均分要求75%
Group 2 二类大学
grade requirement
均分要求80%
软科中国大学排名2022(总榜)或软科中国大学排名2023(总榜)排名前100的大学
非‘985工程’的其他 院校
以及以下两所大学:
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences 中国科学院大学
University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences 中国社会科学院大学
Group 3 三类大学
grade requirement
均分要求85%
软科中国大学排名2022(总榜)或 软科中国大学排名2023(总榜)101-200位的大学
School of Computer Science – all MSc programmes 计算机学院硕士课程入学要求
Group 1 一类大学 Grade requirement | 院校 |
Group 2 二类大学 grade requirement | 院校 |
Group 3 三类大学 grade requirement |
College of Social Sciences – courses listed below 社会科学 学院部分硕士课程入学要求 MA Education (including all pathways) MSc TESOL Education MSc Public Management MA Global Public Policy MA Social Policy MA Sociology Department of Political Science and International Studies 全部硕士课程 International Development Department 全部硕士课程
Group 1 一类大学 Grade requirement | 院校 |
Group 2 二类大学 grade requirement | 院校 |
Group 3 三类大学 grade requirement |
All other programmes (including MBA) 所有其他 硕士课程(包括 MBA)入学要求
Group 1 一类大学 | 院校 |
Group 2 二类大学 grade requirement | 院校 |
Group 3 三类大学 | |
Group 4 四类大学 来自四类大学的申请人均分要求最低85%,并同时具有出色学术背景,优异的专业成绩,以及(或)相关的工作经验,将酌情考虑。 |
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Please note:
Holders of the Licenciado/Professional Title from a recognised Colombian university will be considered for our Postgraduate Diploma and Masters degrees. Applicants for PhD degrees will normally have a Maestria or equivalent.
Holders of a good bachelor degree with honours (4 to 6 years) from a recognised university with a upper second class grade or higher will be considered for entry to taught postgraduate programmes. Holders of a good Masters degree from a recognised university will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.
Holders of a good Bacclaureus (Bachelors) from a recognised Croatian Higher Education institution with a minimum overall grade of 4.0 out of 5.0, vrlo dobar ‘very good’, or a Masters degree, will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.
Holders of a Bachelors degree(from the University of the West Indies or the University of Technology) may be considered for entry to a postgraduate degree programme. A Class II Upper Division degree is usually equivalent to a UK 2.1. For further details on particular institutions please refer to the list below. Applicants for PhD level study will preferably hold a Masters degree or Mphil from the University of the West Indies.
Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a good Bachelors degree from a recognised institution with a minimum overall grade of 6.5 out of 10, or a GPA of 3 out of 4, and will usually be required to have completed a good Masters degree to be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.
Holders of a good Bakalár from a recognised Czech Higher Education institution with a minimum overall grade of 1.5, B, velmi dobre ‘very good’ (post-2004) or 2, velmi dobre ‘good’ (pre-2004), or a good post-2002 Magistr (Masters), will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.
Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a good Bachelors degree from a recognised institution with a minimum overall grade of 7-10 out of 12 (or 8 out of 13) or higher for 2:1 equivalence and will usually be required to have completed a good Masters/ Magisterkonfereus/Magister Artium degree to be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.
Holders of the Licenciado or an equivalent professional title from a recognised Ecuadorian university may be considered for entry to a postgraduate degree programme. Grades of 70% or higher can be considered as UK 2.1 equivalent. Applicants for PhD level study will preferably hold a Magister/Masterado or equivalent qualification, but holders of the Licenciado with excellent grades can be considered.
Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and a Masters degree, with a GPA of 3.0/4.0 or 75% from a recognised institution. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.
Holders of a good Bakalaurusekraad from a recognised university with a minimum overall grade of 4/5 or B, or a good one- or two-year Magistrikraad from a recognised university, will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.
Students who hold a Masters degree with very good grades (grade B, 3.5/4 GPA or 85%) will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees.
Holders of a good Kandidaatti / Kandidat (old system), a professional title such as Ekonomi, Diplomi-insinööri, Arkkitehti, Lisensiaatti (in Medicine, Dentistry and Vetinary Medicine), or a Maisteri / Magister (new system), Lisensiaatti / Licenciat, Oikeustieteen Kandidaatti / Juris Kandidat (new system) or Proviisori / Provisor from a recognised Finnish Higher Education institution, with a minimum overall grade of 2/3 or 4/5, will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.
Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a should hold a Bachelors degree and will usually be required to have completed a Masters/Maîtrise with a minimum overall grade of 13 out of 20, or a Magistère / Diplôme d'Etudes Approfondies / Diplôme d'Etudes Supérieures Specialisées / Mastère Specialis, from a recognised French university or Grande École to be considered for entry. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.
Holders of a Magister Artium, a Diplom or an Erstes Staatsexamen from a recognised university with a minimum overall grade of 2.5, or a good two-year Lizentiat / Aufbaustudium / Zweites Staatsexamen or a Masters degree from a recognised university, will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.
Students who hold a Bachelor degree from a recognised institution will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees. Most taught Masters programmes require a minimum of an upper second class degree (2.1) with a minimum GPA of at least 3.0/4.0 or 3.5/5.0 Students who have completed a Masters degree from a recognised institution will be considered for PhD study.
Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a good four-year Ptychio (Bachelor degree) with a minimum overall grade of 6.5 out of 10, from a recognised Greek university (AEI), and will usually be required to have completed a good Metaptychiako Diploma Eidikefsis (Masters degree) from a recognised institution to be considered for entry. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.
4-year Licenciado is deemed equivalent to a UK bachelors degree. A score of 75 or higher from Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC) can be considered comparable to a UK 2.1, 60 is comparable to a UK 2.2. Private universities have a higher pass mark, so 80 or higher should be considered comparable to a UK 2.1, 70 is comparable to a UK 2.2
The Hong Kong Bachelor degree is considered comparable to British Bachelor degree standard. Students with bachelor degrees awarded by universities in Hong Kong may be considered for entry to one of our postgraduate degree programmes.
Students with Masters degrees may be considered for PhD study.
Holders of a good Alapfokozat / Alapképzés or Egyetemi Oklevel from a recognised university with a minimum overall grade of 3.5, or a good Mesterfokozat (Masters degree) or Egyetemi Doktor (university doctorate), will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.
Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and will usually be required to have completed a Masters degree, with a 60% or higher for 2:1 equivalency from a recognised institution to be considered for entry. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.
Holders of the 4 year Sarjana (S1) from a recognised Indonesian institution will be considered for postgraduate study. Entry requirements vary with a minimum requirement of a GPA of 2.8.
Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and a Masters degree, with a score of 14/20 or 70% from a recognised institution to be considered. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.
Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and will usually be required to have completed a Masters degree from a recognised institution, with 100 out of 110 or higher for 2:1 equivalency from a recognised institution to be considered for entry. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.
Students who hold the Maitrise, Diplome d'Etude Approfondies, Diplome d'Etude Superieures or Diplome d'Etude Superieures Specialisees will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees (14-15/20 or Bien from a well ranked institution is considered comparable to a UK 2.1, while a score of 12-13/20 or Assez Bien is considered comparable to a UK 2.2).
Students with a Bachelor degree from a recognised university in Japan will be considered for entry to a postgraduate Masters degree provided they achieve a sufficiently high overall score in their first (Bachelor) degree. A GPA of 3.0/4.0 or a B average from a good Japanese university is usually considered equivalent to a UK 2:1.
Students with a Masters degree from a recognised university in Japan will be considered for PhD study. A high overall grade will be necessary to be considered.
Students who have completed their Specialist Diploma Мамаң дипломы/Диплом специалиста) or "Magistr" (Магистр дипломы/Диплом магистра) degree (completed after 1991) from a recognised higher education institution, with a minimum GPA of 2.67/4.00 for courses requiring a UK lower second and 3.00/4.00 for courses requiring a UK upper second class degree, will be considered for entry to postgraduate Masters degrees and, occasionally, directly for PhD degrees. Holders of a Bachelor "Bakalavr" degree (Бакалавр дипломы/Диплом бакалавра) from a recognised higher education institution, with a minimum GPA of 2.67/4.00 for courses requiring a UK lower second and 3.00/4.00 for courses requiring a UK upper second class degree, may also be considered for entry to taught postgraduate programmes.
Students who hold a Bachelor degree from a recognised institution will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees. Most taught Masters programmes require a minimum of an upper second class degree (2.1) with a minimum GPA of at least 3.0/4.0 or 3.5/50
Holders of a good Postgraduate Diploma (professional programme) from a recognised university or institution of Higher Education, with a minimum overall grade of 7.5 out of 10, or a post-2000 Magistrs, will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.
Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and a Masters degree, with a score of 16/20 or 80% from a recognised institution to be considered. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.
Holders of a Bachelors degree from a recognised university in Libya will be considered for postgraduate study. Holders of a Bachelors degree will normally be expected to have achieved score of 70% for 2:1 equivalency or 65% for 2:2 equivalency. Alternatively students will require a minimum of 3.0/4.0 or BB to be considered.
Holders of a good pre-2001 Magistras from a recognised university with a minimum overall grade of 8 out of 10, or a good post-2001 Magistras, will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes
Holders of a good Bachelors degree from a recognised Luxembourgish Higher Education institution with a minimum overall grade of 16 out of 20, or a Diplôme d'Études Supérieures Spécialisées (comparable to a UK PGDip) or Masters degree from a recognised Luxembourgish Higher Education institution will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.
Students who hold a Masters degree will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees (70-74% or A or Marginal Distinction from a well ranked institution is considered comparable to a UK 2.1, while a score of 60-69% or B or Bare Distinction/Credit is considered comparable to a UK 2.2).
Holders of a Bachelors degree from a recognised Malaysian institution (usually achieved with the equivalent of a second class upper or a grade point average minimum of 3.0) will be considered for postgraduate study at Diploma or Masters level.
Holders of a good Bachelors degree from the University of Malta with a minimum grade of 2:1 (Hons), and/or a Masters degree, will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.
Students who hold a Bachelor degree (Honours) from a recognised institution (including the University of Mauritius) will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees. Most taught Masters programmes require a minimum of an upper second class degree (2:1).
Students who hold the Licenciado/Professional Titulo from a recognised Mexican university with a promedio of at least 8 will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees.
Students who have completed a Maestria from a recognised institution will be considered for PhD study.
Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree, licence or Maîtrise and a Masters degree, with a score of 14/20 or 70% from a recognised institution to be considered. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.
Students with a good four year honours degree from a recognised university will be considered for postgraduate study at the University of Birmingham. PhD applications will be considered on an individual basis.
Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and will usually be required to have completed a Masters degree, with 60-74% or higher for 2:1 equivalency from a recognised institution to be considered for entry. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.
Holders of a good Doctoraal from a recognised Dutch university with a minimum overall grade of 7 out of 10, and/or a good Masters degree, will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.
Students who hold a Bachelor degree (minimum 4 years and/or level 400) from a recognised institution will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees. Most taught Masters programmes require a minimum of an upper second class degree (2.1) with a minimum GPA of at least 3.0/4.0 or 3.5/5.0
Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a good Bachelors degree from a recognised institution with a minimum GPA of B/Very Good or 1.6-2.5 for a 2.1 equivalency, and will usually be required to have completed a good Masters, Mastergrad, Magister. Artium, Sivilingeniør, Candidatus realium or Candidatus philologiae degree to be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.
Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and will usually be required to have completed a Masters degree, with a CGPA of 3.0/4 or higher for 2:1 equivalency from a recognised institution to be considered for entry. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.
Holders of a Bachelors degree from a recognised university in the Palestinian Territories will be considered for postgraduate study. Holders of Bachelors degree will normally be expected to have achieved a GPA of 3/4 or 80% for 2:1 equivalency or a GPA of 2.5/4 or 70% for 2:2 equivalency.
Holders of the Título de Licenciado /Título de (4-6 years) or an equivalent professional title from a recognised Paraguayan university may be considered for entry to a postgraduate degree programme. Grades of 4/5 or higher can be considered as UK 2.1 equivalent. The Título Intermedio is a 2-3 year degree and is equivalent to a HNC, it is not suitable for postgraduate entry but holders of this award could be considered for second year undergraduate entry or pre-Masters. Applicants for PhD level study will preferably hold a Título de Maestría / Magister or equivalent qualification, but holders of the Título/Grado de Licenciado/a with excellent grades can be considered.
Holders of the Bachiller, Licenciado, or Título Profesional with at least 13/20 may be considered as UK 2.1 equivalent. Applicants for PhD level study will preferably hold a Título de Maestría or equivalent qualification.
Holders of a good pre-2001 Magister from a recognised Polish university with a minimum overall grade of 4 out of 5, dobry ‘good’, and/or a good Swiadectwo Ukonczenia Studiów Podyplomowych (Certificate of Postgraduate Study) or post-2001 Magister from a recognised Polish university with a minimum overall grade of 4.5/4+ out of 5, dobry plus 'better than good', will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.
Holders of a good Licenciado from a recognised university, or a Diploma de Estudos Superiores Especializados (DESE) from a recognised Polytechnic Institution, with a minimum overall grade of 16 out of 20, and/or a good Mestrado / Mestre (Masters) from a recognised university, will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.
Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a good Bachelors degree from a recognised Romanian Higher Education institution with a minimum overall grade of 8 out of 10, and will usually be required to have completed a Masters degree/Diploma de Master/Diploma de Studii Academice Postuniversitare (Postgraduate Diploma - Academic Studies) or Diploma de Studii Postuniversitare de Specializare (Postgraduate Diploma - Specialised Studies) to be considered for entry. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.
Holders of a good Диплом Специалиста (Specialist Diploma) or Диплом Магистра (Magistr) degree from recognised universities in Russia (minimum GPA of 4.0) will be considered for entry to taught postgraduate programmes/PhD study.
Students who hold a 4-year Bachelor degree with at least 16/20 or 70% will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees.
Students who hold a Maitrise, Diplome d'Etude Approfondies,Diplome d'Etude Superieures or Diplome d'Etude Superieures Specialisees will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees. A score of 14-15/20 or Bien from a well ranked institution is considered comparable to a UK 2.1, while a score of 12-13/20 or Assez Bien is considered comparable to a UK 2.2
Students who hold a Bachelor (Honours) degree from a recognised institution with a minimum GPA of 3.0/4.0 or 3.5/5.0 (or a score of 60-69% or B+) from a well ranked institution will be considered for most our Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees with a 2:1 requirement.
Students holding a good Bachelors Honours degree will be considered for postgraduate study at Diploma or Masters level.
Holders of a good three-year Bakalár or pre-2002 Magister from a recognised Slovakian Higher Education institution with a minimum overall grade of 1.5, B, Vel’mi dobrý ‘very good’, and/or a good Inžinier or a post-2002 Magister from a recognised Slovakian Higher Education institution will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.
Holders of a good Diploma o pridobljeni univerzitetni izobrazbi (Bachelors degree), Diplomant (Professionally oriented first degree), Univerzitetni diplomant (Academically oriented first degree) or Visoko Obrazovanja (until 1999) from a recognised Slovenian Higher Education institution with a minimum overall grade of 8.0 out of 10, and/or a good Diploma specializacija (Postgraduate Diploma) or Magister (Masters) will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.
