MA Creative Writing

Develop your flair for writing, with expert guidance and support from published authors, with our MA Creative Writing programme.

Creative writing can simultaneously be a vocation, a career and a transferable skill. This programme focuses on the multiple roles that writing can play in your life. We’re in the top 150 universities in the world for this subject (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024).

The 澳门六合彩开奖记录 is 6th in the UK for research outputs in English Language and Literature (Times Higher Education analysis of the latest Research Excellence Framework 2021 – English Language and Literature, when scoring by GPA Output).

Our experts will mentor you in how best to develop and complete mid-sized creative projects – whether you have existing written work or are starting out – while introducing you to a range of modules closely related to the life of writing.

You will work on a writing project of your own devising, which you’ll develop through a combination of individual supervision and group workshops. In your first semester, core modules will focus on the effective planning, research and development of your project, then on the early stages of drafting and revising the text as it develops.

In the second half of your course, you’ll work on your dissertation and receive supervision to complete your portfolio of writing. You’ll also write a reflective essay on the creative writing process.

Core modules will include:

Project Development
Materiality and Textuality
Creative Writing Dissertation.

Optional modules draw on the University’s expertise in areas such as archival research, the history of publishing, persuasive writing, and teacher training. These modules will prepare you for the literary marketplace, or for careers in which creative writing can play a significant part.

Placement opportunities

Optional modules will provide the opportunity to explore careers involving creative writing:

Publishing and the Business of Books encourages placements in publishing companies.
This Writing Life: Get Published, Keep Going prepares for working with agents and editors and helps to develop contacts with industry professionals.

Our creative writing modules are taught by practising, published authors working at the highest professional level. You’ll be taught by means of individual supervision, workshops and seminars.

Shelley Harris

Shelley Harris is the Director of the Creative Writing programme. Shelley is a bestselling novelist whose first book, , was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Book Prize. It was featured on Radio 4's Book at Bedtime and selected as a Richard and Judy Book Club Choice. She is also the author of .

Professor Peter Robinson

Creative writing at Reading was founded by Professor Peter Robinson. Peter was described in reviews as "the finest poet of his generation" and "a major English poet", and has been awarded the Cheltenham Prize and the John Florio Prize. Leader of the Creativity research theme, Peter has also published a and the novel .

Professor Conor Carville

Professor Conor Carville is a poet and critic. In 2007 he won the Patrick Kavanagh poetry prize. His first collection of poems, , came out from Dedalus in 2013. Professor Carville's second collection, , is published by Two Rivers Press. He is currently at work on a novel.

Creative Writing at the 澳门六合彩开奖记录

At Reading, we foster a friendly and cohesive community of writers in the Department of English Literature.

We are committed to teaching through the workshop model. These small group sessions are the heart of Reading’s writing community: guided by one of our lecturers, you and your fellow students will gain confidence as you share your writing and help each other improve.

Seminars will concentrate on specific, practical issues: character development, dialogue, imagery, form and theme interrelations, or at a more advanced level, how to conceive and revise work in relation to generic constraints and reader expectations.

Our award-winning team will provide you with first-hand insights into the creative process, analyse and comment on your work, and guide you towards your areas of particular strength.

All our teaching staff have links with professional writing communities. We regularly invite published authors to read from their work or deliver guest lectures. We’ll also help you to become a published writer. During the year we publish our own , containing work from within and beyond the University, chosen and edited by our students.

Overview

Develop your flair for writing, with expert guidance and support from published authors, with our MA Creative Writing programme.

Learning

Core modules will include:

Project Development
Materiality and Textuality
Creative Writing Dissertation.

Placement opportunities

Optional modules will provide the opportunity to explore careers involving creative writing:

Publishing and the Business of Books encourages placements in publishing companies.
This Writing Life: Get Published, Keep Going prepares for working with agents and editors and helps to develop contacts with industry professionals.

Our creative writing modules are taught by practising, published authors working at the highest professional level. You’ll be taught by means of individual supervision, workshops and seminars.

Shelley Harris

Professor Peter Robinson

Professor Conor Carville

Creative Writing at the 澳门六合彩开奖记录

At Reading, we foster a friendly and cohesive community of writers in the Department of English Literature.

Our award-winning team will provide you with first-hand insights into the creative process, analyse and comment on your work, and guide you towards your areas of particular strength.

Entry requirements

Entry requirements: Normally a good undergraduate honours degree (2:1 or above), or equivalent from a university outside the UK, in an appropriate subject.

