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UCL Special Collections

Updates from one of the foremost university collections of manuscripts, archives and rare books in the UK

New Short Film Celebrates Successful Collaboration with the Orwell Youth Prize

By Vicky A Price, on 26 June 2023

The last year has seen Special Collections’ Outreach programme go from strength to strength.  We have welcomed school and community groups to a wide range of activities, especially at our new campus at UCL East, and exciting plans are afoot for next academic year.  That said, it is always beneficial to look back at triumphs and celebrate them when you can.  The upcoming anniversary of George Orwell’s birthday (120 years!) is a great opportunity for us to celebrate something that took place last summer at UCL’s Bloomsbury campus with a very special delivery partner, The Orwell Youth Prize.  This new short film does just that:

Delivering a Summer School to Year 12 students from around London is always a brilliant way to explore our collection at UCL Special Collections, as it gives us the chance to spend quality time with young learners and offer them an extended opportunity to engage with the collection.  This was a particularly special project, as The Orwell Youth Prize had worked with us to bring in professional, trailblazing journalists, who could share contemporary experiences and advice on becoming a journalist.  Alongside this, we were able to present Orwell’s experiences (as represented in the UNESCO registered Orwell Archive), make meaningful comparisons with our guest speakers’ experiences and find present-day applications of Orwell’s principles and journalistic outlook.

Participants interrogate a manuscript from the George Orwell Archive

Finding the right partners to collaborate with, who share similar goals and who can offer something unique to our programming, is often an essential part of our work in the Outreach team.  While this way of working can require careful planning and meticulous, consistent communication, the success of this summer school is testament to the huge potential rewards.

Tabby Hayward (Orwell Youth Prize Programme Coordinator) also recognises the benefits that Special Collections brought to their programme; “We were delighted to work with UCL Special Collections on this Summer School, for so many reasons. At the Orwell Youth Prize, we’re always trying to find new ways to get young people excited and inspired by the life and work of George Orwell, and his profound continuing relevance today. Special Collections provided the fantastic opportunity to share the Orwell Archive with the Summer School participants, allowing them to get up close and personal, exploring manuscripts, diaries and photographs. This direct experience really helped the participants to develop a deeper understanding of Orwell as a man and a writer, and we felt very lucky to be able to offer this. We were also so pleased that some of the Summer School participants went on to enter the Orwell Youth Prize this year, bringing everything together. It felt like a really fruitful and productive partnership and we’re looking forward to more collaborations in future!”

One very special output from this Summer School was participants’ writing.  We are delighted to share some excerpts with you from three participants’ pieces in this blog.  We asked our Year 12 cohort to find a topic that they were passionate about and to write a persuasive, argumentative piece that spot lit their own voice, using Orwell’s principles of clarity, directness and language economy:

A participant speaks with Marianna Spring, the BBC’s Disinformation and Social Media Correspondent and guest speaker at the Summer School.

Never Again by Jafa Bin-Faisal (a piece about the persecution of the Uyghur people in China)

After hearing about the immense economic influence of China, it’s perfectly understandable to feel hopelessly underpowered against a country with the second highest GDP in the world. But remember, a fire that engulfs a whole forest begins with a small spark, and it is our efforts right now that will provide the fuel for this spark to begin. We need to pressure our government into taking real action against the CCP, and this can be done through two main avenues: petition and protest.

Petitions are a great way to get issues being discussed in parliament, and it tells the government that the British people care about the welfare of the Uyghurs. In this age of social media, it’s easier than ever to increase awareness and gain signatures for these online petitions. Protests are another impactful way to visually show and physically impose pressure on the government, as it shows that we the people are willing to use our free time and use it to speak out against this injustice. Protests are already being organised, and just by marching, you are strengthening the legitimacy and impact of the message and movement.

CHAD AND STACY: THE PARADOX OF INCELS by Zara Hossain (a piece about misogyny and the internet’s power to amplify it)

The pitfall to such circles [online Incel forums] begins on mainstream sites like Youtube; the algorithm may begin with simple, innocent videos like “how to be more attractive to women,” or “dating tips,” or “how to be more masculine”, but these titles quickly open the door for more extreme content which is blatantly misogynistic. These videos tend to encourage men to embrace masculinity to an extreme degree, such as by asserting their power over women, refusing to be a “beta”, a term used to describe a man who is cowardly, especially in situations which involve approaching women. These videos depict a power imbalance between man and woman, as the man is urged to always be in control of the situation, to never let emotions cloud judgement and to never show signs of weakness. In contrast, women are portrayed as a homogeneous identity where every woman is only attracted to men who are strong, unemotional, in control, or “alpha.” In this “alpha” dynamic, the man is urged to be the leader of his pack and to me a role model for other men; thus in itself isn’t a bad thing; many such circles focus on men’s fitness and confidence, and can be healthy spaces for personal growth; but too often than not, these spiral into internalising extreme perceptions of gender roles, and lead them even deeper into the rabbit hole.

Is Colonisation Still Relevant? by Aya Mohamed (a piece about the importance of recognising the history of colonisation across the world and its influence on modern life)

Finally, why is it so important we acknowledge the relevance of colonisation and for that matter, history as a whole? In 1984, Ingsoc (the government of Oceania) was able to retain control over its citizens by rewriting history to fit its own narrative. “Who controls the past, controls the present.” Without knowledge of our past, we’re unable to make valuable judgments about our present. Those in power who manipulate information are able to not only influence what we do and what we say, but also what we think. It’s vital we never forget our roots, so that we can shape the branches of our future.

The Summer School also acted as a spring board for the creation of our first free digital education resources that feature the George Orwell Archive.  Check out our film and written resource , intended for Year 12 and 13 students.

Filed under Outreach

Tags: archives , creative writing , journalism , orwell , outreach , widening participation

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Special Collections welcome first Summer School at UCL

By Vicky A Price, on 27 July 2018

We are excited to announce UCL Special Collections’ newest addition to the outreach and education programme – our first Summer School programme, in August 2018!

We will be offering 14 Year 12 students a chance to learn about all things special collections – from what we keep, why we keep it, how we keep it and how our collections can be significant to an array of audiences.

Funded by Widening Participation , the four day programme will make good use of our wonderful host city; we will explore how special collections items are interpreted and displayed at The National Archives (at their exciting current exhibition Suffragettes vs.The City ) and The British Library.

Our team of specialists will offer guidance and advice as participants explore the notion of authenticity in interpretation, and participants will experiment with applying what they have learnt to some chosen manuscripts, rare books and archival items at UCL.