Students who hold a Bachelor Honours degree (also known as Baccalaureus Honores / Baccalaureus Cum Honoribus) from a recognised institution will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees. Most Masters programmes will require a second class upper (70%) or a distinction (75%).
Holders of a Masters degree will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.
Holders of a Bachelor degree from a recognised South Korean institution (usually with the equivalent of a second class upper or a grade point average 3.0/4.0 or 3.2/4.5) will be considered for Masters programmes.
Holders of a good Masters degree from a recognised institution will be considered for PhD study on an individual basis.
Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and will usually be required to have completed a Masters degree, with 7 out of 10 or higher for 2:1 equivalency from a recognised institution to be considered for entry. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.
Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and will usually be required to have completed a Masters degree, with 60-74% or a CGPA 3.30/4.0 or higher for 2:1 equivalency from a recognised institution to be considered for entry. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.
Holders of a good Kandidatexamen (Bachelors degree) or Yrkesexamen (Professional Bachelors degree) from a recognised Swedish Higher Education institution with the majority of subjects with a grade of VG (Val godkänd), and/or a good Magisterexamen (Masters degree), International Masters degree or Licentiatexamen (comparable to a UK Mphil), will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.
Holders of a good "PostGraduate Certificate" or "PostGraduate Diploma" or a Masters degree from a recognised Swiss higher education institution (with a minimum GPA of 5/6 or 8/10 or 2/5 (gut-bien-bene/good) for a 2.1 equivalence) may be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.
Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a Bachelors degree and a Masters degree, with a GPA of 3.0/4.0, 3.5/5 or 75% from a recognised institution to be considered. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.
Holders of a good Bachelor degree (from 75% to 85% depending upon the university in Taiwan) from a recognised institution will be considered for postgraduate Masters study. Holders of a good Masters degree from a recognised institution will be considered for PhD study.
Students who hold a Bachelor degree from a recognised institution will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees. Most taught Masters programmes require a minimum of an upper second class degree (2.1) Students who have completed a Masters degree from a recognised institution will be considered for PhD study.
Holders of a good Masters degree from a recognised institution will be considered for entry to our postgraduate research programmes.
Holders of a good Masters degree or Mphil from a recognised university will be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes.
Students with a Bachelors degree from the following universities may be considered for entry to postgraduate programmes:
Students from all other institutions with a Bachelors and a Masters degree or relevant work experience may be considered for postgraduate programmes.
Grading Schemes
1-5 where 1 is the highest 2.1 = 1.75 2.2 = 2.25
Out of 4.0 where 4 is the highest 2.1 = 3.0 2.2 = 2.5
Letter grades and percentages 2.1 = B / 3.00 / 83% 2.2 = C+ / 2.5 / 77%
Holders of a postdoctoral qualification from a recognised institution will be considered for PhD study. Students may be considered for PhD study if they have a Masters from one of the above listed universities.
Holders of a Lisans Diplomasi with a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.0/4.0 from a recognised university will be considered for postgraduate study at Diploma or Masters level.
Holders of a Yuksek Diplomasi from a recognised university will be considered for PhD study.
Students who hold a Bachelor degree from a recognised institution will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees. Most Masters programmes will require a second class upper (2.1) or GPA of 3.5/5.0
Applicants for postgraduate research programmes should hold a good Bachelors degree / Диплом бакалавра (Dyplom Bakalavra), Диплом спеціаліста (Specialist Diploma) or a Dyplom Magistra from a recognised Ukrainian higher education institution with a minimum GPA of 4.0/5.0, 3.5/4, 8/12 or 80% or higher for 2:1 equivalence and will usually be required to have completed a good Masters degree to be considered for entry to postgraduate research programmes. Applicants with lower grades than this may be considered on an individual basis.
The University will consider students who hold an Honours degree from a recognised institution in the USA with a GPA of:
Please note that some subjects which are studied at postgraduate level in the USA, eg. Medicine and Law, are traditionally studied at undergraduate level in the UK.
Holders of the Magistr Diplomi (Master's degree) or Diplomi (Specialist Diploma), awarded by prestigious universities, who have attained high grades in their studies will be considered for postgraduate study. Holders of the Fanlari Nomzodi (Candidate of Science), where appropriate, will be considered for PhD study.
Holders of the Licenciatura/Título or an equivalent professional title from a recognised Venezuelan university may be considered for entry to a postgraduate degree programme. Scales of 1-5, 1-10 and 1-20 are used, an overall score of 70% or equivalent can be considered equivalent to a UK 2.1. Applicants for PhD level study will preferably hold a Maestria or equivalent qualification
Holders of a Bachelors degree from a recognised Vietnamese institution (usually achieved with the equivalent of a second class upper or a grade point average minimum GPA of 7.0 and above) will be considered for postgraduate study at Diploma or Masters level. Holders of a Masters degree (thac si) will be considered for entry to PhD programmes.
Students who hold a Masters degree with a minimum GPA of 3.5/5.0 or a mark of 2.0/2.5 (A) will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees.
Students who hold a good Bachelor Honours degree will be considered for Postgraduate Diplomas and Masters degrees.
The Department is home to a number of award-winning writers and our research into the aesthetic, historical and theoretical contexts of literature is complemented by our strong traditions in creative practice as research.
Please contact a staff member working in your area of interest in the first instance: Find a supervisor in Creative Writing .
The University of Birmingham is the top choice for the UK's major employers searching for graduate recruits, according to The Graduate Market 2024 report .
Your degree will provide excellent preparation for your future career, but this can also be enhanced by a range of employability support services offered by the University and the College of Arts and Law.
The University's Careers Network provides expert guidance and activities especially for postgraduates, which will help you achieve your career goals. The College of Arts and Law also has a dedicated careers and employability team who offer tailored advice and a programme of College-specific careers events.
You will be encouraged to make the most of your postgraduate experience and will have the opportunity to:
What’s more, you will be able to access our full range of careers support for up to 2 years after graduation.
Over the past five years, more than 96% of Creative Writing postgraduates were in work and/or further study six months after graduation. Postgraduates in the Department of Film and Creative Writing develop a range of skills including: the ability to lead and participate in discussions; critical thinking, and an appreciation of different theoretical contexts; the ability to develop opinions and new ideas; and an aptitude for thinking and working creatively with others. While some graduates go on to careers in related industries - such as writing, media and television - others have used their transferable skills to pursue roles such as advertising, teaching, and in the heritage and cultural sectors.
Department of English and Related Literature
Join a thriving community of researchers to develop a substantial research project alongside an original piece of creative writing.
Length | Start dates ( ) | |
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PhD | 3 years full-time Distance learning available
| January |
Join a passionate and intellectual research community to explore literature across all periods and genres.
Our PhD in English with Creative Writing encourages distinctive approaches to practice-based literary research. This route allows you to develop a substantial research project, which incorporates an original work of creative writing (in prose, poetry, or other forms). As part of a thriving community of postgraduate researchers and writers, you'll be supported by world-leading experts with a wide range of global and historical specialisms, and given access to unique resources including our letterpress printing studio and Writer in Residence.
Under the guidance of your supervisor, you will complete a critical research component of 30-40,000 words and a creative component written to its natural length (eg a book-length work of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction). A typical semester will involve a great deal of independent research, punctuated by meetings with your supervisor who will be able to suggest direction and address concerns throughout the writing process. You will be encouraged to undertake periods of research at archives and potentially internationally, depending on your research.
Throughout your degree, you will have the opportunity to attend a wide range of research training sessions in order to learn archival and research skills, as well as a range of research and creative seminars organised by the research schools and our distinguished Writers at York series. This brings speakers from around the world for research talks, author conversations, and networking.
Applicants for the PhD in English with Creative Writing should submit a research proposal for their overall research project, along with samples of creative and critical writing, demonstrating a suitable ability in each, as part of the application. Proposals should include plans for a critical research component of 30-40,000 words and a creative component written to its natural length (eg a book-length work of poetry, fiction or creative nonfiction), while demonstrating a clear relationship between the two.
Students embarking on a PhD programme are initially enrolled provisionally for this qualification until they pass their progression review at the end of their first full year of study.
[email protected] +44 (0) 1904 323366
You also have the option of enrolling in a PhD in English with Creative Writing by distance learning, where you will have the flexibility to work from anywhere in the world. You will attend the Research Training Programme online in your first year and have supervision and progression meetings online.
You must attend a five-day induction programme in York at the beginning of your first year. You will also visit York in your second and third years (every other year for part-time students).
Apply for PhD in English with Creative Writing (distance learning)
We're a top ten research department according to the Times Higher Education’s ranking of the latest REF results (2021).
for English Language and Literature in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, 2023.
We're proud to hold an Athena Swan Bronze award in recognition of the work we do to support gender equality in English.
We host a series of hugely successful seminars, open to everyone, where a stellar cast of world-famous contemporary writers deliver readings and workshops.
Explore funding for postgraduate researchers in the Department of English and Related Literature.
Explore the expertise of our staff and identify a potential supervisor.
You'll receive training in research methods and skills appropriate to the stage you've reached and the nature of your work. In addition to regular supervisory meetings to discuss planning, researching and writing the thesis, we offer sessions on bibliographic and archival resources (digital, print and manuscript). You'll receive guidance in applying to and presenting at professional conferences, preparing and submitting material for publication and applying for jobs. We meet other training needs in handling research data, various modern languages, palaeography and bibliography. Classical and medieval Latin are also available.
We offer training in teaching skills if you wish to pursue teaching posts following your degree. This includes sessions on the delivery and content of seminars and workshops to undergraduates, a structured shadowing programme, teaching inductions and comprehensive guidance and resources for our graduate teaching assistants. Our teacher training is directed by a dedicated member of staff.
You'll also benefit from the rich array of research and training sessions at the Humanities Research Centre .
This course is run by the Department of English and Related Literature.
You'll be based on Campus West , though your research may take you further afield.
We also have a distance learning option available for this course.
For doctoral research, you should hold or be predicted to achieve a first-class or high upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours (or equivalent international qualification) and a Masters degree with distinction.
The undergraduate and Masters degrees should be in literature and/or creative writing, or in a related subject that is related to the proposed research project.
Other relevant experience and expertise may also be considered:
Supervisors interview you to ensure a good supervisory match and to help with funding applications.
The core deciding factor for admission is the quality of the research proposal, though your whole academic profile will be taken into account. We are committed to ensuring that no prospective or existing student is treated less favourably. See our admissions policy for more information.
Take a look at the supporting documents you may need for your application.
Before applying, we advise you to identify a potential supervisor in the department. Preliminary enquiries are welcomed and should be made as early as possible. Please email one member of staff at a time, after checking that their research expertise matches your project. Emailing several staff members at a time regardless of the relationship between their research interests and yours means that you are unlikely to find a good supervisory match.
If it's not clear which member of staff is appropriate, you should email the Graduate Chair .
Apply for the PhD in English with Creative Writing
Students embarking on a PhD programme are initially enrolled provisionally for that qualification. Confirmation of PhD registration is dependent upon the submission of a satisfactory proposal that meets the standards required for the degree, usually in the second year of study.
Find out more about how to apply .
You'll need to provide evidence of your proficiency in English if it's not your first language.
Check your English language requirements
In order to apply for a PhD, we ask that you submit a research proposal as part of your application.
When making your application, you're advised to make your research proposals as specific and clear as possible. Please indicate the member(s) of staff that you'd wish to work with
You’ll need to provide a summary of between 250 and 350 words in length of your research proposal and a longer version of around 800 words (limit of 1000). The proposal for the MA in English (by research) should be 400–500 words.
Your research proposal should:
What we look for:
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Home » Doing a PhD in Creative Writing: Is it for Everyone?
It’s weird, having a PhD in Creative Writing. It’s both real—I have Dr on every piece of identification possible—and make believe: how many people even know that creative writing is an academic discipline? and how can you be a “professor of making things up”?
PhD in Creative Writing programs are becoming more popular, but the question remains whether they are necessary for a writer. The easy answer: no. The harder answer: not really but maybe there’s some benefit.
Doing a PhD is a four- to seven-year commitment, depending on the country and whether you study full or part time. I did mine in the UK, because I researched 400 years of English gardening history and how gardens function in fantasy fiction, and this is where those gardens live. I was incredibly lucky in my supervisors, and after almost five years sat my viva. The dissertation consisted of a 100,000-word historical fantasy novel about a “haunted” garden and a 40,000-word critical commentary in which I analysed my process and project though the lens of various theories about space and time that I applied to gardens (both real and fictional). I started my research having a solid idea of what it was I wanted to do, with a novel partially planned out (though it changed—that’s not unexpected). I did the PhD not because I wanted to write the novel, but because I was interested about the context of the novel and its place in the genre with other novels that use gardens fantastically, and because I have always felt comfortable in academia.
When I interview PhD applicants, I always ask “Why do you want to do a PhD?” I get numerous responses, from “I want to be a university lecturer” to “I want to learn how to write a best-seller”. The only right answer, however, is “Because I want to” because those other goals cannot be guaranteed. First, getting a full-time permanent lecturing position is rare, as most academics will tell you. Yes, I have one, but I had a career before I ever did my PhD (which I started at 40!), and that career was a distinct benefit when I applied for my current position. And second, no one can ever guarantee that you will be a best-selling novelist. Doing a PhD like mine can help you better understand your own writing process and, in turn, make you a more conscientious writer, but it isn’t necessarily going to make you a better commercial writer.
If you have a love of spending hours and days and weeks alone, reading and thinking and analysing a topic, then doing a PhD in Creative Writing might be for you. It was for me when I realised I hadn’t left my room in two days while reading The Seven Beauties of Science Fiction and trying desperately to understand it; when I sat in the British Library holding back a coughing fit while ill but desperate to get through the pile of books I had ordered; when I had no choice but to work on my dissertation after a devastating breakup and subsequent house move in the dead of a very cold and snowy winter; and when, after graduating at 45 with a degree but no permanent home or work visa, I had to figure out what I was going to do when I grew up. The work led to physical and mental-health issues. It’s not for the light-hearted.
My best advice:
Choose a topic that you love. You will spend years and years on it, and it will get boring. And you will get sick to death explaining it to well-meaning people who ask you what you’re researching.
Choose a topic that can be studied academically. If you want to write a novel you’ve plotted out, then go write it. But if you have an idea for a novel (or short story collection) and are almost more interested in the different angles of the genre or the world or the context than the story itself, then you might have something worth PhD study. Do some digging and academic reading before you start filling out applications.
Choose your university wisely. Mine was open to SFF writers, but many aren’t. You don’t necessarily want to stay at the same university for your MA and PhD. On that note: an MA in writing isn’t necessary for a PhD application, but it really helps. So, too, does having finished writing a novel before and having experience in a workshop/critique setting.
Choose your supervisor even more wisely. First, their research interest should match yours and they should be active in your genre; and second, it’s a close relationship, but a working one. Interviewing the supervisor is as important as the possible supervisor interviewing you.
In the end, a PhD in Creative Writing is an academic pursuit, not the means to finish a novel. As it turns out, the novel I wrote, Threading the Labyrinth, worked as the result of academic study but wasn’t commercially publishable until I revised it and even restructured it, and now, more than three years later, it’s on its way to being published. I don’t know whether I could have written Threading without the research I did as a PhD student, but I do know that Threading is a better novel for it.
