English Literature And Creative Writing BA (Hons)

Our degree in English Literature and Creative Writing combines the best of both worlds. It introduces you to the study of historical and contemporary genres, while letting you practise writing across a range of commercial and literary genres.

The aim is to help you find your voice as a writer, consumer and critic. Under the guidance of experienced writers, you’ll be encouraged to question what you read and write: to think differently, develop fresh perspectives, and find innovative ways to interpret and find meaning.

Over the course of your studies, you will have opportunities to try your hand at lots of different literary forms, including, ghost stories, experimental poems, novels, and fantastic literature, discovering your own voice in dialogue with writers from different times and places. You’ll learn to identify and explore important themes, such as, gender and sexuality, the environment and climate, political injustice, economic inequality, colonialism and globalisation.

The exciting range of optional modules encompasses various genres, from poetry, novels and short stories to drama, screenplay and non-fictional prose. You can also explore themes that interest you, such as monstrosity in Medieval Literature, globalisation in the 19th-century, heroism, or climate change.

Critical analysis, writing exercises and assignments are designed to stimulate ideas and sharpen your own writing technique. You will develop creative skills in ideas generation, imagination, storytelling, creative thinking, and communication. You’ll also learn to pay attention to detail, process and synthesise vast amounts of information, plan and research, form ideas and opinions, construct arguments, formulate, and present persuasive arguments.

Discussing and debating texts, you’ll explore their relevance to the past and present-day events that shape our economy, politics, culture, society and identity.

The final-year project offers an opportunity to demonstrate how your creativity and interests have progressed. Rather than writing a conventional essay, you could choose a different form in which to present your critical understanding, from a fictionalised response to an online exhibition, vlog or a blog. Your dissertation could be part of a novel, a collection of short stories or a poetry collection in which you develop your own ideas in discussion with your supervisor.