English Literature with a Year Abroad

English literature is the sustained study of how writers have used language to make sense of human experience, from the oldest texts in the canon to works published last year. It asks not just what stories mean but how they create meaning, how form and style shape interpretation, and how literature reflects and challenges the societies from which it emerges. Reading carefully, thinking critically, arguing persuasively and writing with precision are the core skills the discipline develops, and they are as useful in the contemporary world as they have ever been.

At the University of East Anglia, a university with one of the most celebrated creative and literary cultures in the UK and home to a famous City of Stories in Norwich, you will study English literature across four years full-time, including a year abroad that places you in a different literary and cultural environment for a sustained period. You will explore how storytelling has shaped the world from ancient times to today, developing the confidence to express complex ideas with creativity and originality. UEA's approach to English literature takes seriously both the intellectual rigour of criticism and the creative dimensions of how literature is made.

English literature graduates are among the most versatile available to employers, because the skills the discipline builds, clear and persuasive writing, complex textual analysis, the ability to construct and communicate arguments, and cultural literacy, are valued across an unusually wide range of careers. Publishing, journalism, education, law, the civil service, public relations, communications, research and the creative industries are all natural destinations. Many graduates also pursue postgraduate study in English literature, creative writing, publishing, journalism or related fields, building on the critical and creative foundations the undergraduate degree provides.