Tiffani Angus is a Senior Lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK, who lectures in Publishing and Creative Writing, is the Course Leader for the MA Creative Writing, and is a Director at the Anglia Centre for Science Fiction and Fantasy. She has published short fiction in a variety of genres (among them science fiction, historical fantasy, horror, and even erotica) and her debut novel Threading the Labyrinth will be out with Unsung Stories Press in late 2019. Her current work in progress is novel inspired by her research into the estrangement of women’s bodies in apocalyptic fiction. An American who grew up in Las Vegas, she now lives in Bury St Edmunds with her partner.
She can be found on Twitter @tiffaniangus
Her website is at www.tiffani-angus.com
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Thank you for this information. Very helpful.
I loved this ! I know what I’m doing with my life now . It’s such a beautiful combination of science and creativity . So well spoken .
Hi, Tiffani.
I really enjoyed your post and found it very informative. I’m coming to the end of my MA in Creative Writing at Hull, and I’m currently looking for Ph.D. opportunities with a focus on magical realism and the introduction of mesmerism into British society in the 1800s. I hadn’t realised Anglia Ruskin had an SFF department, but it sounds like a wonderful place to study.
Thanks for the insight.
So which uni did you do your PhD in? I’m also thinking of doing something related to SFF!
I did my PhD at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, England, where I now teach and am also the General Director of the Anglia Centre for Science Fiction & Fantasy (we are very genre-friendly at ARU!). We have staff in the English Department who supervise lit students studying SFF, and I and a colleague supervise creative writing students (though currently our rosters are rather full). There are other universities that are SFF-friendly; best bet is to start looking at universities and the staff members’ research expertise listings to find someone to approach. Good luck!
It was good to see your blog post. I keep being on the fence on getting a creative writing phd. I have an MA and MFA in creative writing (and had a good and a bad experience with that). Part of my wants to get the phd for my ego. But honestly, I itch to write. I have been writing since I was twelve and I can’t not write. I miss being with writers and the writing craft.
If you have any advice for this, that would be fantastic! Thanks, K
First of all, apologies for the delay in responding.
I am glad to hear that the blog post has been informative. I can understand wanting to get the PhD for your ego–it is definitely one of those things that changes how people see you in some ways. But it doesn’t necessarily help you feel completely different about yourself in a positive way. Like with the MA and MFA, the experience can be both good and bad.
If you itch to write, then just write. A PhD does require writing, yes, but in addition to the creative/fiction writing it also requires a LOT of academic and non-fiction writing, which requires a boatload of analysis and thinking, which end up distracting you away from the fiction writing! So it’s not all sitting and doing constant sprints or pomodoros but going into detail explaining what you were doing when you were writing, explaining where ideas came from, how they developed, etc. (read the 2nd article I posted on the site for more about that: https://booksbywomen.org/threading-the-labyrinth-of-historical-research-how-the-twists-and-turns-led-to-a-creative-writing-phd/ )
If you miss being with writers, then the PhD (at least in the UK) might not be the right fit for you because you spend most of your time doing solo research. I’d advise you to find a writers’ group to be part of. This can be difficult, but they ARE out there. (Do some googling for meetups, etc., in your area.) Try to find a group of serious writers, not hobbyists; by that I mean people who want to publish or have been published. A group where people stand a read their work aloud (where that is your first experience with their work and you don’t read it before the meetings) isn’t what you want. You want people who are serious about critiquing and helping each other. A group like that can be invaluable, and it is a completely different experience from a PhD where YOU are often a group of 1.
Good luck with your writing and with making a decision about doing the PhD. If you do decide you want to explore the PhD idea, you’ve got my advice for that in the article!
Best, Tiffani
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English at Leicester
Pursuing a PhD in Creative Writing at Leicester means becoming part of an exciting and dynamic research and creative environment.
The PhD programme helps give structure to your creative project, and invites you to ask searching questions about your practice, to reflect on the process of producing creative work, and so to write a long critical-reflective essay (usually 15-20,000 words) to accompany the creative work. The creative body of work normally makes up 70% of the PhD, and the reflective thesis 30%.
At its broadest, the emphasis is on trying to comprehend the practice of creation itself - surely one of the most fascinating subjects imaginable.
Creative Writing doctorates lead to a variety of potential career paths. These include novelist, poet, playwright or screenwriter, of course, but there are many related industries that Creative Writing research degree graduates nationally have gone on to work in, including (but not limited to):
It is a good idea to make informal enquiries to the lecturer you believe might be interested in supervising your PhD, prior to making a formal application.
You should have a strong creative and academic track record - entry requirements are an MA or similar in Creative Writing and some prior publication history.
Otherwise, you should have compelling evidence of advanced writing experience, and an awareness of the technical and reflective elements of creative writing practice in an academic environment.
Your application should consist of a persuasive outline for a creative project: a body of poetry, a novel, a work of creative non-fiction, a graphic novel or a substantial film script. This should be accompanied by a theoretical and canonical series of questions that you believe will prove relevant as the creative work progresses.
You should be conscious of the fact that the critical element of a creative PhD is not separate literary critical study - although it may involve such. It is involved in the deeper comprehension of the creative process itself through an articulation of creative practice. As such it may involve historical, ethnographic, practice-based philosophical, social scientific and other theoretical models.
Places on the PhD are awarded on the basis of the quality of the creative sample submitted and the originality of the proposal.
Listen to PhD student Gwynne Harries discuss his Creative PhD in Welsh Poetic Forms in English Verse.
Program overview.
The PhD in Creative Writing and Literature is a four-year course of study. Following two years of course work that includes workshop, forms classes, pedagogical training, and literature, students take exams in two areas, one that examines texts through the lens of craft and another that examines them through the lens of literary history and theory. Recent examples of the genre area include Comic Fiction, History of the Love Lyric, and Fantasy; recent examples of the scholarly area include History of the Novel, 20th Century American Poetry, and Modern & Contemporary British Fiction. In the first two years, students take three courses per semester; the teaching load throughout the program is one class per semester. Every PhD student has the opportunity to teach creative writing, with many also teaching literature classes. Most students are funded by teaching, with two or three at a time funded by editorial work at The Cincinnati Review or Acre Books, and others funded in their dissertation year by college- or university-level fellowships. Fifth-year support, while not guaranteed, has generally been available to interested students in the form of student lecturerships, which carry a 2-2 load. The Creative Writing PhD at the University of Cincinnati has maintained over the last decade more than a 75% placement rate into full-time academic jobs for its doctoral graduates. Two-thirds of these positions are tenure-track.
Application Information
Qualifications | |||
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( also available) | Full-time: 3–4 years Part-time: 6–8 years | October | January |
( also available) |
Full-time: 3–4 years Part-time: 6–8 years |
October |
January |
The Creative Writing discipline supports practice-based and critical research and PhD study focused on creative writing. This research activity is associated with the discipline's Contemporary Cultures of Writing Research Group. The core activity in this type of PhD study is the creation of a book-length work of literature (or script equivalent) and an accompanying critical reflective thesis, which elucidates the research and creative strategies involved in making the work. In this way the essence of the Creative Writing PhD is research through creative practice. The final creative work emerges from and embodies the research questions, and the decisions and discoveries made while producing the work. We welcome applications from candidates suitably qualified and with appropriate writing experience and ability.
We expect well-structured proposals which set out specific research questions and clearly outline creative and critical approaches. A substantial writing sample is also required.
Minimum 2:1 undergraduate degree (or equivalent) and a strong academic and creative record, usually evidenced by an MA in Creative Writing and relevant publications. If you are not a UK citizen, you may need to prove your knowledge of English .
UK fee | International fee |
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Full time: £4,786 per year | Full time: £12,146 per year |
Part time: £2,393 per year | Part time: £6,073 per year |
Some of our research students are funded via the Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership ; others are self-funded.
For detailed information about fees and funding, visit Fees and studentships .
To see current funded studentship vacancies across all research areas, see Current studentships .
Get in touch
If you have an enquiry specific to this research topic, please contact:
Dr Molly Ziegler / Dr Ed Hogan Email: FASS-EnglishCreativeWriting-Enquiries Phone: +44 (0)1908 652092
Please review the application process if you want to apply for this research topic.
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Creative writing research at phd level.
Creative writing research has been a growing strand within the wider research culture of the English and Creative Writing since 2008. The Contemporary Cultures of Writing Research Group engages in a number of activities including running seminar series in collaboration with The Institute of English Studies in London, on topics such as the rise of creative writing study, life writing and creativity’s relationship with translation.
The PhD focused on Creative Writing presents particular challenges and opportunities because its core requirement is the creation of a book-length work of literature, written specifically for the degree and perfected to a publishable standard. In tandem, it requires an accompanying critical/reflective thesis which elucidates the research and creative strategies involved in the making of the work.
The two parts of the thesis are not separately conceived and realised – they must cohere and illuminate each other. The essence of the Creative Writing PhD is research through creative practice. The final creative piece emerges from and embodies the research questions, decisions and discoveries made in the course of producing the work.
The MA in Creative Writing gives writers an opportunity to develop their skills by undertaking practical activities and exchanging work with peers. Students choose a ‘primary’ genre from fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and script. They also write in a second genre, gaining an immersive insight into different forms and methods. The study of contemporary published works is a central feature of the course, and students complete creative and critical tasks. The MA culminates in the submission of a substantial piece of creative writing.
We welcome new enquiries for the next academic year. For MA-related enquiries, please call 0300 303 2477 in the first instance. If you have a query related to undertaking PhD study in English or Creative Writing at the OU, please email our Postgraduate Convenor .
The deadline for completed applications for the year commencing in October 2024 will be in early January 2024 .
Discover the sorts of projects our researchers are involved in and get a sense of their PhD experience. Many of our researchers are working on novels and life writing but we welcome proposals involving other genres.
‘Research questions’ in relation to creative works are the underlying reference points, speculations and questions that writers have in mind when approaching new work. For example, when planning a historical fiction, a writer might be interested in the legitimacy of inventing or embellishing ‘facts’ about real people or about how research and imagination might fuse. Or a writer might want to portray the subjectivity of a marginalised individual, for example, a character with severe learning difficulties. Here, the research question might be about how to render or imaginatively inhabit an unarticulated consciousness. For a PhD application, such driving research questions must be made manifest at an early stage.
The PhD focused on Creative Writing includes several kinds of research:
Acts of writing, in their stages of spontaneous drafting, considered revision and redrafting, are recognised in the PhD as a form of exploratory research that emerges from and refers to the creative process. PhD researchers keep notebooks and a record of source materials. They supply accompanying commentaries with drafts of creative work. After supervisions, they write an account of the discussion including insights, agreements, and plans for future work. Through this process they devise and analyse their own system of ‘poetics’, which forms the groundwork for the eventual critical/reflective thesis part of the PhD.
Research into craft and technique is performed through readings of comparable literature in the same genre or from studying the work of creative writers who have written about creative strategies from a practitioner’s point of view. Experimentation and adaptation of studied methods and evaluation of the effects are recognised as forms of research.
Most creative writing projects also require formal research to facilitate and authenticate acts of invention. Such research may involve field visits to explore locations; exploration of historical archives; interviews with experts; readings of relevant fictional accounts; the study of customs, beliefs, or work practice.
Applicants should have a strong academic and creative record, usually with an MA in the subject and some relevant publications. They should be highly experienced writers of proven talent. This degree does not teach the basics of how to write a novel, for example. It is more of a place to test and enlarge existing capacities. It is suitable for writers who are prepared to have their ideas and pre-conceptions challenged and to move beyond their comfort zones. It requires stamina and commitment to work on a project for several years. It should only be considered by writers who are deeply interested in the critical/reflective aspect of the PhD as well as the creative work.
All PhDs are required to ‘contribute to new knowledge’ and the creative work in particular must contain elements of originality and create new insights and understanding in order to fulfil this criterion. 'Originality' in this context does not simply mean 'of the writer’s own making': the literary text must be a significant contribution to the art of fiction/life writing/poetry/scriptwriting for the degree to be awarded. The writing of the literary text is a project which demands the full exercise of the technical skills of the craft and a critical awareness of both the tradition and the current issues, practices and debates within the selected genre and form.
The PhD usually takes the form of the creation of a book-length work of 80,000 words in the student’s chosen literary form and a critical/reflective thesis of 20,000 words. 20,000 words is the required minimum for the critical/reflective thesis but it may, in certain cases, go up to 50,000 words. Variations on the 80/20 division may be negotiated but are more suitable for writers of poetry, scripts, or shorter fiction such as a novella or story collection. Because the creative element has to be a fully realised work of literature, novelists need to adhere to the basic 80/20 split. In fact, some novels may be permitted to exceed 80,000 words if the word limit would result in an aesthetically impaired work with obvious structural or plot gaps. Such cases have to be negotiated and approved.
For those who think their proposal might be more connected to Literature study, see the information about postgraduate research on the English site.
The application deadline for the PhD Programme is in January every year. However, if you want your proposal to be successful, you’re advised to start working on your application well in advance.
Details of the application procedure are available from the Research Degrees website, and we recommend that you contact our postgraduate convenor in advance if you are considering making an application via [email protected] .
Detailed advice on how to produce a research proposal is available online. Key issues to bear in mind from the start include the fact that a PhD should be 'an original contribution to knowledge' - so you need to check existing scholarship in your field. Second, it is important to have research questions guiding your enquiry. The English & Creative Writing PhD proposal form offers specific guidance on what should be included in your proposal. Please be sure to include this form with your application.
A crucial part of the application is a sample of your previous creative writing, at least 3000 words of prose for a fiction or life writing proposal, 10 poems for a poetry proposal, or 40 pages of script for a drama proposal.
Please note: applications are permitted in all the main genres of Creative Writing, but our capacity to supervise projects in fiction and creative nonfiction is currently low.
We are actively seeking proposals in script and drama.
Suitable applicants will be encouraged to apply for funding. Follow these links to find out about funding through the Faculty , financial support for research degrees and applications to The Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Students who are accepted on to the programme are provided with two supervisors who are published writers and recognised experts in the teaching of creative writing. They both read and give feedback on regular submissions of your work. The supervisors work together to help your development through written feedback, regular face to face meetings or video conferencing. The Research School provides a programme of training sessions in aspects of doctorate research and the English discipline runs occasional postgraduate research days that provide opportunities for networking and gaining practice in public speaking. Your progress is carefully monitored with detailed reports prepared by both the student and supervisors at six monthly intervals. There is a probation process near the end of the first year (second year for part-time students). Successful passing of this enables students to transfer from MPhil registration to PhD.
Explore our qualifications and courses by requesting one of our prospectuses today.
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Awards: PhD
Study modes: Full-time, Part-time
Funding opportunities
Programme website: Creative Writing
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Find out more and register
The PhD in Creative Writing offers committed and talented writers the opportunity to study Creative Writing at the highest level.
Supported by an expert supervisory team you will work independently towards the production of a substantial, publishable piece of creative writing, accompanied by a sustained exercise in critical study.
The academic staff you will be working with are all active researchers or authors, including well-published and prize-winning writers of poetry, prose, fiction and drama. They include:
Find out more about the programme and our team
We encourage you to share your research and learn from the work of others through a programme of seminars and visiting speakers.