The final result will be an exhibition that presents students’ own responses, in a variety of formats and genres, alongside the items themselves. The exhibition will take place in UCL’s South Junction Reading Room on August 9th from 2pm to 4pm – it will be free and open to the public, so please come along!*

*Visitors are invited to pop in at any time between 2pm and 4pm.  Should the room become full we might ask you to wait a short while before entry, due to space restrictions.

Filed under Exhibitions , Outreach

Tags: a levels , archives , creative writing , education , heritage learning , interpretation , main library exhibition , manuscripts , outreach , participation , rare books , schools , widening participation

Outreach Touring Exhibition Makes its Way to Stratford

By Vicky A Price, on 19 October 2017

First Stop; Stratford Library

UCL Special Collections have been busy putting together an exhibition that combines items from the Main Library exhibition East Side Stories and Newham Borough’s own archival items.

The exhibition in Stratford Library

This ‘pop-up’ exhibition features historic photographs, archival documents, maps and rare publications that tell of East London’s rich and fascinating past.  As the banners tour all of Newham’s 10 public libraries, we’ll be running a range of different workshops to deepen engagement and to create opportunities to record local people’s oral histories.  Many of these activities will take place in Newham Heritage Week .

Posters for the exhibition in pride of place at Stratford Library

Poetry from the Archive

We’ve kicked things off with three poetry workshops in Stratford and East Ham libraries.  These groups are already well established and participants enjoy writing poetry in an inclusive and positive environment. They were keen to engage with the forthcoming exhibition and the archival items we brought to them.  Poems ranged from sombre, thoughtful pieces about racial tensions and migration, to playful tales of the quintessential cup of tea at a Newham street party in the 1920s.

The Saturday morning group in full swing

London Memory Archive and UCL East

The oral histories we record will be the beginning of a new initiative, the London Memory Archive, which will be part of UCL East’s Culture Lab.  It’s a timely opportunity to start developing a collection that reflects the memories and perspectives of a local community that UCL will soon be neighbour to.

Successful Funding Bids

To support the project, and to help lay the foundations for a longer term relationship with Newham and its library and archive services, we’ve sought external funding.  We are pleased to announce that we have been successful in a UCL Culture Beacon Bursary grant and a Heritage Lottery Fund grant.  This means that we are able to buy the equipment needed to make archival quality recordings, receive specialist oral history training, pay for the printing of the exhibition and promotional material and all workshop resources, as well as support volunteers’ involvement throughout.

We hope that we will be able to collaborate with Newham in further touring exhibitions that make use of the research and digitisation that takes place for the Main Library exhibition and also gives us a chance to bring a different edge to the narrative told.  Newham has an incredible collection of historic photographs, for example, which often bring the content of an item from UCL’s collection to life.

Be sure to check back for further updates and photographs of Special Collection’s outreach work!

Tags: archives , beacon bursary , collaboration , creative writing , east london , heritage lottery fund , newham libraries , special collections , ucl east , volunteers

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Love poems, strange tales, and microscopes: creative writing with First Story

By Helen Biggs, on 29 March 2017

One of the annual highlights of SCAR’s outreach work is our participation in First Story’s Creative Writing Day, which this year saw almost 100 pupils from six London schools descend upon UCL’s museums and library collections to attend workshops run by professional writers.

In late February, poet Miriam Nash ran a session for 17 students from St Mary’s and St John’s CE School, exploring how books interact with our five senses, and inspiring participants to create new pieces of writing based on their interactions with rare books and manuscripts from Special Collections.

While the books on offer included Hooke’s Micrographia and an emblem book formerly owned by Ben Jonson, it was the 1493 Liber chronicarum which really caught the visitors’ attention. Better known as the Nuremberg Chronicle, the encyclopaedia-like book mingles legend, religion and fact to present a historical narrative which is very different from any that we’re familiar with today. This led students to pose the philosophical question: was the writer of the Nuremberg Chronicle lying, if he really believed the myths he wrote about were true?

Learning about the strange creatures described in the Nuremberg Chronicles

Attitudes on the day ranged from quietly interested to loudly enthused, with students enjoying both the chance to see these rare items up close and to write and share their own work. Or, as one attendee put it,

“ It was very entertaining and areas of my brain I never knew existed before were unlocked today! I loved it!”

It was easy to be impressed with what the pupils produced: stories about strange creatures with feet for heads, poetry offering soberingly mature love advice, and writing that went into microscopic details.  While the day may have aimed to motivate young people with objects they had never seen before, the talent and intelligence of these young authors was in itself inspiring to the library staff in attendance.

First Story works to nurture the creative writing skills of young people by linking schools in low-income areas with professional writers, to help pupils discover and foster their talents.

Filed under Events , Outreach

Tags: creative writing , first story , miriam nash , schools , special collections

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Postgraduate literature and creative writing courses at UCL - University College London

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Creative and Collaborative Enterprise MA

London, Stratford (UCL East)

This unique MA is designed for students who want to start and run original and distinctive customer-funded enterprises, where the way you do things is as important as what you do. The programme is run by anthropologists and leading practitioners from the creative industries, ensuring you receive the highest-quality practice-based learning.

UK tuition fees (2024/25)

Overseas tuition fees (2024/25), programme starts, applications accepted.

Applications closed

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• Entry requirements

Normally a minimum of an upper second-class Bachelor's degree from a UK university or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard. Relevant experience will also be considered when assessing candidates.

The English language level for this programme is: Level 4

UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level.

Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.

Equivalent qualifications

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website .

International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below. Please note that the equivalency will correspond to the broad UK degree classification stated on this page (e.g. upper second-class). Where a specific overall percentage is required in the UK qualification, the international equivalency will be higher than that stated below. Please contact Graduate Admissions should you require further advice.

About this degree

The Creative and Collaborative Enterprise MA supports students to develop and implement their enterprise ideas and embark on their entrepreneurial journey by turning to Ethnography, Anthropology, and principles of Ensemble Theatre. Taking this human-centred approach, students will learn to think creatively, collaboratively, and critically about their entrepreneurial ideas and the world into which it will enter.  

Who this course is for

The MA Creative and Collaborative Enterprise is designed for those who want to start up innovative, ethos-driven, customer-funded enterprises. Students come from a wide-range of backgrounds and experiences.

What this course will give you

Students will learn to initiate a creative enterprise project; to apply creative arts and ethnographic practices to business activities; to think critically about the relationship between ethos and delivery when starting a business; to utilise the skills of effectual entrepreneurship needed to initiate, grow and establish a new enterprise; and to critically assess and reform enterprise activities and their context.