For MA Creative Writing, you will need to submit two examples of your creative writing.

IELTS: 6.5 overall with no element less than 6.0 (or equivalent)

Pre-sessional English language Programme

Our Pre-sessional English Programme is for international students who need to meet their degree programme English language requirements.

Our courses equip you with the skills and language needed for academic success, including critical thinking, self-reflection, learner autonomy, research skills and integrating sources. The Pre-sessional English Programme is accredited by the global association of Lecturers in English for Academic Purposes, which guarantees you will receive a high-quality student experience.

To find out more, visit Pre-sessional English.

Structure

Modules

Compulsory modules

Creative Writing Dissertation

Develop a sustained piece of independent writing such as a short story, a play, a screen play or a collection of verse. You’ll work closely with a peer community of creative writers to self-organise and conduct workshops as you develop your advanced research and writing skills.

Project Development 1

Research and develop a creative writing project in your chosen genre. You'll engage in peer feedback sessions, keeping notes on weekly responses to work-in-progress by fellow students and your response to their critical assistance, and consider further development of your project through influences, research, and reading. You'll produce an outline plan including a working journal, and a bibliography and give a brief aural project presentation as a part of assessment.

Project Development 2

Refine your creative writing project in your chosen genre by addressing the challenges that arise when drafting sections of the work. You'll create a 5000-word submission including a sample draft, a working journal, and supplementary bibliography, and give a brief reading from your work-in-progress as a part of assessment.

Materiality and Textuality

Discover the practicalities of advanced literary research, including using and constructing bibliographies, locating and using manuscripts, editorial practices, and the nature of copyright. You’ll explore wider scholarly and intellectual debates related to editing, copyright, and the archive, and embark upon independent literary research. Additionally, you’ll familiarise yourself with the modes of literary production and consumption, and learn how to trace and analyse them in relation to specific resources.

Optional modules

Publishing and the Business of Books

Explore the place of the writer within the business of modern international publishing. Through a mixture of critical reading, seminars, and practice-based workshops in Reading’s Special Collections and publishers’ archives, you'll explore a series of modern writers’ interactions with publishers, editors, agents, and translators, considering the journeys and revisions that texts undergo to reach diverse, global readerships. You'll critically evaluate how publishing rights are sold from one country to another, how translations are commissioned and funded, and gain a robust, historical understanding of creative writing and modern international book publishing, as well as interact with publishing professionals.

This Writing Life: Get Published, Keep Going

Produce a range of writing which presents your work to agents and editors, such as pitch letters and synopses, and explore options for supporting yourself financially as a working writer. You’ll set writing in critical and industrial context, develop contacts with industry professionals, and create a summative portfolio to showcase a range of your original writing.

These are the modules we currently offer for 2024/25 entry. They may be subject to change as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they're informed by the latest teaching and research methods.

Please note that the University cannot guarantee that all optional modules will be available to all students who may wish to take them.

You can also register your details with us to receive information about your course of interest and study and life at the 澳门六合彩开奖记录.

Fees

New UK/Republic of Ireland students: £11,750

New international students: £25,850

Tuition fee information

The fees listed are for full-time study, unless otherwise stated. Fee information will be confirmed in offer letters sent out to successful applicants. You can find further information, including information for part-time study, through our dedicated fees and funding page.

EU student fees

With effect from 1 August 2021, new EU students will pay international tuition fees. For exceptions, please read .

Additional costs

Some courses will require additional payments for field trips and extra resources. You will also need to budget for your accommodation and living costs. See our information on living costs for more details.

Financial support for your studies

You may be eligible for a scholarship or bursary to help pay for your study. Students from the UK may also be eligible for a student loan to help cover these costs. See our fees and funding information for more information on what's available.

Careers

Careers with MA Creative Writing

As a creative writing graduate and beginning author, you will enter the job market with advanced research and writing abilities, together with a high degree of cultural literacy and critical sophistication. In today’s economy, this knowledge and these communication skills can be vital.

Read about Katrina Ricarte's experience pursuing an MA and her plans for a future in creative writing.

Our degrees have been designed to develop the capabilities valued by both creative and commercial industries, providing you with a diverse range of career opportunities following graduation. Your transferable skills are highly sought by employers and well-suited to a number of sectors, including:

journalism
publishing
marketing and PR
teaching
civil service.

澳门六合彩开奖记录