We have an in-house Writer-in-Residence, annual writing prizes, and a range of opportunities to learn from experts in the publishing industry.
We also offer access to opportunities provided by the Sottish Graduate School for Arts & Humanities.
Our postgraduate journal, Forum, is a valuable conduit for research findings and provides an opportunity to gain editorial experience.
A UNESCO World City of Literature, Edinburgh is a remarkable place to study, write, publish, discuss and perform prose, poetry and drama.
Take a PhD with us and you will be based in the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures (LLC) in the historic centre of this world-leading festival city.
Our buildings are close to:
We have strong links with the Edinburgh International Book Festival, which annually welcomes around 1,000 authors to our literary city.
There are lots of opportunities to write and share your work, from Forum to The Selkie, which was founded by Creative Writing students in 2018 to showcase work by people who self-identify as underrepresented.
Around the city, you’ll find library readings and bookshop launches, spoken word gigs, cabaret nights and poetry slams, including events run by celebrated publishing outlets, from Canongate and Polygon / Birlinn to Luath Press, 404 Ink, Taproot Press and Mariscat.
You will have access to the University’s many literary treasures, which include:
The Centre for Research Collections also holds a truly exceptional collection of early Shakespeare quartos and other early modern printed plays. These have been put together by the 19th century Shakespearean James Halliwell-Phillipps, the correspondence of Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle (the focus of one of the major editorial projects in Victorian studies of the last half-century), and the extensive Laing collection of medieval and early modern manuscripts.
You will also have access to letters and papers by - and relating to - authors including:
Many of the University's Special Collections are digitised and available online from our excellent Resource Centre, Computing Labs, and dedicated PhD study space in the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures (LLC).
Look inside the PhD study space in LLC
These entry requirements are for the 2024/25 academic year and requirements for future academic years may differ. Entry requirements for the 2025/26 academic year will be published on 1 Oct 2024.
A UK masters degree, or its international equivalent, in creative writing, normally with distinction.
We may also consider your application if you have equivalent qualifications or experience. For additional information please refer to the pre-application guidance in the 'How to apply' section.
Check whether your international qualifications meet our general entry requirements:
Regardless of your nationality or country of residence, you must demonstrate a level of English language competency at a level that will enable you to succeed in your studies.
We accept the following English language qualifications at the grades specified:
Your English language qualification must be no more than three and a half years old from the start date of the programme you are applying to study, unless you are using IELTS , TOEFL, Trinity ISE or PTE , in which case it must be no more than two years old.
We also accept an undergraduate or postgraduate degree that has been taught and assessed in English in a majority English speaking country, as defined by UK Visas and Immigration:
We also accept a degree that has been taught and assessed in English from a university on our list of approved universities in non-majority English speaking countries (non-MESC).
If you are not a national of a majority English speaking country, then your degree must be no more than five years old* at the beginning of your programme of study. (*Revised 05 March 2024 to extend degree validity to five years.)
Find out more about our language requirements:
Read our general information on tuition fees and studying costs:
Featured funding.
There are a number of scholarship schemes available to eligible candidates on this PhD programme, including awards from the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Please be advised that many scholarships have more than one application stage, and early deadlines.
Search for scholarships and funding opportunities:
This programme is not currently accepting applications. Applications for the next intake usually open in October.
Start date: September
Awards: PhD (36 mth FT, 72 mth PT)
Due to high demand, the school operates a number of selection deadlines. We will make a small number of offers to the most outstanding candidates on an ongoing basis, but hold the majority of applications until the next published selection deadline when we will offer a proportion of the places available to applicants selected through a competitive process.
Deadlines for applicants applying to study in 2024/25:
Round | Application deadline | Places awarded by |
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1 | 24 November 2023 | 15 December 2023 |
2 | 30 April 2024 | 14 June 2024 |
Before you formally apply for this PhD, you should look at the pre-application information and guidance on the programme website.
This will help you decide if this programme is right for you, and help us gain a clearer picture of what you hope to achieve.
The guidance details the writing samples you should send us as part of your application (either fiction or poetry, along with a shorter sample of your academic writing).
It will also give you practical advice for writing your project summary – one of the most important parts of your application.
Find out more about the general application process for postgraduate programmes:
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Nottingham is a fantastic place to study creative writing. From readings to workshops, to guest lectures, we have a wide range of literary and cultural activities on offer. Since 2015, we've also been a UNESCO City of Literature , offering an annual programme of literary events.
You will join a friendly and supportive research community, which provides the opportunity to:
You are also welcome to attend presentations, guest speaker events and reading groups, hosted by our interdisciplinary Research Centres .
Creative Writing PhD student, James Aitcheson, discusses doing a PhD as a published author.
Watch the video >
A PhD in Creative Writing is mainly made up of independent study, with supervision meetings spread throughout the year.
There are no taught credits attached to a PhD, although it is compulsory for full-time students to attend the Arts Faculty Researcher Skills training programme.
Part-time students are expected to attend at least two face-to-face meetings in the School of English each year. Most supervision meetings can be held online (e.g. via Teams). Students are asked to attend the initial induction sessions during welcome week in-person if possible, and have their first supervision meeting face-to-face with their supervisory team.
Part-time students are required to take part in all required research training, which in many cases is available online, attend postgraduate seminars where possible, and one postgraduate researcher (PGR) symposium over the period of their registration. Wherever possible the final viva examination will be face-to-face.
You will complete a written thesis of up to 100,000 words, with expert support and advice from your academic supervisors. You will also take a verbal examination called a viva voce, where you explain your project in depth to an examination panel.
A creative writing thesis will mainly consist of your own original creative work. This could be a novel, a manuscript of poems, a collection of short stories, a book-length piece of creative non-fiction, or another form of creative output. Your thesis will also include a critical analysis of your creative work, which you will situate within a theorised or analytical context.
A PhD thesis should not normally exceed 100,000 words in length. It is expected that the creative element would usually comprise 50,000-70,000 words for a novel or short story collection; for poetry the creative element would usually comprise around 50-70 pages of poems. The critical analysis component will normally be 15,000-30,000 words in length.
All periods of registration are followed by a period of writing-up, called the thesis-pending period, when tuition fees are not paid and students are writing up their thesis.
Find out more in the university's Quality Manual
All PhD students take part in progression review assessments to ensure that their project is progressing satisfactorily. A progression review consists of written reports from both the student and the supervisory team.
All students have an independent assessment interview for their Stage 1 and Stage 2 reviews (end of years 1 and 2 for full-time students, years 2 and 4 for part-time students).
All candidates are considered on an individual basis and we accept a broad range of qualifications. The entrance requirements below apply to 2025 entry.
Qualification | PhD |
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Degree | 2:1 (or international equivalent) and a masters degree at Merit level or above. Applicants without a masters degree who can demonstrate equivalent expertise should . |
Qualification | PhD |
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Degree | 2:1 (or international equivalent) and a masters degree at Merit level or above. Applicants without a masters degree who can demonstrate equivalent expertise should . |
International and EU equivalents | We accept a wide range of qualifications from all over the world. For information on entry requirements from your country, see our . |
IELTS | 7.0 (no less than 6.0 in any element) |
English language requirements | As well as IELTS (listed above), we also accept other . This includes TOEFL iBT, Pearson PTE, GCSE, IB and O level English. |
If you need support to meet the required level, you may be able to attend a presessional English course. Presessional courses teach you academic skills in addition to English language. Our Centre for English Language Education is accredited by the British Council for the teaching of English in the UK.
If you successfully complete your presessional course to the required level, you can then progress to your degree course. This means that you won't need to retake IELTS or equivalent.
For on-campus presessional English courses, you must take IELTS for UKVI to meet visa regulations. For online presessional courses, see our CELE webpages for guidance.
International students must have valid UK immigration permissions for any courses or study period where teaching takes place in the UK. Student route visas can be issued for eligible students studying full-time courses. The University of Nottingham does not sponsor a student visa for students studying part-time courses. The Standard Visitor visa route is not appropriate in all cases. Please contact the university’s Visa and Immigration team if you need advice about your visa options.
We recognise that applicants have a variety of experiences and follow different pathways to postgraduate study.
We treat all applicants with alternative qualifications on an individual basis. We may also consider relevant work experience.
If you are unsure whether your qualifications or work experience are relevant, contact us .
You will be required to provide a PhD proposal with your application, which will set out the structure of your project.
The basis of a good proposal is usually a set of questions, approaches, and objectives which clearly outline your proposed project and what you want to accomplish. The proposal should also clearly demonstrate how you are going to accomplish this.
A PhD proposal should be a minimum of 1000 words. There is no upward limit for proposals, although successful proposals are often not much longer than about 2000-3000 words. You should consider:
It is also helpful to include:
Find out more about how to write a research proposal.
You may find it helpful to get in touch with a member of academic staff about your research proposal before submitting an application. They may be able to help you with your proposal and offer support to find funding opportunities in your area.
Our step-by-step guide contains everything you need to know about applying for postgraduate research.
Qualification | PhD |
---|---|
Home / UK | £5,350 |
International | £23,500 |
If you are a student from the EU, EEA or Switzerland, you may be asked to complete a fee status questionnaire and your answers will be assessed using guidance issued by the UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) .
These fees are for full-time study. If you are studying part-time, you will be charged a proportion of this fee each year (subject to inflation).
All students will need at least one device to approve security access requests via Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). We also recommend students have a suitable laptop to work both on and off-campus. For more information, please check the equipment advice .
You'll be able to access most of the books you’ll need through our libraries, though you may wish to buy your own copies of core texts. There is a Blackwell's bookshop on University Park campus.
There are funding opportunities which are only open to students within the Faculty of Arts.
There are many ways to fund your research degree, from scholarships to government loans.
Check our guide to find out more about funding your postgraduate degree.
You will have a team of at least two supervisors. Full-time students will meet with their supervisory team at least 12 times each year (six times for part-time students).
Your supervisors will help you to realise your research project and to guide you through your research. Many students will also attend conferences and publish papers in conjunction with their supervisors, to gain valuable experience and contacts in the academic community.
During your doctoral studies, you may have the opportunity to apply to work as a Postgraduate Teaching Assistant (PGTA) within the Faculty of Arts. We offer a limited number of part-time annualised hours contracts of employment. They provide invaluable teaching experience in delivering and supporting seminars, as well as marking, assessing and giving feedback on students' work. we provide dedicated training and professional development. Applications for PGTA positions are competitive and not guaranteed.
Research students in the School of English benefit from:
A fortnightly seminar series is run by and for the postgraduate students in the school during term time.
The seminars provide a forum for students to share work in progress with staff and peers, to hear from invited speakers, and to explore key academic and career topics in a supportive atmosphere.
The Researcher Academy is the network for researchers, and staff who support them. We work together to promote a healthy research culture, to cultivate researcher excellence, and develop creative partnerships that enable researchers to flourish.
Postgraduate researchers at Nottingham have access to our online Members’ area, which includes a wealth of resources, access to training courses and award-winning postgraduate placements.
Our graduate centres are dedicated community spaces on campus for postgraduates.
Each space has areas for:
You will have access to a range of support services , including:
Our Students' Union represents all students. You can join the Postgraduate Students’ Network or contact the dedicated Postgraduate Officer .
There are also a range of support networks, including groups for:
SU Advice provides free, independent and confidential advice on issues such as accommodation, financial and academic difficulties.
Digital transformations hub.
As a researcher you have full access to the Digital Transformations Hub and can use our equipment and software for free.
Our research students benefit from dedicated office space with networked PCs, social and communal space, and kitchen facilities.
University Park Campus covers 300 acres, with green spaces, wildlife, period buildings and modern facilities. It is one of the UK's most beautiful and sustainable campuses, winning a national Green Flag award every year since 2003.
Most schools and departments are based here. You will have access to libraries, shops, cafes, the Students’ Union, sports village and a health centre.
You can walk or cycle around campus. Free hopper buses connect you to our other campuses. Nottingham city centre is 15 minutes away by public bus or tram.
Whether you are considering a career in academia, industry or haven't yet decided, we’re here to support you every step of the way.
Expert staff will work with you to explore PhD career options and apply for vacancies, develop your interview skills and meet employers. You can book a one-to-one appointment, take an online course or attend a workshop.
International students who complete an eligible degree programme in the UK on a student visa can apply to stay and work in the UK after their course under the Graduate immigration route . Eligible courses at the University of Nottingham include bachelors, masters and research degrees, and PGCE courses.
This course will develop key transferable skills, including:
As a result, our graduates enter a wide range of careers. These include:
100% of postgraduates from the School of English secured graduate level employment or further study within 15 months of graduation. The average annual salary for these graduates was £37,402.*
*HESA Graduate Outcomes 2019/20 data published in 2022 . The Graduate Outcomes % is derived using The Guardian University Guide methodology. The average annual salary is based on data from graduates who completed a full-time postgraduate degree with home fee status and are working full-time within the UK.
There are a range of public engagement opportunities open to students in the School of English.
You may also apply to gain editing experience through The Letters Page online journal.
"I really enjoyed the creativity that went into the role, as well as how much I was able to learn from my team and their pieces. The atmosphere of our sessions was fantastic, I really feel incredibly lucky to have been able to do this."
- Lizzie Alblas , Creative Writing PhD student, completed a placement with The Letters Page
English phd, applied linguistics phd, applied linguistics with english language teaching phd, research excellence framework.
The University of Nottingham is ranked 7th in the UK for research power, according to analysis by Times Higher Education. The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is a national assessment of the quality of research in UK higher education institutions.
*According to analysis by Times Higher Education ** According to our own analysis.
This content was last updated on 30 July 2024 . Every effort has been made to ensure that this information is accurate, but changes are likely to occur between the date of publishing and course start date. It is therefore very important to check this website for any updates before you apply.
Course detail, entry requirements.
A PhD in Creative Writing gives you the opportunity to develop an original piece of writing (for example a novel, play, screenplay, radio drama) and an accompanying thesis, in which you connect this creative work to relevant theoretical, critical and historical thinking. Together, these assessed elements lead to the award of the prestigious PhD in Creative Writing.
Working collaboratively, we aim to help you craft your work to the highest possible standard as well as facilitate your engagement with the professional world. All writers are encouraged to develop their skills in the broadest way possible. This means participating in writing exercises across a spectrum including reviews and blogs.
Our academics are often consulted by publishers about book proposals and manuscripts. ee a list of potential PhD supervisors and read about their expertise, in the 'Supervisors' section lower down the page.
Find out more about the full range of PhD study opportunities in the School of Film, Media and Design.
Select your desired study option, then pick a start date to see relevant course information:
Start date:
If your desired start date is not available, try selecting a different study option.
UWL has truly state-of-the-art facilities. I feel like I'm learning something new every day.
We have seven Research Centres, staffed by experts with an enviable record of publications, conferences, media and public engagement work.
The University of West London has been recognised by the Government's Research Excellence Framework (REF) for its exceptional research work.
You will be supervised by active researchers/writers with considerable experience of publication, editing, and working with other writers. Our academics are widely published on topics as varied as Jane Austen, Rambo, and literary adaptations.
This course is available for you to study either on a full-time or part-time basis and you have the flexibility to switch should you need to.
A PhD is founded on independent research. You will undertake a systematic and in-depth exploration of your chosen topic to produce a substantial body of knowledge and make an original and important contribution to the subject area.
