English Literature & Creative Writing
English Literature and Creative Writing is a natural pairing, combining the critical study of what literature has achieved with the practical discipline of making new writing. Reading as a writer changes how you read, and writing as a reader changes how you write: the two activities inform each other at every level. The study of how other writers have solved the problems of form, voice, structure and meaning gives your own creative work a richer resource to draw on, while the experience of making writing yourself deepens your understanding of what literary texts involve and how they work.
At the University of Kent, this part-time programme places you in a city with extraordinary literary heritage, from Chaucer, who wrote of the Canterbury pilgrims, to Dickens, who set much of his fiction in the county, to Marlowe, who was born there. That heritage is not merely decorative; it is part of the context in which you study and make literature, and the university's engagement with it gives the programme a particular sense of literary place and continuity. You will study a broad range of genres, styles and periods, following your own interests across poetry, fiction, drama, and non-fiction, while also developing your creative practice across several forms.
The part-time mode allows you to develop your skills progressively alongside other commitments, making the degree accessible to students who need a more flexible study pattern.
Graduates of English Literature and Creative Writing programmes move into a wide range of careers. Many work in publishing, journalism, education, content creation, copywriting, arts administration, and the wider creative industries. Others develop careers as writers, often alongside other professional roles.
The analytical and communication skills the degree develops transfer across many professional contexts, and postgraduate study in creative writing, English, or journalism is a common next step for those who wish to deepen their craft or pursue academic work.