Students learn creative and collaborative practices, and follow customer-funded business models, to provide them with the understanding, critical abilities and skill sets that will enable them to develop innovative, desirable and distinctive new products or services, and to start-up the value-rich, ethos-driven enterprises that will take those products to market and thrive in the contemporary world.

Students have access to a wide range of innovation-focused initiatives and events at UCL including the programmes offered by UCL Innovation & Enterprise. We endeavour to link enterprise development with the ethnographic expertise of the UCL Anthropology department, and connect students with relevant individuals in the creative and start-up networks and communities thriving in London.

This programme is based at our brand new  UCL East campus  in East London, forming part of the  School for Creative and Cultural Industries . Students will benefit from cultural and educational connections with our East Bank partners such as the V&A and BBC, as well as state-of-the-art facilities including exhibition, performance and curating spaces, conservation studios and a 160-seater surround-sound cinema.

The foundation of your career

The creative sector now accounts for around 10% of the UK's GDP ( Creative Industries Council ). In recent years employment in the sector has grown four times faster than the workforce as a whole ( Creative Industries Council ). By graduation students will be well versed in developing and harnessing creative and collaborative techniques; have learnt how to recognise, initiate and develop enterprise opportunities; have acquired a range of essential business skills; and be able to productively contextualise their initiatives within socio-cultural phenomena. However, many CCE alumni go into employment after graduation and apply these creative and collaborative practices in an organisational setting.

Employability

The MA is aimed at students who want to start up innovative, ethos-driven customer-funded enterprises either in one of the nine creative sectors recognised by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (including advertising, architecture, IT, and the visual arts); or an enterprise with a non-normal sphere of operation. The programme is designed for students to discover ways in which an unusual enterprise idea can be sustained through the identification of niche opportunities, ethnographic insight, and by delivering value to customers. For conventional enterprise opportunities, UCL School of Management offers an excellent and comprehensive MSc in Entrepreneurship .

As well as taking advantage of the various enterprise activities in East London and networking with guest speakers on the course, CCE students are able to access the resources of UCL Innovation and Enterprise . UCL Innovation and Enterprise offers extracurricular courses in Starting and growing a business; entrepreneurial networking; entrepreneurship advisors; an incubator programme; and support to apply for an Innovator Founder visa.

Teaching and learning

The programme is delivered through a combination of lectures, seminars, practical workshops, and class discussion. Students are given the opportunity to attend workshops with creative practitioners, and lectures from leading entrepreneurs.

Assessment is through presentations, coursework, long essay, class participation, project portfolio, and the dissertation. Students are encouraged to implement enterprise projects and to reflect on their execution and impact.

The compulsory modules typically involve around 162 contact hours (a mix of 1h lectures & 1h, 1.5h, 2h seminars/ workshops/ tutorials).

You will undertake eight taught modules and a research dissertation project:

• You will take four compulsory modules in both Term 1 and Term 2.
• The Term 1 compulsory modules provide a grounding in creative enterprise, social theory, and applied ethnography. The Term 2 compulsory modules introduce social and collaborative practices to shape the development of your enterprise.
• Dissertation planning begins in Term 2, with the research and writing conducted in Term 3 and the summer.

Compulsory modules

Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability are subject to change. Modules that are in use for the current academic year are linked for further information. Where no link is present, further information is not yet available.

Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits. Upon successful completion of 180 credits, you will be awarded an MA in Creative and Collaborative Enterprise.

Accessibility

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble accessable.co.uk . Further information can also be obtained from the UCL Student Support and Wellbeing team .

Fees and funding

Fees for this course.

The tuition fees shown are for the year indicated above. Fees for subsequent years may increase or otherwise vary. Where the programme is offered on a flexible/modular basis, fees are charged pro-rata to the appropriate full-time Master's fee taken in an academic session. Further information on fee status, fee increases and the fee schedule can be viewed on the UCL Students website: ucl.ac.uk/students/fees .

Additional costs

All full-time students are required to pay a fee deposit of £2,000 for this programme. All part-time students are required to pay a fee deposit of £1,000.

Students are expected to complete their coursework on campus, as the computers on site are equipped to support video editing.

For more information on additional costs for prospective students please go to our estimated cost of essential expenditure at Accommodation and living costs .

Funding your studies

The scholarship works to support the ambitions of east Londoners by funding the fees and living costs of eligible Master's programmes including this MA at UCL. Further details at: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/scholarships/ucl-east-london-scholarship .

For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website .

Aziz Foundation Scholarships in Social and Historical Sciences

Value: Full tuition fees (equivalent to 1yr full-time) (1yr) Criteria Based on financial need Eligibility: UK

UCL East London Scholarship

Deadline: 20 June 2024 Value: Tuition fees plus £15,700 stipend () Criteria Based on financial need Eligibility: UK

Students are advised to apply as early as possible due to competition for places. Those applying for scholarship funding (particularly overseas applicants) should take note of application deadlines.

There is an application processing fee for this programme of £90 for online applications and £115 for paper applications. Further information can be found at Application fees .

When we assess your application we would like to learn: - why you want to study the Creative and Collaborative Enterprise MA including a clear enterprise idea to implement and pursue during the programme - what particularly attracts you to the Creative and Collaborative Enterprise MA - how your academic and professional background meets the demands of this challenging programme – please include some experience of making or doing things that people want or need, and a demonstrable commitment to process-based innovation - where you would like to go professionally with your degree. Together with essential academic requirements, the personal statement is your opportunity to demonstrate the way your reasons for applying to this programme match what the programme will deliver.

Please note that you may submit applications for a maximum of two graduate programmes (or one application for the Law LLM) in any application cycle.

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Please read the Application Guidance before proceeding with your application.

Year of entry: 2024-2025

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The literature of the unpublished : student conceptions of creative writing in higher education

]. Doctoral thesis , Institute of Education, University of London.

Abstract This study develops a non textual theory of creative writing in terms of critical issues of student learning, writing and literature. It does so from a dialogical or intersubjective perspective, grounding both 'learning' and 'literature' in student conception or active understanding of the practice of writing. In this respect, it relates to research in student learning which has established the importance of contrasting (reproducing/transforming) conceptions of and (deep/surface) approaches to learning, and to research on the socio-cultural character of writing and literature. The study employs qualitative methods, focusing on 40 in-depth interviews with students studying and practising creative writing at three different institutions of higher education. Despite the rather unique nature of the discipline, a detailed examination and analysis of the interview transcripts disclosed a typology of six differing conceptions of student understanding and practice of creative writing which parallel, to a large degree, the conceptions of learning in other more traditional academic disciplines. It presents this typology from three accumulating perspectives, compositional, structural and situational. The first two describe the nature of the main transcribing and composing categories of conception and the third grounds conception within the socioacademic encounter between student and course. These findings show, moreover, that student conceptions of creative writing are not stable, independent cognitive entities, but are, rather, characterised by the complex myriad of socio-cultural and institutional issues describing the individual and the writing course; issues governed and defined by an authoritative 'literary' discourse or paradigm. In addition the very distinctive nature of creative writing (often drawing, in the first instance, on personal sources) sheds new light on the nature of conception and suggests an extended, more unified model of student learning.