The support provided by your supervisory team will be vital to your student experience and scholarly advancement. You and your supervisors will have regular one-to-one meetings which will provide you with opportunities to develop your research topic and discuss your progress.
View our academic journal 'New Vistas' to see the work of students and academics who are making an impact both locally and globally through their research findings.
Based in the heart of Ealing, west London, you can make use of the excellent transport links to travel to the the capital or further afield - ideal for attending research meetings and networking events.
If you would like guidance or more information about studying for a research degree, you can contact Professor Jeremy Strong .
To enable you to enhance your professional profile, we support you throughout your research degree by:
We provide structured research training, expert supervision, and an environment where you can discuss your research with other PhD students and researchers.
We run seminars in research methods from the Graduate Centre, as well as an ongoing series of events and activities organised by Schools and Colleges. Specialist help with academic English for students for whom English is not their first language is available.
Our facilities include a fully equipped TV Studio containing a lighting grid with DMX lighting control, green and white screens, Ross Crossover Vision Mixer for live editing and audio and video recorder / playback devices.
Media Resource Centre
Our Media Resource Centre is available to all London School of Film Media and Design students for free. We hold a variety of cameras, lights, sound equipment and recording devices. Students can also loan equipment demonstrated in class.
The Paul Hamlyn Library
The Paul Hamlyn Library provides an extensive range of books, journals and digital resources, PC and Mac workstations and a variety of study spaces. Find out more about what the Paul Hamlyn Library has to offer .
We contribute to national and international initiatives and promote collaboration and networking opportunities. We also encourage and support you to publish and disseminate your research in academic journals and via presenting papers at conferences.
We run an annual conference for doctoral students, where you are encouraged to present a paper about your research. As well as being an opportunity to discuss your work with other students, the conference is a chance to gain valuable experience in presenting your research and participating in open discussions with academic peers.
You will also find other opportunities such as postgraduate student seminars and forums within your specific subject area.
Once you start a PhD course at UWL, you become part of our research community. You will have access to a postgraduate common room, located at our Ealing campus on St Mary’s Road, where you will meet fellow researchers from other subject disciplines offering scope for collaborations or simply to discuss ideas, allowing you to be part of a vibrant research environment.
The minimum entry requirements for a research degree are:
We look for students with:
You will also have a well thought through and persuasive proposal.
The fee above is the cost per year of your course.
If your course runs for two years or more, you will need to pay the fee for each academic year at the start of that year. If your course runs for less than two years, the cost above is for your full course and you will need to pay the full fee upfront.
Government regulation does affect tuition fees and the fees listed for courses starting in the 2025/26 academic year are subject to change.
If no fee is shown above then the fees for this course are not available yet. Please check again later for updates.
Funding for postgraduate students usually comes from one or more of a range of key sources:
Find out more about funding opportunities. Examples of most of these types of funding are included on the postgraduate studentships website , (with the exception of funding you may be able to obtain from your employer and self-funding).
We offer generous bursaries and scholarships to make sure your aspirations are your only limit. See our PhD scholarships , scholarships and bursaries .
For any overseas students, your first port of call should be grant-awarding bodies in your own country (eg The Ministry / Department of Education) and your local (or nearest) office of the British Council.
The British Council manage a small number of international studentship grants in some countries and should be able to tell you what other awards may be available to you - they also produce the Sources of funding for international students guide.
Professor jeremy strong.
Studying for a PhD enables you to develop an area of specialism that will give you an edge whether you are planning to work in industry or to develop expertise to teach in academia.
Graduates of the PhD: Creative Writing will be highly accomplished writers, fluent and capable in what is – perhaps – the ultimate transferable skill. It will help position you for a career in the many branches of the thriving media and cultural industries – nationally and internationally - as well as for academic careers in teaching and research
To apply for one of our research courses, click the green 'apply now' link shown below to complete an online application form. You will need to attach the following documentation to your online application form:
The research proposal outline, or statement of research interests, enables us to assess your suitability for higher degree work including:
Learn more about applying for a PhD.
Next steps after making your application.
We aim to make a decision on your application as quickly as we can. If we need any more information about your qualifications, we will be in touch.
In the meantime, come and visit us and find out more about what studying at UWL is like. Sign up for an open day or join a campus tour .
Talk to our tutors and find out about our courses and facilities at our next open day or join a campus tour.
Any questions about a course or studying at UWL? We're here to help - call us on 0800 036 8888 (option 2, Monday – Friday 10am-4pm) or email us on [email protected].
To apply for one of our research courses, click the green 'apply now' link shown below to complete an online application form. You will need to attach the following documentation to your online application form:
Phd english literature.
Student life at uwl.
* Modern universities - defined as higher education institutions that were granted university status in, and subsequent to, 1992.
** The National Student Survey 2023 and 2024 - Average of answers to all questions by registered student population. Excludes specialist institutions.
Testimonials - our students or former students provided all of our testimonials - often a student from the course but sometimes another student. For example, the testimonial often comes from another UWL student when the course is new.
Optional modules - where optional modules are offered they will run subject to staff availability and viable student numbers opting to take the module.
Videos - all videos on our course pages were accurate at the time of filming. In some cases a new Course Leader has joined the University since the video was filmed.
Availability of placements - if you choose a course with placement/internship route we would like to advise you that if a placement/internship opportunity does not arise when you are expected to undertake the placement then the University will automatically transfer you to the non-internship route, this is to ensure you are still successful in being awarded a degree.
UNB Fredericton
Faculty of Arts UNB Fredericton
Back to English
The critical skills to teach literature and writing.
Application deadline: Dec. 1
The department boasts talented practitioners and instructors in all major genres of creative writing--fiction, poetry, playwriting and screenwriting--as well as expertise in non-fiction and travel writing.
The PhD is designed to give students the critical skills to teach literature and writing at the college or university levels and includes both academic and creative courses, a teaching mentorship program, comprehensive exams, and a dissertation of creative work that includes a 30 to 50-page critical introduction to the creative work.
Related: UNB English PhD students release new books
The culmination of the degree is the book-length thesis, which may be fiction (short fiction or a novel), poetry, a play, a screenplay or a work of creative non-fiction.
Our teaching apprenticeship program (English 6999) affords students a unique opportunity to work closely with a faculty mentor on all aspects of pedagogy, developing skills in lecturing, classroom discussion, marking and course and assignment design while teaching a first year course.
We have a full-year writer-in-residence, an extensive reading series, teaching assistantships and other ways to work directly on editing, including for The Fiddlehead, UNB's international journal of creative writing and Qwerty, a nationally distributed graduate student journal.
The department also offers workshops on grant and scholarship applications. Students work very closely with faculty members.
Students will normally undertake:
The program is designed to be completed in four years.
Contact UNB
Join a thriving research community by undertaking your own research project, key course details.
Start Date | Tuition Fees - Year 1 |
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Oct 2024 or Jan, Apr or Jul 2025 | £ 4,786 |
Start Date | Tuition Fees - Year 1 |
---|---|
Oct 2024 or Jan, Apr or Jul 2025 | £ 2,393 |
Start Date | Tuition Fees - Year 1 |
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Oct 2024 or Jan, Apr or Jul 2025 | £ 17,850 |
Start Date | Tuition Fees - Year 1 |
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Oct 2024 or Jan, Apr or Jul 2025 | £ 8,950 |
Swansea’s Creative Writing research programme offers a choice from a spectrum of skills and a research dialogue across genres, including poetry, fiction, drama and screenwriting. We are a closely bonded community of writers, each research student being supervised by a specialist writer-teacher. One-to-one meetings take place every 4 weeks, or at the student’s request. The corpus of research students also meets in monthly staff-student Creative Writing Methodology Workshops.
The Swansea Writing Programme offers its graduate writers an apprenticeship, with the precious time to dedicate oneself to learning a craft which, for all its mysteriousness, works according to techniques and rules which may only be creatively broken once they have been thoroughly understood. Swansea is especially proud of the intellectual rigour of its programme and research culture. Our team includes teacher-writers of award-winning stature and long experience, and we go to considerable lengths to match student with supervisor, to create an enriching and enduring writerly bond.
MPhil: Applicants for MPhil must normally hold an undergraduate degree at 2.1 level (or Non-UK equivalent as defined by Swansea University). See our Country Specific Postgraduate Entry Requirements.
PhD: Applicants for PhD must normally hold an undergraduate degree at 2.1 level and a master’s degree with a minimum overall grade at ‘Merit’. Alternatively, applicants with a UK first class honours degree (or Non-UK equivalent as defined by Swansea University) not holding a master’s degree, will be considered on an individual basis. See our Country Specific Postgraduate Entry Requirements.
English Language IELTS 6.5 Overall (with no individual component below 6.5) or Swansea University recognised equivalent. Full details of our English Language policy, including certificate time validity, can be found here.
As well as academic qualifications, Admissions decisions may be based on other factors, including (but not limited to): the standard of the research synopsis/proposal, performance at interview, intensity of competition for limited places, and relevant professional experience.
As standard, two references are required before we can progress applications to the College/School research programme Admissions Tutor for consideration.
Applications received without two references attached are placed on hold, pending receipt of the outstanding reference(s). Please note that any protracted delay in receiving the outstanding reference(s) may result in the need to defer your application to a later potential start point/entry month, than what you initially listed as your preferred start option.
You may wish to consider contacting your referee(s) to assist in the process of obtaining the outstanding reference(s) or alternatively, hold submission of application until references are sourced. Please note that it is not the responsibility of the University Admissions Office to obtain missing reference(s) after our initial email is sent to your nominated referee(s), requesting a reference(s) on your behalf.
The reference can take the form of a letter on official headed paper, or via the University’s standard reference form. Click this link to download the university reference form .
Alternatively, referees can email a reference from their employment email account, please note that references received via private email accounts, (i.e. Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail) cannot be accepted.
References can be submitted to [email protected] .
The reference can take the form of a letter on official headed paper, or via the University’s standard reference form. Click this link to download the university reference form .
References can be submitted to [email protected] .
Writers of world class stature and experience will support your studies. Each research student in our closely bonded community is supervised by a specialist writer-teacher and supported by a second writer-supervisor. One-to-one meetings take place every three to four weeks, or at the student’s request, and there are monthly creative writing methodology workshops.
These workshops provide a valuable opportunity to give and receive constructive feedback on writing circulated before sessions.
We take care to ensure that each MPhil/PhD student has the expert supervision required to complete their project within the candidature period. You will have a minimum of two supervisors based in the Department. Upon receipt of your application, we will identify supervisors whose research expertise matches your chosen topic.
You will usually meet your supervisors once a month, and possibly more often at critical stages of your candidature, including preparing for final submission. When you start the degree, you will work out a research plan with your supervisors. Nine months into your candidature, you will present a first piece of substantial writing (e.g. draft thesis chapter) and a detailed thesis plan. Thereafter, the University will assess your progress every 6 months. M.Phil students are eligible to apply for an upgrade to a Ph.D if they demonstrate the ability to perform at doctoral level
Tuition fees, ph.d. 3 year full time.
Start Date | UK | International |
---|---|---|
October 2024 | £ 4,786 | £ 17,850 |
January 2025 | £ 4,786 | £ 17,850 |
April 2025 | £ 4,786 | £ 17,850 |
July 2025 | £ 4,786 | £ 17,850 |
Start Date | UK | International |
---|---|---|
October 2024 | £ 2,393 | £ 8,950 |
January 2025 | £ 2,393 | £ 8,950 |
April 2025 | £ 2,393 | £ 8,950 |
July 2025 | £ 2,393 | £ 8,950 |
M.phil. 4 year part time.
Tuition fees for years of study after your first year are subject to an increase of 3%.
You can find further information of your fee costs on our tuition fees page .
You may be eligible for funding to help support your study. To find out about scholarships, bursaries and other funding opportunities that are available please visit the University's scholarships and bursaries page .
International students and part-time study: It may be possible for some students to study part-time under the Student Visa route. However, this is dependent on factors relating to the course and your individual situation. It may also be possible to study with us if you are already in the UK under a different visa category (e.g. Tier 1 or 2, PBS Dependant, ILR etc.). Please visit the University information on Visas and Immigration for further guidance and support.
Current students: You can find further information of your fee costs on our tuition fees page .
You may be eligible for funding to help support your study.
Government funding is now available for Welsh, English and EU students starting eligible postgraduate research programmes at Swansea University. To find out more, please visit our postgraduate loans page.
To find out about scholarships, bursaries and other funding opportunities that are available please visit the University's scholarships and bursaries page.
Academi Hywel Teifi at Swansea University and the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol offer a number of generous scholarships and bursaries for students who wish to study through the medium of Welsh or bilingually. For further information about the opportunities available to you, visit the Academi Hywel Teifi Scholarships and Bursaries page.
Access to your own digital device/the appropriate IT kit will be essential during your time studying at Swansea University. Access to wifi in your accommodation will also be essential to allow you to fully engage with your programme. See our dedicated webpages for further guidance on suitable devices to purchase, and for a full guide on getting your device set up .
You may face additional costs while at university, including (but not limited to):
Apply online and track your application status at www.swansea.ac.uk/applyonline .
In order to allow sufficient time for consideration of your application by an academic, for potential offer conditions to be met and travel / relocation, we recommend that applications are made before the dates outlined below. Please note that applications can still be submitted outside of the suggested dates below but there is the potential that your application/potential offer may need to be moved to the next appropriate intake window.
UK Applicants – 15th August
EU/International applicants – 15th July
UK applicants – 15th November
EU/International applicants – 15th October
UK applicants – 15th February
EU/International applicants – 15th January
UK applicants – 15th May
EU/International applicants – 15th April
EU students - visa and immigration information is available and will be regularly updated on our information for EU students page.
The PhD in Creative Writing falls within the category of ‘Creative and Performing Arts’, which permits the thesis to take the form of a portfolio of original works, to be accompanied by a commentary, placing the portfolio in its intellectual context. The PhD in this area is understood to constitute research into a subject, research into a form, and research into the relation between them. This research discipline constitutes a practical, experimental and empirical mode of research, in which the creative work-in-progress is the central site of research, while the essay represents an analysis and elucidation of and commentary on the choices made in that research.
The requirement is in two parts: a book-length creative work, and a critical essay.
The creative work may take the form of:
While the creative work is considered as the scholarly heart of the PhD, the critical essay should engage with the choices made in the creative work, addressing, for example: concept and process; drafts and revisions; questions of style (lexis, diction, voice or voices, setting, plot or fable, perspective or perspectives); theme; characterisation; the research undertaken for the book; historical and cultural context; where the work stands in relation to other works in the chosen genre and tradition; any other relevant issues.
The individual is not required to address all these issues in an equivalent way but to shape the essay in a fashion appropriate to the specific creative work. The essay demonstrates the candidate’s capacity to think critically about and comment on the processes involved in its conception, development and revision.
Submission of the thesis is followed by an oral examination of the thesis (viva) by two examiners who are not your supervisors, one of whom is external to the University.
The creative component of the degree should ultimately be of publishable standard. Our graduates have met with great publishing/ performing success. Our programme offers knowledge of and access to the publishing industry. We enjoy links with prestigious London agencies and national and international publishing houses. The publisher Parthian has its office is on our campus, and Swansea University is the host of the prestigious Dylan Thomas Prize for Literature.
