. Postgraduate study in creative writing, English literature, or publishing is a common and natural next step.