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English and Creative Writing

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Thank you for considering an application.

Here's what you need in order to apply:

• Royal Holloway's institution code: R72

Make a note of the UCAS code for the course you want to apply for:

• English and Creative Writing BA - QW38
• Click on the link below to apply via the UCAS website:

Key information

Duration: 3 years full time

UCAS code: QW38

Institution code: R72

Campus: Egham

English and Creative Writing (BA)

By combining the study of creative writing with English, you'll become an informed and critical reader as well as a confident and expressive writer - whether specialising as a poet, playwright, or author of fiction.

Studying at one of the UK's most dynamic English departments will challenge you to develop your own critical faculties. Learning to write creatively and critically analyse in tandem, you'll be exposed to a huge variety of literature while you develop your own writing practice. Studying English will allow you to place your writing within a wider cultural context of literature throughout history, considering key texts and acquiring a sound understanding of significant periods, genres, authors and ideas.

Modules are taught by nationally and internationally known scholars, authors, playwrights and poets who are specialists in their fields who write ground-breaking books, talk or write in the national media and appear at literary festivals around the world.  This means the course you take covers the most up-to-date ideas, whether in Creative Writing, Victorian Literature, Shakespearean studies or contemporary literature.

Find your voice as a writer and develop writing techniques, learn how to create, criticise and shape an artistic work: a valuable life skill with uses beyond writing poetry, plays or novels. From journalism and website creation to advertising and academic publishing – you'll be able to use the skills you pick up in character, voice, ambiguity, style and cultural context.

• Writing practice at the heart of your learning experience.
• Taught by high-profile, award-winning writers.
• Create and shape artistic work – ideal skills for a career in media or publishing.
• Choose one of three distinct pathways: fiction, poetry, or playwriting.
• Access to a thriving culture of creative writing.

From time to time, we make changes to our courses to improve the student and learning experience. If we make a significant change to your chosen course, we’ll let you know as soon as possible.

Course structure

Core modules.

In this module you will develop an understanding of a range of literary and cultural writing forms through reading, discussion and practice. You will look at poetry, drama and prose fiction alongside stand-up comedy, adaptation, translation, songwriting, and other forms of creative expression and articulation. You will learn how to offer clear, constructive, sensitive critical appraisals, and how to accept and appropriately value criticism of your own work.

In this module you will develop an understanding of a range historical perspectives on the function, forms, and value of creative writing. You will look at the genesis of particular genres, such as the short story, the novel and the manifesto, and consider relationships between historical genres and the contemporary writer. You will interrogate your own assumptions about creative writing and critically examine the relationship between creative writing and society.

In this module you will develop an understanding of the origins, developments and innovations of the novel form. You will look at a range of contemporary, eighteenth and nineteenth-century novels and learn to use concepts in narrative theory and criticism. You will consider literary history and make formal and thematic connections between texts and their varying socio-cultural contexts. You will examine novels such as 'The Accidental' by Ali Smith, 'Things Fall Apart' by Chinua Achebe and 'North and South' by Elizabeth Gaskell, analysing their cultural and intellectual contexts.

In this module you will develop an understanding of a variety of major poems in English. You will look at key poems from the Renaissance to the present day. You will engage with historical issues surrounding the poems and make critical judgements, considering stylistic elements such as rhyme, rhythm, metre, diction and imagery. You will examine poems from Shakespeare to Sylvia Plath and analyse topics such as sound, the stanza and the use of poetic language.

In this module you will develop an understanding of how to think, read and write as a critic. You will look at the concepts, ideas and histories that are central to the ‘disciplinary consciousness’ of English Literature, considering periodisation, form, genre, canon, intention, narrative, framing and identity.

You will choose two from the following:

• Playwriting

This module concentrates on a particular mode of writing, genre, theme, issue or idea. You will be encouraged to make creative work in relation to the focus, and develop your writing practice in relation to wider contexts relevant to the contemporary writer.

Creative Writing Special Focus courses are open to both creative writing and non-creative writing students.

You will choose one of the following modules. Each of these modules consists of a year-long independent project, working closely with a staff supervisor from the appropriate field.

• Playwriting 2

Optional Modules

There are a number of optional course modules available during your degree studies. The following is a selection of optional course modules that are likely to be available. Please note that although the College will keep changes to a minimum, new modules may be offered or existing modules may be withdrawn, for example, in response to a change in staff. Applicants will be informed if any significant changes need to be made.

• All modules are core

Develop your skills in the close reading and critical analysis of Middle English poetry, focusing on set passages from three important fourteenth century texts: Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde, Langland’s Piers Plowman, and the anonymous Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The module invites you to think about how poets understood the status of Middle English as a literary language, in comparison with Latin and French.

The Lord of the Rings regularly shows up in lists of 'The Best Books of All Time', and Tolkien continues to inspire interest and imitation for all kinds of reasons. You will examine Tolkien’s work from the perspective of his engagement with Old English poetry, a subject which constituted an important part of his scholarly activity. You will look at his three main Old English poems (in the original and in translation) and Tolkien’s two most popular works of fiction, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

In this module you will explore a major literary genre which attracted all the great poets of late medieval England: the dream vision. It considers the use of the genre in the works of Chaucer, Langland and the Gawain-poet, as well as examining the visions in mystical writing. These authors’ treatments of the genre repeatedly ask us to reflect on the relationship of literature to experience, poetic authority and identity, and the development of English as a literary language.

Romance was one of the most popular genres of secular literature in late medieval England. You will begin by looking at the Arthurian romances of Chretien de Troyes, before going on to consider works by Chaucer, the Gawain-poet and Sir Thomas Malory. You will examine romances set in the mythical British past, in the classical cities of Troy, Thebes and Athens, and in the more recognisable landscapes of medieval England and France. Attention will be paid throughout this module to the often inventive and unpredictable ways in which medieval romance works to articulate specific historical and cultural anxieties.