Links with the performance industry are strong. Excerpts from postgraduate dramatic scripts are given professional performance at our annual Rough Diamonds theatre nights, and students enjoy visits to the BBC studios and from broadcasting and theatre professionals. Other intellectual and creative opportunities include regular postgraduate talks and discussions and the many readings and arts events (films, plays, concerts, exhibitions) available both on and off campus.
English Language and Creative Writing currently has 60 full- and part-time PhD, M.Phil and MA by Research students. PGR students are fully integrated into the research culture of the department. Postgraduates often join a research centre, such as the Centre for Research into Gender and Culture (GENCAS) or the Centre for Research into Welsh Writing in English (CREW), where they work alongside other students and staff in dedicated research rooms. Students are offered training in research-related administration (e.g. online funding applications) and editorial roles (e.g. reviews of new work for the CREW website).
Each English Literature and Creative Writing PGR student has two supervisors, with responsibility for pastoral as well as academic needs. The School of Culture and Communication has established a Graduate Centre, an International Office and an Academic Board (Research) to co-ordinate annual monitoring of students’ progress. In addition to the subject-specific provision described above, all students take an agreed number of the School training workshops and give conference presentations. The School provides dedicated PGR workstations, a common room, video conferencing facilities, funding towards research and conference expenses, and the services of the Research Project Officer to advise postgraduates on funding opportunities. The Graduate Centre also runs an annual interdisciplinary PGR conference, where presenters receive feedback from professorial staff, and in 2012-13 established an AHRC-funded Heritage Key Skills Programme of seminars offering intensive training in skills in demand in the heritage sector.
The University Skills Office, in the Academic and Professional Enhancement Centre, co-ordinates a skills development programme for all Swansea University research students: training is provided in advanced writing skills, research transferable skills, IT programmes, entrepreneurship and employability.
Award Level (Nomenclature) | PhD in Creative Writing |
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Programme Title | Creative Writing |
Director of Postgraduate Research | Dr Kathryn Jones |
Awarding Body | Swansea University |
College/School | School of Culture and Communication |
Subject Area | English Literature and Creative Writing |
Frequency of Intake | October, January, April, July |
Location | Singleton Campus |
Mode of Study | Full/Part time |
Duration/Candidature | 3/6 years |
FHEQ Level | 8 |
External Reference Points | QAA Qualification Descriptors for FHEQ Level 8 |
Regulations | Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) |
Professional, Statutory or Regulatory Body Accreditation | N/A |
N/A | |
English |
This Programme Specification refers to the current academic year and provides indicative content for information. The University will seek to deliver each course in accordance with the descriptions set out in the relevant course web pages at the time of application. However, there may be situations in which it is desirable or necessary for the University to make changes in course provision , either before or after enrolment.
Programme Summary
This PhD in Creative Writing at Swansea will enable you to undertake a substantial project led by your own interests. It is a highly respected qualification which can present a career in academia or a wider scope for employment in fields such as education, government or the private sector. A thesis of 100,000 words will be submitted for assessment demonstrating original research with a substantive contribution to the subject area. The PhD is examined following an oral examination of the thesis (a viva voce examination or viva voce ). You will acquire research skills for high-level work and skills and training programmes are available on campus for further support. There will be an opportunity to deliver presentations to research students and staff at departmental seminars and conferences. There may also be opportunities to develop your teaching skills through undergraduate tutorials, demonstrations and seminars.
Programme Aims
This PhD programme will provide doctoral researchers with:
Programme Structure
The programme comprises three key elements:
The programme comprises of the undertaking of an original research project of 3 years duration full time (6 years duration part time). Doctoral researchers may pursue the programme either full time or part time by pursuing research at the University at an external place of employment or with/at a University approved partner.
Doctoral researchers for the PhD in Creative Writing are examined in two parts.
The first part is a thesis which is an original body of work representing the methods and results of the research project. The maximum word limit is 100,000 for the main text. The word limit does not include appendices (if any), essential footnotes, introductory parts and statements or the bibliography and index.
The second part is an oral examination (viva voce).
Doctoral Researcher Supervision and Support
Doctoral researchers will be supervised by a supervisory team. Where appropriate, staff from Colleges/Schools other than the ‘home’ College/School (other Colleges/Schools) within the University will contribute to cognate research areas. There may also be supervisors from an industrial partner.
The Primary/First Supervisor will normally be the main contact throughout the doctoral research journey and will have overall responsibility for academic supervision. The academic input of the Secondary Supervisor will vary from case to case. The principal role of the Secondary Supervisor is often as a first port of call if the Primary/First Supervisor becomes unavailable. The supervisory team may also include a supervisor from industry or a specific area of professional practice to support the research. External supervisors may also be drawn from other Universities.
The primary supervisor will provide pastoral support. If necessary the primary supervisor will refer the doctoral researcher to other sources of support (e.g. Wellbeing, Disability, Money Advice, IT, Library, Students’ Union, Academic Services, Student Support Services, Careers Centre).
Programme Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this programme, doctoral researchers should be able to:
Knowledge & Understanding
Attitudes and values
Research Skills
Skills and Competencies
Progression Monitoring
Progress will be monitored in accordance with Swansea University regulations. During the course of the programme, the Doctoral researcher is expected to meet regularly with their supervisors, and at most meetings it is likely that the doctoral researcher’s progress will be monitored in an informal manner in addition to attendance checks. Details of the meetings should ideally be recorded on the on-line system. A minimum of four formal supervision meetings is required each year, two of which will be reported to the Postgraduate Progression and Awards Board. During these supervisory meetings the doctoral researcher’s progress is discussed and formally recorded on the on-line system.
Learning Development
The University offers training and development for Doctoral Researchers and supervisors.
Swansea University’s Postgraduate Research Training Framework is structured into sections, to enable doctoral researchers to navigate and determine appropriate courses aligned to both their interest and their candidature stage.
There is a training framework including for example areas of Managing Information and Data, Presentation and Public Engagement, Leadership and working with others, Safety Integrity and Ethics, Impact and Commercialisation and Teaching and Demonstrating. There is also range of support in areas such as training needs, literature searching, conducting research, writing up research, teaching, applying for grants and awards, communicating research and future careers.
A range of research seminars and skills development sessions are provided within the School of Culture and Communication and across the University. These are scheduled to keep the doctoral researcher in touch with a broader range of material than their own research topic, to stimulate ideas in discussion with others, and to give them opportunities to such as defending their own thesis orally, and to identify potential criticisms. Additionally, the School of Culture and Communication is developing a research culture that aligns with the University vision and will link with key initiatives delivered under the auspices of the University’s Academies, for example embedding the HEA fellowship for postgraduate research students.
Research Environment
Swansea University’s research environment combines innovation and excellent facilities to provide a home for multidisciplinary research to flourish. Our research environment encompasses all aspects of the research lifecycle, with internal grants and support for external funding and enabling impact/effect that research has beyond academia.
Swansea University is very proud of our reputation for excellent research, and for the calibre, dedication, professionalism, collaboration and engagement of our research community. We understand that integrity must be an essential characteristic of all aspects of research, and that as a University entrusted with undertaking research we must clearly and consistently demonstrate that the confidence placed in our research community is rightly deserved. The University therefore ensures that everyone engaged in research is trained to the very highest standards of research integrity and conducts themselves and their research in a way that respects the dignity, rights, and welfare of participants, and minimises risks to participants, researchers, third parties, and the University itself.
School of Culture and Communication
The School conducts world leading research in English, Creative Writing and Applied Linguistics; History and Classics; Politics and International Relations; Media and Communication; Education and Lifelong Learning; and Modern Languages and Welsh.
The School provides a vibrant research environment through conferences, seminars, workshops and training events organised by sixteen research centres and groups. As well as major disciplinary strengths, inter-disciplinary research is at the heart of what we do. We host an annual research conference open to all colleges, Research across Boundaries, and have particular inter-disciplinary strengths in Heritage and Development, Digital humanities and platforms, Medical humanities and wellbeing, and Global challenges.
The School is deeply committed to highly quality research which is intellectually innovative as well as having real world impacts. Research students and staff work closely together. As a result a strong culture has developed which provides a supportive and friendly environment for our thriving community of doctoral students from all over the world to develop as well-networked young researchers.
Career Opportunities
Having a PhD demonstrates that graduates can work effectively in a team, formulate, explore and communicate complex ideas and manage advanced tasks. Jobs in academia (eg postdoctoral research, lecturing), education, government, management, the public or private sector are possible. Examples include administrators, counsellors, marketing specialists, and researchers.
The Postgraduate Research Office Skills Development Team offer support and a training framework for example in creating a researcher profile based upon publications and setting up your own business. The Swansea Employability Academy assists students in future career opportunities, improving CVs, job applications and interview skills.
Award Level (Nomenclature) | MPhil in Creative Writing |
---|---|
Programme Title | Creative Writing |
Director of Postgraduate Research | Dr Kathryn Jones |
Awarding Body | Swansea University |
College/School | School of Culture and Communication |
Subject Area | English Literature and Creative Writing |
Frequency of Intake | October, January, April, July |
Location | Singleton Campus |
Mode of Study | Full/Part time |
Duration/Candidature | 2/4 years |
FHEQ Level | 7 |
External Reference Points | QAA Qualification Descriptors for FHEQ Level 7 |
Regulations | Master of Philosophy |
Professional, Statutory or Regulatory Body Accreditation | N/A |
MA/MSc by Research | |
English |
Programme Summary
This MPhil in Creative Writing at Swansea will enable you to undertake a substantial project led by your own interests. It is a highly respected qualification which can present a career in academia or a wider scope for employment in fields such as education, government or the private sector. A thesis of 60,000 words will be submitted for assessment demonstrating original research with a substantive contribution to the subject area. The Masters is examined following an oral examination of the thesis (a viva voce examination or viva). You will acquire research skills for high-level work and skills and training programmes are available on campus for further support. There will be an opportunity to deliver presentations to research students and staff at departmental seminars and conferences.
This Masters programme will provide students with:
The programme comprises three key elements:
The programme comprises of the undertaking of an original research project of 2 years duration full time (4 years duration part time). Students may pursue the programme either full time or part time by pursuing research at the University at an external place of employment or with/at a University approved partner.
Students for the Masters in Creative Writing are examined in two parts.
The first part is a thesis which is an original body of work representing the methods and results of the research project. The maximum word limit is 60,000 for the main text. The word limit does not include appendices (if any), essential footnotes, introductory parts and statements or the bibliography and index.
The second part is an oral examination ( viva voce ).
Supervision and Support
Students will be supervised by a supervisory team. Where appropriate, staff from Colleges/Schools other than the ‘home’ College/School (other Colleges/Schools) within the University will contribute to cognate research areas. There may also be supervisors from an industrial partner.
The Primary/First Supervisor will normally be the main contact throughout the student journey and will have overall responsibility for academic supervision. The academic input of the Secondary Supervisor will vary from case to case. The principal role of the Secondary Supervisor is often as a first port of call if the Primary/First Supervisor becomes unavailable. The supervisory team may also include a supervisor from industry or a specific area of professional practice to support the research. External supervisors may also be drawn from other Universities.
The primary supervisor will provide pastoral support. If necessary the primary supervisor will refer the student to other sources of support (e.g. Wellbeing, Disability, Money Advice, IT, Library, Students’ Union, Academic Services, Student Support Services, Careers Centre).
Progress will be monitored in accordance with Swansea University regulations. During the course of the programme, the student is expected to meet regularly with their supervisors, and at most meetings it is likely that the student’s progress will be monitored in an informal manner in addition to attendance checks. Details of the meetings should ideally be recorded on the on-line system. A minimum of four formal supervision meetings is required each year, two of which will be reported to the Postgraduate Progression and Awards Board. During these supervisory meetings the student’s progress is discussed and formally recorded on the on-line system.
Learning Development
Swansea University’s Postgraduate Research Training Framework is structured into sections, to enable students to navigate and determine appropriate courses aligned to both their interest and their candidature stage.
A range of research seminars and skills development sessions are provided within the College of Arts and Humanities and across the University. These are scheduled to keep the student in touch with a broader range of material than their own research topic, to stimulate ideas in discussion with others, and to give them opportunities to such as defending their own thesis orally, and to identify potential criticisms. Additionally, the College of Arts and Humanities is developing a research culture that will align with the University vision and will link with key initiatives delivered under the auspices of the University’s Academies, for example embedding the HEA fellowship for postgraduate research students.
Research Environment
Swansea University’s Research Environment combines innovation and excellent facilities to provide a home for multidisciplinary research to flourish. Our research environment encompasses all aspects of the research lifecycle, with internal grants and support for external funding and enabling impact/effect that research has beyond academia.
School of Culture and Communication
Career Opportunities
Having a Master of Philosophy degree shows that you can communicate your ideas and manage tasks. Jobs in academia, education, government, management, the public or private sector are possible.
Creative Writing
Home / About / About the PhD Creative/Critical Writing Concentration
UC Santa Cruz offers a concentration in Creative/Critical Writing for Literature Ph.D. students. This is an individualized course of study in which students can write a creative dissertation with a critical introduction or a cross-genre creative/critical project. Our students have completed speculative novels, collections of poems and personal essays, experimental memoirs, biographies, cross-genre work and translations of works of poetry and prose. Descriptions of previous qualifying exam and dissertation topics can be found with student bios here .
In addition to taking critical literature courses, entering students take four graduate creative/critical writing classes (two “Creative Writing Studio” courses and two “Methods and Materials” courses taught by creative writing faculty ). The “Creative Writing Studio” is a mixed-genre class that moves beyond the classic workshop mode to give students time to focus on their creative work in a supportive community. The “Methods and Materials” class is a seminar that examines one form, topic, and/or theme. Students can respond creatively, critically or creative/critically. Past classes have focused on autobiographical experiments, race and the lyric essay, the artist’s statement, and James Baldwin’s sentences.
The concentration works to create community while at the same time gives our students opportunities to join with creative and critical colleagues within and beyond the department and division. There are opportunities for internships, fellowships, and graduate students often introduce and meet with writers through the Living Writers Series . Graduate students can also pursue designated emphases in programs and departments such as Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Education, Feminist Studies, History of Consciousness, Latin American and Latino Studies, Philosophy, Politics, Sociology, and the History of Art and Visual Culture. (A full listing of programs and departments offering a Designated Emphasis can be found here .)
The program also offers opportunities for pedagogical training. Graduate students in the Creative/Critical Writing Concentration have the opportunity to teach undergraduate introductory and intermediate creative writing courses annually.
Although our program is fairly new, UCSC has a rich history of Creative/Critical writers and teachers, such as George Hitchcock, bell hooks, Harriet Mullen, Gloria Anzaldua, Nathaniel Mackey, Angela Davis, Karen Tei Yamashita, and Peter Gizzi.
Graduate Students Describe the Program:
Last modified: May 30, 2024 185.80.151.9
Department of english, college of liberal arts, search form.
Doctoral concentration in creative writing, creative writing at ul.
The UL Lafayette Creative Writing Program invites you to join our close, energetic community of faculty and students.