In this module you will develop an understanding of the Anglo-Saxon riddling tradition. You will look at a wide range of Exeter Book Riddles, learning to translate Old English Poetry into modern English. You will consider techniques of textual analysis and personal judgement to form clearly expressed critical examinations of texts. You will consider various perspectives on Anglo-Saxon culture and literature and analyse riddles on topics such as animals, religion, heroic life and runes.

This module explores in-depth three supreme examples of Shakespearean comedy, tragedy and historical drama: Richard III (1592-3), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595-6), and Macbeth (1606).

The texts covered in this module span virtually the whole period in which early modern English drama flourished: from Marlowe in c.1593 to 1634. The texts range from famous plays like Macbeth and The Tempest to little-known comedies like The Wise-woman of Hogsden. Two central texts will be The Witch of Edmonton and The Late Lancashire Witches, plays which deal with historically documented witchcraft accusations and scares. Non-dramatic texts about witchcraft are also included for study, including news pamphlets, works by learned contemporaries expressing their opinions about witchcraft, and popular ballads.

Charting a progression from Galenic humoral theory to Cartesian dualism, you will consider the representation and significance of corporeality in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century texts. Reading Renaissance plays and poetry alongside anatomical textbooks, manuals of health, erotica, and philosophical essays, the module seeks to contextualise the period's literary treatment of the body.

This module offers the opportunity to study one very important and characteristic aspect of Milton’s Paradise Lost: his depiction of Eden, the paradise that was lost at the fall. Throughout his account of Paradise, Milton works to make the loss of Paradise poignant by lavishing on it all his evocative powers as a poet. You will spend at least three sessions looking at Milton's epic, covering aspects such as Edenic sex and marriage, Eden’s fauna and flora, and work in Eden. Throughout the module images of Paradise will be given attention, starting with Hieronymus Bosch's 'The Garden of Earthly Delight'. Alongside artworks, you will look at some of the Bible scholarship which tried to locate the site of Paradise, and deduce its fate.

An introduction to English literature from the Norman Conquest to the birth of Chaucer. This period has been described both as a period of political crisis and also as a period of cultural renaissance. It saw the conquest and colonization of England, the rise of new forms of scholarship and spirituality, and, according to some accounts, the development of new ways of thinking about national and individual identity

Explore the Victorian concept of the 'sensational' across a range of novels dating from the height of the sensation period in the 1850s and 60s. Together, we will examine some of the magazines in which these novels were originally serialized. Issues such as the role of public spectacle, the first detectives, advertising, domestic crime and the demonic woman will be explored in relation to the cultural and social context of this novelistic genre.

This module, which is designed to enable non-creative writing students to try a creative writing module, will give you the opportunity to work through some issues associated with short-story and/or novel writing. Classes will alternate seminar discussions of aspects of the craft of writing with workshops in which you will interact critically and creatively with others' work.

Examine a range of novels by gay and lesbian writers in Britain and Ireland which have emerged in the wake of the AIDS catastrophe and queer theory. You will focus on interesting though rather peculiar trends in the post-queer novel: queer historical and biographical fictions, and explore the reasons behind the dominance of these approaches in recent gay and lesbian literature.

With the appointment of Carol Ann Duffy as the first woman Poet Laureate for the United Kingdom in 2009, poetry by women became publicly validated as never before. Setting fresh horizons for women’s poetry, Duffy joined Gillian Clarke who has served as National Poet of Wales since 2008; Liz Lochhead was appointed Scots Makar in 2011, and Paula Meehan was appointed in 2013 to the Ireland Chair of Poetry. By careful reading of two collections by each poet, you will assess how each poet has moved from a position of rebellion, liminality or minority into the very heart of the cultural institution.

Discover the 'dark' topics of late-Victorian and Edwardian literature. Perhaps the most important cultural influence on these texts is the negative possibility inherent in Darwinism: that of 'degeneration', of racial or cultural reversal, explored in texts like Wells's The Time Machine, and often related to the Decadent literature of Wilde and others.

An introduction to American literature via the tradition which David Reynolds labels 'dark reform'; a satirical and often populist mode which seek out the abuses which lie beneath the optimistic surface of American life, often through grotesque, scatological, sexualized and carnivalesque imagery. You will explore the contention that because of America's history, with its notions of national consensus and fear of class conflict, political critique in America has often had to find indirect expression.

This module will familiarise you with a range of influential critical and theoretical ideas in literary studies, influential and important for all the areas and periods you will study during your degree.

An introduction to the literature of the English Renaissance, beginning in the 1590s with erotic narrative poems by Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare, and concluding with John Milton's drama, Samson Agonistes, first published in 1671. Marlowe and Thomas Middleton represent the extraordinarily rich drama of the period, while John Donne and Andrew Marvell are the most famous of the so-called metaphysical poets. A feature of the module is the attention given to situating these works in their historical and cultural contexts.

Between the English Revolution and the French Revolution, British literature was pulled by opposing cultural forces and experienced an extraordinary degree of experimentation. The eighteenth century is sometimes called The Age of Reason, but it is also called The Age of Sensibility. It was dominated by male writers, but also facilitated the rise of the woman novelist and the emergence of coteries of intellectual women. It continued to be an essentially rural nation, but London grew to be the biggest city in the world and industrialisation was beginning to herd workers into towns. This module explores some of the tensions and oppositions which were played out in the literature of this period.

This module is framed by the personal: it begins with Queen Victoria’s private diaries of her happiest days in Scotland, and ends just beyond the Victorian period, with one troubled man’s intensely-felt account of his Victorian childhood. You will look at examples of the novelistic form, including sensation, Romantic, domestic realist and sentimental novels. Some of the works you will study are well-known and truly canonical, while others will be excitingly unfamiliar; all, however, will contribute to a sense of the variety and contradictions inherent in being Victorian.

This module will introduce you to a broad range of literatures from the period 1780 to 1830. The module aims to problematise and scrutinise the idea of Romanticism as a homogenous literary movement and to raise awareness of the range of competing literary identities present in the period.

Providing an introduction to the study of literary modernism, a period of intense experimentation in diverse sets of cultural forms.  This module deals with issues such as modernist aesthetics; genre; gender and sexuality; the fragment; time and narration; stream-of-consciousness; history, politics and colonialism; technology, and the status of language and the real.

The principal aim of this course is to immerse second-year literature students in the world of digital tools for exploring literature. Through extensive hands-on use of online parsing tools, algorithmic methods for assessing aspects such as word co-association, various types of visualization packages and a great deal more besides, students will realise the remarkable affordances of digital tools in reading and interpreting texts.