Our Ph.D. in English is unique in that it is a generalist program. That means you as a student gain broad expertise in a variety of creative writing genres: fiction, poetry, drama, and creative non-fiction. It also means that you’ll strengthen your understanding of literature, and develop solid pedagogical practice by instructing undergraduate courses in rhetoric and composition. There will also be opportunities to teach creative writing, literature, and design your own special topics courses.
The generalist program ensures graduates concentrating in Creative Writing who opt for academic positions are qualified to teach in several areas. Graduates who choose careers outside of the academy will have experience managing a classroom while teaching and designing their own courses.
Assistantships are available in the Ernest J. Gaines Center, the Paul and Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum, and within the English Department. Graduate teaching assistantships give you the chance to teach first-year writing, sophomore literature survey courses, a creative writing workshop, and a literature course of your own design. Three-year university fellowships with lighter teaching loads are also available.
You will be able to gain professional development experience through working on the University-supported in-house print journal The Southwestern Review, and our online literary journal Rougarou. Students also read at our Thursday Night Reading Series (TNRS) , and often attend the annual Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) conference where our graduate creative writers host an annual off-site reading. Creative writers also have the opportunity to present their work at the Global Souths conference we put on each year through a creative plenary and creative panels.
In addition to our great faculty, and writer-in-residence, the UL Lafayette Creative Writing Program is enhanced by the Deep South Reading Series . Recent guests include: Maurice Carlos Ruffin, Katie Jean Shinkle, Terese Svoboda, Rodrigo Toscano, Asiya Wadud, Matthew Salesses, Vi Khi Nao, Clemonce Heard, and Wandeka Gayle.
In addition to the PhD in English application requirements, the department requires a creative writing portfolio. You should submit a creative writing sample of 15-20 pages as part of their application directly to the Graduate Coordinator for Incoming Students, Dr. Leah Orr at [email protected] . PDFs are preferred. Please specify the genre: Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Creative Nonfiction, or Hybrid work.
Read more info about applying.
The English Department’s Thursday Night Reading Series (TNRS) features weekly readings of original poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, drama, and experimental works from UL graduate students and faculty. Watch the video to see our graduate students share their work and visit the TNRS Facebook page to learn more.
Research and the craft of creative writing
What’s it like doing a phd in creative writing at the university of edinburgh.
I came into my PhD program not really knowing much about what a PhD really was. I knew the basics of my program. Write a 70,000 word novel and a 20,000 word critical reflexive. But I didn’t really know what else I was supposed to be doing. When doing a postgraduate program by research (as Edinburgh refers to it) you will arrive to discover that there are no classes. No schedule. And just a rough idea of what you are supposed to be researching.
My primary supervisor is Dr Jane Alexander. At the University of Edinburgh, certainly in creative writing, the PhD application isn’t directed to any one specific supervisor. Applications come in and if you’re chosen, your supervisor gets allocated to you. So Jane and I became a team by chance, and although I had met her previously in my master’s program, we were tasked to set foot on this adventure together. Jane and I meet roughly every month, and I send chunks of my work to her about a week in advance so she has time to read it and make comments. We generally work around each other’s schedules, and in my first year, I would prepare agendas to discuss certain topics. In our first meeting, I shared my approach that I believed the mentee was responsible for driving the relationship, and so I book our meetings and manage the calendar of our appointments. I also take notes in our meetings and incorporate feedback into my subsequent work.
My secondary supervisor, Dr Jane McKie, only formally checks in with me at my annual progress review. She taught me during my master’s as well, and is pretty familiar with my work. We’ve had a few coffee chats, or meet ups over drinks outside of the PhD “formal programming” but these are social occasions and aren’t about driving forward any specific agenda.
Some of the things I chat about with my supervisors outside of my writing include:
In my first year, my days were spent trying to figure out what exactly I was supposed to do. I went around in circles, attempting to follow my original project idea, changing my mind, moving to something else, before I eventually settled on doing exactly what I had proposed in the first place. I read various articles, books I thought might be relevant, and dug around for resources at the library. I read a fair amount of Ian Rankin, Louise Penny, and skimmed other crime novels and ultimately ruled them out. My supervisors let me meander through this exercise, which I think is common in the first year, before I gained traction in my second year.
Now, I have a solid idea of what I’m doing. I alternate between writing my novel draft, and my critical reflexive. I’m still finding relevant and new research, but this is a focused exercise and I’m not flailing around (as much) and going down unrelated rabbit holes. I’m at the start of my third year, and my manuscript is essentially at the word count, but now I’m editing it. Editing looks like ripping out a distracting storyline, re-aliving a character, and removing other characters.
The postgraduate room in 50 George Square
I spend most of my time writing in the dedicated post-graduate room at the University of Edinburgh located on the fourth floor of 50 George Square, or working in a co-working space in Canada. I had a weird start to my PhD in that I started during the pandemic, so about a third of my degree was done remotely due to restrictions on international travel. I can’t write in my own home, so that means I’m either in dedicated workspaces, cafes, or the stereotypical Starbucks. The university library is too crowded and too hot, so I avoid it.
I keep a whiteboard of everything I am supposed to do, including my word count on my critical reflexive, my upcoming scholarship deadlines, call for paper deadlines, and potential grants. I also have a physical agenda where I note deadlines for publications I was to submit to, events I want to attend, or workshops offered by the university. I take notes in a spiral bound book and in my OneNote binder.
My whiteboard
The magic of the University of Edinburgh, and the city in general, is that there is always something going on. Some of the things I like to do are:
Attending the Bloody Scotland crime writing conference in Stirling
Not every PhD student has the same experience – some are on campus everyday, working diligently with piles of books and papers everywhere. Some come to campus only for their meetings, while others work full-time and do a mix of in-person and remote meetings. I was forced to do a lot of my work from Canada, which was honestly fine (and in some ways easier), but now that the university campus is back to normal and everything is open, it is nice to be on campus more.
Have any questions about doing a creative writing PhD? Put them in the comments below!
(Credit: Lexie Angelo, 2024)
(Photo Credit: Ryan Angelo, 2023)
Posted by Lexie Angelo
25 February 2024
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We are happy to receive applications for research projects focusing on Literary Studies or Creative Writing and the Department welcomes enquiries from students who wish to pursue a PhD in any of the areas in which members of staff have expertise.
Part of what makes Aberystwyth special is our thriving research culture : you’ll get to join an engaging and interactive community where staff, students, and guest speakers come together to share and showcase their research. You’ll also work alongside researchers who are recognised internationally for their contributions to knowledge and the furthering of the discipline.
The Department’s particular areas of expertise include:
What does a PhD in the Department of English and Creative Writing involve?
A PhD in literary studies is awarded upon satisfactory completion of a thesis of 80–100,000 words followed by a viva voce examination.
A PhD in creative writing has two parts: the creative work (comprising 75–80,000 words of prose or 60 pages of poetry) plus a 20,000-word critical commentary. Award of the PhD in creative writing is subject to satisfactory completion of this twin written element, followed by a viva voce examination.
For both literary studies and creative writing PhDs, the normal period of registration is three years (full-time) or five years (part-time). For full-time students, it is expected that the thesis will be submitted within four years of initial registration. For part-time students, submission is expected within seven years of initial registration. Full-time research students are expected to be based in Aberystwyth. Part-time research students can pursue their studies at a distance but may need to be available to attend sessions on campus on occasion.
Each research student is assigned two supervisors, who offer support and advice at every stage of the research project. The primary supervisor works closely with the student and will be a specialist in the chosen field of research/creative writing.
All full-time doctoral candidates are required to undertake a selection of research skills and professional development modules that are provided by the Aberystwyth University Graduate School. These modules are undertaken over the first two years of study. Under the guidance of their supervisors, students will be expected to develop advanced skills in handling a sustained project, which makes an original, rigorous contribution to the candidate’s chosen field of literary studies or creative writing practice.
For further information, or to discuss options for the shorter MPhil research degree, please contact us directly on [email protected]
PhD proposals should include the following information:
Literary Studies (c. 3,000 words)
You should also submit a sample of your critical work of c. 5000 words.
Creative Writing (c. 3,000 words)
You should also submit a sample of your creative work of c. 5000 words of prose or 100 lines of poetry.
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Last year I was fortunate enough to have the creative component of my PhD published as a novel. Would I say my PhD has taught me how to write novels? I think, rather, it helped me write that one. As Helen Garner has famously said, ‘we have to learn to write again for each new book’. For context, I’d already had one novel published; for further context, that too had been developed through a higher education program – a masters. Clearly I’m in favour of formal learning, but coming to the end of our highest arts degree I’ve been reflecting on what, exactly, it’s taught me.
Last year I was fortunate enough to have the creative component of my PhD published as a novel. Would I say my PhD has taught me how to write novels? I think, rather, it helped me write that one. As Helen Garner has famously said, ‘ we have to learn to write again for each new book ’. For context, I’d already had one novel published; for further context, that too had been developed through a higher education program – a masters. Clearly I’m in favour of formal learning, but coming to the end of our highest arts degree I’ve been reflecting on what, exactly, it’s taught me.
Perhaps research is what I’ve learnt: what it is, why to do it, how to do it well – in the context of both my creative work and its critical exegesis. But although I’ve been successful at presenting chapters from my dissertation as standalone papers and articles, my full thesis had an intimate audience of just three examiners (besides my supervisor). And while these academic skills will likely have future application, and further development (and possibly a broader audience than my creative work), that’s largely because I’m already employed as a university lecturer.
(Both the creative and critical endeavours – and their interrelationship – have honed my professional research, writing and editing skills, but as Justin Stover argues in ‘ There is no case for the humanities ’ this is ‘a valuable by-product’ rather than the core learning outcome of a humanities degree. Regardless of whether you agree at an undergraduate level, most would concur in the case of a student studying to be a doctor of philosophy. Though perhaps arts courses are not inevitably so productive: David Foster Wallace’s well-known commencement speech neatly articulates how teaching individuals to think also teaches them to recognise and resist certain kinds of ‘Think-Speak’ . It’s ‘ the kind of thinking that probably does make certain of the young less ideal recruits in their armies of the employed ’, Marilynne Robinson argues.)
Should I then say, as Stover does, that the greatest insight my capstone qualification has given me has been into the particular and idiosyncratic bureaucracy of the university system? Even more specifically, that of the university where I was studying?
Rather, I see the value of my PhD in, above all else, the supervisory relationship. This unique experience, in all its complexity and intensity, is an introduction to – an induction into – how our writing and publishing industry works. I have been awarded professional and personal insight into how I can now further my development alone.
Or, rather, not alone.
In ‘ Why teaching (writing) matters: a full confession ’, Jayne Anne Phillips argues that, more important than teaching writing, an MFA is a way ‘those engaged in the practice of an art can mentor apprentice artists, and apprentice artists, in community, can mentor one another.’ Our industry has long been aware of the value of mentoring: not only have established authors throughout history advised and edited emerging ones, but the trade itself is founded upon that all-important author–editor relationship (or author–publisher, depending on who takes on this developmental role). As our profession and creative practice differs from fine arts’, so the nature of creative writing mentorships also vary – from other sectors, and within our own community.
In the case of my PhD I received: close editing of my work (as one creative to another, but, importantly, from an author who’d had extensive experience working with a seasoned editor); guidance on my writing career; advice on becoming an academic; and even reflections upon becoming a mother – and balancing (or, more actually, juggling) all these things. It may be relevant to confess here that my degree took me a long time to complete – a very long time. The absolute longest time permitted. This was clearly a factor in the life events that occurred over the course of my candidature, and probably also played a role in the relationship with my supervisor that evolved.
I might also add that, anticipating the importance of this student–supervisor relationship (having experienced similar, less successful, iterations during my time as first an honours and then a masters student), I followed my chosen professor from another university and across state lines.
Findings from a 2002 survey of creative writing mentorships concluded that ‘ in no part of Australia does there appear a lack of interest in mentoring activity ’. This is still, if not more than ever, the case. In every state there are mentorships, which are either paid for, or awarded as a prize; editorships, which may be government subsidised but are generally delivered in association with a particular press (either as manuscript development, or a contract to publish); and myriad internship opportunities. While the monetisation of mentoring provides a certain transparency, the user-pays model arguably influences the advice customer–clients receive. It also poses a financial barrier to some. But if the individual working on a prizewinning manuscript is from the commercial sector then their feedback is also unlikely to be neutral, and more likely to be market-driven – which may, of course, be exactly what the applicant–author wants and/or needs.
University supervisors, too, have their own interests and agendas, as Tara Brabazon sets out in ‘ 10 truths a PhD supervisor will never tell you ’. While she has ‘never received any satisfactory, effective or useful supervision’, I’ve been particularly fortunate in that two of my previous less-positive supervisory experiences have led to invaluable publishing and teaching opportunities. One individual in particular has proven to be as generous a guide, both personally and professionally, as any student could ask for.
Which begs the question: what do we students (have the right to) ask for?
Everything costs someone something – whether it’s cash, in kind, personal time or academic workload allocation. To connect Stover and Brabazon’s perspectives, supervisors don’t only help students navigate the university system, they must chart a path themselves that protects both their time and that of their student meetings.
In many institutions the preparatory experience for this one-on-one supervision, honours, is under threat. There are a number of reasons for this: one is the increasing popularity of a ‘3+2’ university pathway (a generalist undergraduate arts degree, followed by a postgraduate masters specialisation), as in the Melbourne Model; another is cost. Direct, individual – and generally face-to-face – attention is expensive. In this age of the ‘massification’ and corporatisation of universities, such an extravagant arrangement can be hard to defend.
The cornerstone of most creative-writing courses is workshopping, where participants receive feedback from their peers, under the guidance of experienced tutors, who offer their own opinions and manifest best practice on how to present that. Regardless of the role the Iowa Writer’s Workshop and the USA’s creative writing MFA programs have played in the ascendance of this model, all of the institutions I’ve studied or taught at in Australia have favoured group workshopping as their preferred pedagogy.
As we are taught, so we teach. ‘[ G]raduates of MFA programs often go on to teach in other MFA programs ,’ KC Trommer points out, prompting me to consider anew my own experience in this context, both in the trade and academy. I may be somewhat of an anomaly among creative writing teachers (though not among publishing lecturers) in not having undertaken such courses at an undergraduate level – I do remember enrolling in some subjects, but was always put off not by the quality of the work but by the positive response that it invariably received. I learnt my craft as a jobbing journalist, speechwriter, editor and publisher. And in every one of these paid positions I was apprenticed to a master (the word mistress will not do) – whether that was my manager, someone higher up, or an outside expert … such as an author whose manuscript I was project managing and collating changes on.
At the same time that universities are increasingly under pressure to work as a business themselves (enrolling more students – who wouldn’t have made the grade thirty or forty years ago, as Tegan Bennet Daylight details in ‘The difficulty is the point’ – in ever-increasing class sizes, taught by sessional and frequently still-studying staff), core but not-cost-effective relationships have also been squeezed in the writing and publishing industries . While publishers continue to manage the author relationship at the commissioning and contracting stage, sometimes still undertaking the initial developmental edit, structural editing – along with copyediting and proofreading – has largely been outsourced.
Publishing’s shift to a freelance workforce marries with the media industry’s transition to a ‘gig’ economy, resulting in an increase reliance on sole-trader writers and editors who have no clear career trajectory, union-protected pay scale, or recourse to in-house professional development. They neither receive the kind of mentoring that might be expected from a line manager or established editor in a traditional press (though this, of course, may not have actually happened), nor are they in a position to offer much mentoring themselves – to emerging authors, or editors. Specialist postgraduate programs have stepped into this gap (many offering internship subjects that explicitly identify industry mentors), as well as editing opportunities such as Seizure ’s Viva la Novella initiative, Varuna’s Residential Editors’ Program and the Beatrice Davis Fellowship.
Much has been made of the negative impact this shift has had, not only on editors’ and authors’ development, but also on that of their collaborative output – the books. The survey conducted by Nigel Krauth (et al) identified that ‘text mentorships, like the use of assessment services, have gained in significance because of the identifiable withdrawal of editors from publishing in recent years’. Has any good come from this change prompted by commercial necessity? Certainly many of the frequently female, part-time, working-from-home freelancers appreciate the flexibility. Could it also encourage objectivity – loyalty to a book, perhaps, over an employer; scrutiny, with experience across publishing houses; an increase in critical as well as practical skills; and familiarity with new technologies and different processes, as taught by universities like mine?
In defence of the individuals that make up our industry, everyone I know personally and professionally is still putting in the same amount of outside and overtime hours. If not more. And this effort – as well as the pressure that prompts it – is also, as ever, the case inside academia too.
It is upon stepping into a supervisory role myself that I have been prompted to reflect on the nature and importance of this not-always-easy relationship. Certainly, this was not what I had thought my PhD would be about when I started out. In ‘Where great writers are made: assessing America’s top graduate writing programs,’ Edward Delaney establishes that time (which he equates with money) and ‘something to react to’ are the most important aspects of great writing programs . I received both of these through my PhD, each channelled directly through one particular port-of-call: my supervisor.
To conclude – as that decade-long relationship finally has – Lynn Davidson makes a persuasive case for creative writing PhDs as having a value above and beyond university-recognised research outputs . It is not just students’ engagement in contemporary cultural production that is so essential, so worthwhile, she argues, but the opportunity the higher research degree provides to be part of ‘the big conversation’ that reaches back through time as well as forward into the future.
A conversation which starts between two people.
A conversation which, for me, must start as one between two people.
Born in England, based in Melbourne, Rose Michael is a writer, editor and academic who has been published in Griffith REVIEW, Best Australian Stories, Island, Muse, Cultural Studies Review. Her first novel, The Asking Game (Transit Lounge, 2007), was a runner-up for the Allen & Unwin/Vogel award and received an Aurealis Award honourable mention. An early extract of The Art of Navigation was published in Review of Australian Fiction .
Overland is a not-for-profit magazine with a proud history of supporting writers, and publishing ideas and voices often excluded from other places.
If you like this piece, or support Overland ’s work in general, please subscribe or donate .
A very thoughtful, insightful and helpful article. Thank you.
Thank you for this, Rose Michael. I am near the end of a PhD in creative writing and concur that I have learned how to research in the true sense of the word, as well as gained a lot from the supervisory relationship. It has also enabled me to meet several other writers and researchers and artists and learn from them; to engage with others at conferences and share our work; to position myself more confidently as a writer now that I have a full length manuscript of reasonable quality. I won’t be working in academia (unless something unexpected happens) but rather taking my work out into the world, and developing other projects out there.
A very thoughtful article indeed! But a question: what should be the title of the thesis? The name of the novel or? Kindly reply…I am interested in PhD in creative writing too…. Can you suggest a thesis on creative writing in poetry? Please reply…
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By Mawunyo Gbogbo
ABC Entertainment
Topic: Olympic Games
Rachael "Raygun" Gunn did not score a single point at the Paris Olympics. ( Getty Images: Elsa )
Since Australian breaker Rachael "Raygun" Gunn failed to score a single point in any of her Olympic bouts, many have asked how she qualified for the Games.
Fellow breaker and anthropologist Lucas Marie says she won her qualification "fair and square" last year, but African American man Malik Dixon has criticised the Olympic body for letting her in.
Breaking will not be an event at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games — a decision made before Raygun's performance.
The 2024 Paris Olympics marked breaking's debut as a sport at the global event, with 36-year-old lecturer and breaker Rachael "Raygun" Gunn representing Australia for the first time.
Having failed to win a single point in any of her Olympic bouts, Raygun quickly became a viral sensation.
The question on many people's minds now is: How did she even qualify?
Lucas Marie is a breaker who has competed, performed, taught and judged breaking competitions over the past 25 years. He's also an anthropologist who recently co-authored an article with Gunn.
He says the answer to that question is simple.
Lucas Marie recently co-authored an article with Raygun. ( Supplied )
"There was an Oceania qualifier in which any B-boy or B-girl from Australia [or] New Zealand could enter, and that was in Sydney in October 2023," he told ABC News.
"And leading up to that, there were a lot of other events in which breakers were competing.
"She won those battles fair and square and won the qualification in Sydney.
"And it wasn't really a surprise to anyone.
"She's been fairly consistent, winning or coming second or third at a lot of breaking events in Australia for the last five to 10 years."
Marie said there was nothing out of the ordinary about Raygun's performance.
"It's not like gymnastics where there's this kind of agreed-upon standard," he said.
"It's always had a rawness to it. It's always had an improvisational kind of quality. And I think looking different and trying different stuff has always been celebrated.
"And I think Raygun, in a way, was just expressing a core kind of hip hop trait in a way a lot of breakers do."
He described her efforts as bold.
"I thought — and this is how I judge a lot of breaking events — I thought, 'Oh, she's making some really interesting choices to mimic Australian animals.' And you can kind of see the choices that she's making in the moment."
Team Australia chef de mission Anna Meares insisted after Raygun's performance that she was the best breaker the country had to offer. But is this true?
Lucas Marie has competed, performed, taught and judged breaking competitions for more than 25 years. ( Supplied: momentsby.naz )
"It's sometimes just who's performing better on the day," Marie said.
"And at the qualification event in which she won, and other events in which she's won, she performed better on that day and won the ticket.
"That doesn't mean she's the best. It doesn't really work like that.
"I think she's a great breaker. She won the qualification. She's won other events in the past, and she was a good representative for Australia at that competition."
Asked whether there were B-girls in Perth, regional Victoria or rural Brisbane who might have qualified but could not afford to travel to Sydney for the tryouts, Marie agreed this was possible.
"Of course, there's breakers all over the country that maybe should have been in that event, but they weren't."
Breaking will not carry over to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, a decision made before Raygun's battle.
Marie described this as sad.
"Maybe, based on the ratings, they'll reassess that and maybe allocate some medals to breaking," he said.
"I really hope that's the case, and I hope that for other breakers who want to compete in it as a dance sport."
Marie said that at the end of the day people should remember they were dealing with a human.
"As a friend of Rachael's, there's a human being who's getting a lot of negative attention," he said.
"I think people kind of miss that sometimes and forget the human aspect of all this."
Malik Dixon is an African American who has been living in Australia for more than a decade and is a Sydney University graduate.
He said Raygun made a total "mockery" out of breaking at the Olympics.
Malik Dixon says too many people feel entitled to African American culture. ( Supplied )
"She was dressed like a member of the cricket team or an Australian PE teacher, and from that point it just seemed like satire," Mr Dixon told ABC News.
"It just looked like somebody who was toying with the culture and didn't know how culturally significant it was being the first time in the Olympics and just how important it was to people who really cherish hip hop and one of the elements of hip hop, which is breakdancing.
"It made me think, was Borat her breakdancing coach?"
Mr Dixon said too many people felt entitled to African American culture.
"The African American space has been one where we've shared our community so much and without any restraints, any barriers, roadblocks, obstacles, any gatekeepers, that essentially what should have been African American cultural capital is just shared, which is cool," he said.
"We like to share, right?
"We shared 400 years of free labour.
"To see Rachael in her attempt to be a part of the culture just be grossly underwhelming made it seem like she didn't take it seriously."
Mr Dixon criticised the body that qualified Raygun, saying she devalued breaking with her performance.
"Whatever governing body nominated her as Australia's entrant into the Olympics either did not understand the assignment or didn't really believe in the integrity or significance of breakdancing, because if they did they would just say, rather than disrespect the culture, we're just not ready to send an applicant this year."
He said Raygun was extremely audacious and not self-aware.
"You've got to know your role, know your position, know your limitation," he said.
"And I think that part of privilege is saying that there are no limits to what I can do.
"Part of privilege is having the authority to say that there are no limits and there are no requirements, there are no prerequisites to what I can do."
Raygun's degrees do not hold much water with Mr Dixon.
"Due to consumerism, this Foundational Black American product, which is hip hop, is global," he said.
"And even people who have no connection to any African Americans or any local or regional things that come out in these songs, they have become a part of the whole experience now.
"If I came in and said that I was an authority on Greek music and I was going against the grain of what the mainstream Greek musicians thought, or the school of thought, and I've said that I was the authority, people would check me on that.
"If I had a PhD in sprinting, does that qualify me to go against Noah Lyles? No, it doesn't."
He also doubts Raygun was the best breaker Australia had to offer.
"[There's] got to be somebody out here that's better than that! The kangaroo! The sprinkler! She did the sprinkler out there, man!" he said.
Should we lighten up? Mr Dixon does not believe so.
"Larrikinism is used as a get-out-of-jail-free card and to escape responsibility of how words or actions impact a hurt person," he said.
"But when the majority culture is offended, there's no playing around.
"This is a part of my culture, and I don't think Australians are in a place to tell me how I should feel about breakdancing being mocked on an international stage.
"People who don't have any or limited access to black people or hip hop culture now may see Rachael and her buffoonery as a representation of hip hop and black culture.
"People who were already side-eyeing breakdancing as an Olympic sport, Rachael Gunn has put the nail in that coffin.
"This might be the most viral clip of the whole Olympics. From a comedy standpoint, she's got it, but from an Olympics perspective, its regressive."
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COMMENTS
Ph.D. in Creative Writing A rigorous program that combines creative writing and literary studies, the Ph.D. in Creative Writing prepares graduates for both scholarly and creative publication and teaching. With faculty guidance, students admitted to the Ph.D. program may tailor their programs to their goals and interests.
This practice-based PhD will support you in the development of a long-form piece of creative writing, or a sequence of related works. You will also identify critical concerns and interests related to your creative practice, situating your work within a wider literary context. The final submission is divided between the creative piece and a ...
Your research Our PhD in English with Creative Writing encourages distinctive approaches to practice-based literary research. This route allows you to develop a substantial research project, which incorporates an original work of creative writing (in prose, poetry, or other forms). As part of a thriving community of postgraduate researchers and writers, you'll be supported by world-leading ...
It's weird, having a PhD in Creative Writing. It's both real—I have Dr on every piece of identification possible—and make believe: how many people even know that creative writing is an academic discipline? and how can you be a "professor of making things up"?
The PhD programme helps give structure to your creative project, and invites you to ask searching questions about your practice, to reflect on the process of producing creative work, and so to write a long critical-reflective essay (usually 15-20,000 words) to accompany the creative work. The creative body of work normally makes up 70% of the ...
The PhD in Creative Writing and Literature is a four-year course of study. Following two years of course work that includes workshop, forms classes, pedagogical training, and literature, students take exams in two areas, one that examines texts through the lens of craft and another that examines them through the lens of literary history and ...
Find out why and how you should apply for our PhD in Creative Writing, including guidance on the creative and critical components of your degree.
The Creative Writing discipline supports practice-based and critical research and PhD study focused on creative writing. This research activity is associated with the discipline's Contemporary Cultures of Writing Research Group. The core activity in this type of PhD study is the creation of a book-length work of literature (or script equivalent) and an accompanying critical reflective thesis ...
The PhD focused on Creative Writing presents particular challenges and opportunities because its core requirement is the creation of a book-length work of literature, written specifically for the degree and perfected to a publishable standard. In tandem, it requires an accompanying critical/reflective thesis which elucidates the research and creative strategies involved in the making of the work.
Research profile. The PhD in Creative Writing offers committed and talented writers the opportunity to study Creative Writing at the highest level. Supported by an expert supervisory team you will work independently towards the production of a substantial, publishable piece of creative writing, accompanied by a sustained exercise in critical ...
A PhD in Creative Writing is mainly made up of independent study, with supervision meetings spread throughout the year. There are no taught credits attached to a PhD, although it is compulsory for full-time students to attend the Arts Faculty Researcher Skills training programme.
A PhD in Creative Writing gives you the opportunity to develop an original piece of writing and an accompanying thesis, in which you connect this creative work to relevant theoretical, critical and historical thinking.
The purpose of the critical component of the PhD is to place the creative work within a literary and cultural context, and to serve as an independent, scrupulously researched and persuasive piece of writing that displays the qualities of originality, significance and coherence. The call for originality does not mean that your findings need to be entirely new: it may be sufficient to add ...
The PhD is designed to give students the critical skills to teach literature and writing at the college or university levels and includes both academic and creative courses, a teaching mentorship program, comprehensive exams, and a dissertation of creative work that includes a 30 to 50-page critical introduction to the creative work.
Swansea's Creative Writing research programme offers a choice from a spectrum of skills and a research dialogue across genres, including poetry, fiction, drama and screenwriting. We are a closely bonded community of writers, each research student being supervised by a specialist writer-teacher. One-to-one meetings take place every 4 weeks, or ...
About the PhD Creative/Critical Writing Concentration UC Santa Cruz offers a concentration in Creative/Critical Writing for Literature Ph.D. students. This is an individualized course of study in which students can write a creative dissertation with a critical introduction or a cross-genre creative/critical project. Our students have completed speculative novels, collections of poems and ...
In addition to the PhD in English application requirements, the department requires a creative writing portfolio. You should submit a creative writing sample of 15-20 pages as part of their application directly to the Graduate Coordinator for Incoming Students, Dr. Leah Orr at [email protected]. PDFs are preferred.
I spend most of my time writing in the dedicated post-graduate room at the University of Edinburgh located on the fourth floor of 50 George Square, or working in a co-working space in Canada. I had a weird start to my PhD in that I started during the pandemic, so about a third of my degree was done remotely due to restrictions on international ...
A PhD in literary studies is awarded upon satisfactory completion of a thesis of 80-100,000 words followed by a viva voce examination. A PhD in creative writing has two parts: the creative work (comprising 75-80,000 words of prose or 60 pages of poetry) plus a 20,000-word critical commentary. Award of the PhD in creative writing is subject ...
Perhaps research is what I've learnt: what it is, why to do it, how to do it well - in the context of both my creative work and its critical exegesis. But although I've been successful at presenting chapters from my dissertation as standalone papers and articles, my full thesis had an intimate audience of just three examiners (besides my supervisor). And while these academic skills will ...
Creative Writing (henceforth 'CW'), as an academic discipline, is the study of creative and imaginative work-in-progress, and so research is "practice-led", using the act of writing creatively as a research process, as well as studying the process and product of that writing. It does this by means of some sort of large-scale creative piece ...
• This form of study is appropriate for students who have an interest in critically analysing a topic and/or practice through the process of creative writing. Whilst the creative component to a practice-based PhD forms the largest part of the overall word count there has to be a leading critical idea that is debated in and through the creative and critical sections.
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Malik Dixon is an African American who has been living in Australia for more than a decade and is a Sydney University graduate. He said Raygun made a total "mockery" out of breaking at the Olympics.