Explore British drama staged during the first half of the twentieth century against a backdrop of two world wars. The plays studied place the values of their age under scrutiny, to raise questions about social justice, spiritual choices, class and gender inequalities. Theatrical genres were under just as much pressure as the cultural values they sought to convey; the ten plays studies during the course reflect a range of evolving genres, from the well-made play, the play of ideas, social comedy, to poetic drama.

This module aims to develop your advanced writing skills for academic attainment and employability. You will be introduced to key forms of writing from a variety of professional contexts. An initial focus on the academic essay will enable you to develop writing from more familiar experience.

A project involving designing and promoting a virtual exhibition will introduce you to the writing skills needed in heritage professions and group work. Real life writing and editing tasks introduced by industry professionals from the world of publishing will provide you with practical experience to share with potential employers. You will also be introduced to the requirements of pitches, policy briefs, and the work of writing in the legal professions.

A comprehensive study of three of Shakespeare's most difficult and most disturbing plays, collectively known as the ‘problem plays’: Troilus and Cressida, All’s Well That Ends Well and Measure for Measure. You will develop a detailed knowledge and understanding of the plays, both as individual works of dramatic art and as a group of texts sharing distinctive concerns and techniques.

In this module you will develop an understanding of representations of the body in Renaissance Literature. You will look at a broad range of canonical and non-canonical literature including medical, philosophical and theological texts. You will learn to use diverse critical and theoretical approaches and consider topics including bodily metamorphosis, foreign bodies and gendered bodies. You will examine poetry from writers such as John Donne and Philip Sidney and plays from writers such as William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe and John Webster.

An advanced introduction to debates about the philosophy of literature. This module is structured around three key questions: the ethics of literature, what literature is presumed to reveal and the relationship between literature and its interpretation.

This module will introduces you to a number of theorists of tragedy, and a number of significant tragic texts (in dramatic and other idioms) from Classical Greece to the present day. All works not written in English are studied in translation. You will explore a variety of theories of tragedy with specific attention to a range of tragic works in various modes: plays, novels, poetry and film.

Focusing primarily on Joyce’s major work Ulysses while putting it into context with Joyce’s other work, you will have the opportunity of getting to know and getting to enjoy what has been described as ‘the greatest novel of the 20th century’. You will examine it in various contexts, including Joyce’s other writings and the various critical approaches that have found inspiration from Joyce, whether new critical, humanist, post-structuralist, politicizing, feminist, historicizing or textualist responses to his work.

This module explores aspects of nineteenth-century literature, science and culture in some depth and brings well-known works like Charlotte Brontë's Villette, Eliot's Middlemarch and Dickens's Our Mutual Friend into conversation with the evolutionary thought of Charles Darwin, the social investigations of Henry Mayhew and nineteenth-century writings on psychology. You will look at a number of genres, including novels, poetry, journalism, science writing, autobiography, history, art criticism and examine elements of contemporary visual culture.

The objective of this course is to prepare literature students for work in the creative industries by developing their use of digital technologies in responding to literature. In using digital technology to respond to literature both critically and aesthetically, literature students can become adept at various practices that are of immediate, valuable use in the creative industry workplace. This course will cultivate these practices, show how they grow organically out of a love for reading and writing, and demonstrate how they are skills that are in great demand in a wide range of creative workplaces.

In this module you will consider a range of contemporary and experimental poetic writing and consider writing practices in relation to contemporary theory and criticism. You will look at the methods, processes and techniques used by experimental and innovative writers becoming familiar with a range of methodologies for making your own poetic practice.

In this module you will address the relationship between literature and the visual arts from c.1760 to the 1890s. You will look at theoretical issues of how the visual and the verbal arts are defined and consider their compatibility through a number of case studies of visual-verbal interactions from the period studied. You will also address the rise of the visual as the dominant cultural form of the Victorian period, tracing the development of illustrated media and new visual technologies including photography and early cinema, and the concomitant rise of the new phenomenon of the art critic - the professional interpreter of images - in the 1890s.

This module focuses on a key moment in mid-20th century art and culture: the period when the New York Schools of poetry, painting and composition emerged in parallel. In the postwar period, the city took over from Paris as the centre of contemporary art. Abstract Expressionism quickly achieved global popularity, establishing the Museum of Modern Art as the world’s leading contemporary art museum. However, other cultural currents also made a great impact on their respective disciplines. The witty, fast-moving work of the New York School Poets (Frank O’Hara, John Ashbery, Kenneth Koch, Barbara Guest and James Schuyler) challenged the authority of High Modernism in the field of poetry. The radical music of John Cage and Morton Feldman posed a similar challenge to established European composers. The leading proponents of these tendencies did not work in isolation from other disciplines. The poets, for example, wrote about art and Cage and Feldman were both inspired, in different ways, by painters such as Rauschenberg and Guston. This module examines all three fields and the relations between them.

The 1930s was a decade of extremes: extreme financial instability (after the Wall Street Crash of 1929) and extreme politics, with the rise of Fascism and Nazism in Europe. British colonialism was showing fractures; there was a war in mainland Europe (in Spain), and the increasing threat of another World War, which eventually came to pass. Could it be that it closely - all too closely - resembles the decade that we’re living in now – with the rise of nationalisms, extreme ideologies, unstable international relations, following on from a colossal crash in the financial markets? What can we learn about our world by reading fiction from the 1930s?

Examine fictional representations of the girl across a range of texts, from Charlotte Brontë's eponymous Jane Eyre through to Antonia White's Catholic schoolgirl, Nanda and Ian McEwan's remorseful Briony Tallis. As well as enabling an exploration of female development and subjectivity, you will also engage with a range of questions relating to sexuality and desire, place and belonging, knowledge and resistance, art and creativity.

In this module you will study a broad range of writing for children from the nineteenth through to the twenty-first century.

The end of the various colonial empires in the middle of the twentieth century saw an explosion of literatures from the newly emergent postcolonial societies. Rather than provide a survey of the field of postcolonial studies, this module aims at engaging the recent debates in postcolonial writing, theory and criticism. You will critically examine a range of postcolonial novels from Britain’s erstwhile empire, paying attention to issues such as the boons and contradictions of writing in the language of the colonial powers, the postcolonial reclamation of the Western canon etc. and focussing on genres such as postcolonial realism, modernism, magic realism, and science fiction. You will pay close attention to novels and their historical legacies of colonialism and resistance.

In this module you will consider two immediate, present-day concerns. The first is currently very much in circulation in English political culture and the media: what is and should be the relationship between England and continental Europe? How involved is and should the first be with the second? How close are they, how distant should they be? The second sounds rather more academic or theoretical, but is also at issue in the wider culture and involves us all. Over the past two decades, many thinkers and writers have announced that we have arrived at 'the end of modernity', and many more have declared that we are'post-modern', that we inhabit a 'postmodern condition'. Yet round about us, all the time, we hear of one kind of enthusiastic 'modernization' or another. What sense can we make of this?

Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales are among the greatest literary achievements of the middle Ages. Chaucer describes a group of pilgrims, drawn from all parts of late medieval English society, who enter into a tale-telling competition on their way to Canterbury. Their stories include romances, fabliaux, saints’ lives and beast fables, and address themes of love and sorrow, trickery and deception, fate and free will, satire, tragedy and magic, as well as raising questions about the nature and purposes of storytelling itself. In this module you will read The Canterbury Tales in detail in the original Middle English. You will examine how the tales relate to their literary and cultural contexts, and read them in the light of different schools of modern criticism. You will also have the opportunity to read a range of earlier writers who influenced Chaucer, including Ovid, Boethius, Dante and Boccaccio, and later writers who responded to him, including Lydgate, Hoccleve and Dryden.

In this module you will study the complete career of Charles Dickens (1812-1870), looking at eight novels in their historical and cultural contexts. You will examine Dickens's life and times, and the cultural discourses that shaped his fiction; the serialisation and illustration of his work, and the themes, forms and structures of his writing. You will also consider the richness and specificity of Dickens' actual work.

In this module you will have the opportunity to read in detail and in chronological order the full range of works by Oscar Wilde, from his early poetry to his last letters. Wilde’s work has captured the widest possible public attention since his death in 1900, and his readers and audiences are spread across the globe. His work is intensely literary and profoundly political yet it is popular and fleet-of-foot. And just as his output is exceptionally varied, so too the questions which arise from its study will take students in many directions. Aesthetic poetry, the role of the critic, the construction and betrayal of national and sexual identities, symbolist drama, platonic dialogue, fairy tale, farce, satire, wit: these are some of the topics you will examine.

Often described as the most difficult and influential poems of the twentieth-century, T. S. Eliot's "The Waste Land" is undoubtedly one of the key Modernist texts. You will you look at Eliot's 1922 poem, along with a selection of his critical writings, engaging in an intensive reading experience in which you will examine ideas about composition, structure, voice, time, myth and intertextuality.

The dissertation is an opportunity for you to undertake a substantial piece of independent work in an area of your choice, and so to deepen your understanding of literature, culture and critical theory.

Teaching & assessment

You’ll be taught through a combination of lectures and seminars, and participate in study groups, essay consultations and guided independent study, plus you will produce a portfolio of creative work.

You will be assigned a Personal Tutor and have access to many online resources and the University’s comprehensive e-learning facility, Moodle.

In your first year, you will work in small groups of just four or five students focusing on study skills such as close reading, essay writing and presentation and self-editing. As you progress through your degree, these tutorials focus on your own personal development, for instance preparing your CV.

You will also take a study skills course, designed to equip you with and enhance the writing skills you will need to be successful in your degree. This course does not count towards your final degree award but you are required to pass it to progress to your second year.

All undergraduate degree courses at Royal Holloway are based on the course unit system. This system provides an effective and flexible approach to study while ensuring that our degrees have a coherent and developmental structure.

Entry requirements

A levels: aaa-aab.

Required subjects:

• A in an essay-based Arts and Humanities subject at A-Level
• At least five GCSEs at grade A*-C or 9-4 including English and Mathematics.

Where an applicant is taking the EPQ alongside A-levels, the EPQ will be taken into consideration and result in lower A-level grades being required. For students who are from backgrounds or personal circumstances that mean they are generally less likely to go to university, you may be eligible for an alternative lower offer. Follow the link to learn more about our  contextual offers.

We accept T-levels for admission to our undergraduate courses, with the following grades regarded as equivalent to our standard A-level requirements:

• AAA* – Distinction (A* on the core and distinction in the occupational specialism)
• AAA – Distinction
• BBB – Merit
• CCC – Pass (C or above on the core)
• DDD – Pass (D or E on the core)

Where a course specifies subject-specific requirements at A-level, T-level applicants are likely to be asked to offer this A-level alongside their T-level studies.

English language requirements

All teaching at Royal Holloway (apart from some language courses) is in English. You will therefore need to have good enough written and spoken English to cope with your studies right from the start of your course.

The scores we require

• IELTS: 7.0 overall. Writing 7.0. No other subscore lower than 5.5.
• Pearson Test of English: 69 overall. Writing 69. No other subscore lower than 51.
• Trinity College London Integrated Skills in English (ISE): ISE IV.
• Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE) grade C.

Country-specific requirements

For more information about country-specific entry requirements for your country please visit here .

Undergraduate preparation programme

For international students who do not meet the direct entry requirements, for this undergraduate degree, the Royal Holloway International Study Centre offers an International Foundation Year programme designed to develop your academic and English language skills.

Upon successful completion, you can progress to this degree at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Taking a degree in English sets you up with great prospects for future employability. On the course itself we place a strong emphasis on your future employability, meaning the skills that you gain won’t just be applicable to the study of English.

Although many of our students go on to further study in literature and other fields, skills such as research, presentation, teamwork, negotiation and communication will prepare you for a wide range of career opportunities.  

Fees, funding & scholarships

Home (UK) students tuition fee per year*: £9,250

EU and international students tuition fee per year**: £23,800

Other essential costs***: There are no single associated costs greater than £50 per item on this course.

How do I pay for it? Find out more about  funding options , including  loans , scholarships and bursaries . UK students who have already taken out a tuition fee loan for undergraduate study should  check their eligibility  for additional funding directly with the relevant awards body.

**The tuition fee for UK undergraduates is controlled by Government regulations. The fee for the academic year 2024/25 is £9,250 and is provided here as a guide. The fee for UK undergraduates starting in 2025/26 has not yet been set, but will be advertised here once confirmed.

**This figure is the fee for EU and international students starting a degree in the academic year 2024/25, and is included as a guide only. The fee for EU and international students starting a degree in 2025/26 has not yet been set, but will be advertised here once confirmed.

Royal Holloway reserves the right to increase tuition fees annually for overseas fee-paying students. Please be aware that tuition fees can rise during your degree. The upper limit of any such annual rise has not yet been set for courses starting in 2025/26 but will be advertised here once confirmed.  For further information see  fees and funding  and the  terms and conditions .

***These estimated costs relate to studying this specific degree at Royal Holloway during the 2024/25 academic year, and are included as a guide. General costs, such as accommodation, food, books and other learning materials and printing etc., have not been included.

English Undergraduate Admissions

Admissions office: +44 (0)1784 414944

Source: Complete University Guide, 2024

Source: National Student Survey, 2023 (Creative Writing)

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English and Creative Writing BA (Hons)

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Why study at UWL? 

• In the top 30% of universities nationwide  - The Guardian University Guide 2024
• University of the Year for Social Inclusion  - Daily Mail University Guide 2024
• Best university for Student Experience and Teaching Quality in the UK  - The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024
• Number 1 London university (non-specialist)  - National Student Survey 2023**

Why study this course?

Have you ever dreamed of writing an award-winning screenplay or radio documentary? On this English and creative writing degree you will feed your interest in literature while helping you develop the flexibility to write for different genres and media. 

The course helps you to develop the creative, analytical and professional skills you need to work across a wide variety of media platforms, including radio, television and the web.

As you work towards your degree, you will build a diverse portfolio showcasing your abilities in a variety of genres. And you will develop entrepreneurial and self-management skills – essential ingredients for a successful writing career.

We aim to give you as much real-world experience as possible while you study. Thanks to our west London location, at the heart of the UK’s creative industries, and our strong links with media organisations, you will have access to valuable work placement opportunities.

View some of our students' recent work .

Select your desired study option, then pick a start date to see relevant course information:

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Why study English and Creative Writing with us?

What our students say…

I've learned an enormous amount and progressed so much.   I can't express how much I loved this course and was very sad that it had come to an end .

Course detail & modules

Your English and creative writing course is designed to equip you with the technical abilities and the confidence you need to earn your living as a modern writer. Throughout this joint honours degree, we aim to develop your cultural knowledge and communication skills, while giving you the support and space to develop your own creative specialism.

Although the course emphasises the use of creative writing techniques within broadcast, web and print media, the critical and analytical skills you develop will be transferable to many roles outside these fields.

Employers in the creative industries look for graduates who both know their theory and have the practical skills to fulfil briefs. On this English writing course, we give you the opportunity to gain these capabilities. Through a blend of regular seminars, media debates and screenwriting workshops, you will develop:

• a critically informed understanding of the essential works of English literature
• a critical approach to reading and writing
• your ability to structure complex arguments
• your understanding of the creative writing process and how to apply it to traditional and digital media
• a portfolio that demonstrates your capabilities

There is also the opportunity for you to take a work placement, on which you will gain valuable experience in a professional setting and make contacts for the future. You can choose a placement that is related to your creative specialism or to your main literary interests. Many of our students choose placements in organisations related to film, radio or publishing.

• Level 4 (Year One)
• Level 5 (Year Two)
• Level 6 (Year Three)

Compulsory modules

English literature i: history, form and genre.

In the first half of this module you will focus on the novel and the development of the genre using examples from the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth century literature. Concentrating on works (or extracts from works) by Samuel Richardson, Charlotte Brontë, Herman Melville, James Joyce and Toni Morrison, through lectures and seminars you will explore the novel form, and ask why it became the dominant mode of literary expression over the course of these three centuries.

In the second half of the module you will study a range of poems in English from different historical periods. You will cover the ways in which language and form work in poetry and the kinds of readings which can be used when looking at poems. 

English Literature II: Critical Approaches

Introducing you to a range of critical approaches to understanding literature, this module will cover formalist, biographical, historicist, gender, psychological, sociological, reader-response, structuralist, postcolonial and deconstructionist models of engagement with literary texts. The aim is provide you with the tools you need to examine writing, writers, and our engagement with their works.

Foundations of Creative Writing

This module will introduce you to the practice of creative writing. It will give you an overview that includes practical challenges, approaches to plot and narrative and considerations about composition and process,. You will explore various forms of creative writing from conventional fiction to creative nonfiction, writing poetry and performing writing. The aim of this module is to help you develop a positive and disciplined approach to your writing.

Foundations of Creative Writing II

Optional modules, media and communications: theories and debates.

In this module you will be introduced to the key theories, concepts and debates about the relationships between media forms, institutions and audiences. Some of the key themes covered in the module include representation, institutions, audiences and effects. The media forms studied will be drawn from film, broadcasting, photography, advertising, the internet and the printed press. 

Video Production

Learn the basics of video production and film grammar, developing your skills as a filmmaker. Using hands-on exercises, you will learn photography, video, lighting, sound and scriptwriting.

Dive into the world of audio production and storytelling through podcasts. Enhance your voiceover skills, audio recording, sound design and web design/publishing skills.

Literature and Modernity: 1900-1960

In this module you will investigate the shifting conceptions of modernism and modernity in literature written in English between the turn of the twentieth century and 1960. You will study important exemplars of literary modernism in the larger context of twentieth century art, culture and politics. The core texts covered will differ from year to year but a typical selection will feature at least five major works from a selection of the following authors: Katherine Mansfield, James Joyce, T. S. Eliot, Virginia Woolf, Dorothy Richardson, John Dos Passos, Djuna Barnes and Samuel Beckett.

The Canon Reloaded

On this module you will look at adaptations in the context of relevant cultural, critical, historical and technological factors. In addition, you will examine how and why certain texts are valued, and improve your abilities in research, academic writing and presenting effectively.

Screenwriting

Creative writing workshop.

Building on your creative writing studies at level 4, you will have the opportunity on this module to work on writing projects and take them through the three stages of production, namely getting started, drafting and completion. A range of published creative writers will give talks throughout the module, providing further insights.

Worldbuilding

Explore the migration of form and content between different texts and media, with a focus on fiction. Underpinned by explorations of intertextuality and convergence culture, theories of adaptation, intermediality and transmedia storytelling are explored through key examples from film, literature, TV, videogames, new media, visual arts, and many other media.

Critical Approaches to New and Social Media

On this module you will examine the changes that impact social and cultural issues as we make greater use of social and digital media technologies. You'll also have the opportunity to gain an understanding about the accompanying globalisation of media in political, financial and cultural networks.

Industry Experience

You will begin with a structured induction process, during which you will be guided in researching the job market, understanding professional responsibilities, preparing a CV plus cover letter and undertaking a mock interview. Additionally, you’ll be guided in contacting and negotiating with a potential host organisation/employer or client to secure your industry experience.

Visual Media Cultures

Contemporary writers and the city.

On this module you'll explore literature by contemporary authors who focus on urban and architectural settings, themes and predicaments. You will cover these focal points in the context of contemporary debates concerning the status of the metropolis in a globalised world.

British and Irish Drama since 1945

Writing for performance, creative writing: the short story.

This module seeks to develop your storytelling skills, using the short story format to explore narrative, characterization, setting, and style.

Dissertation OR Project

You will study all compulsory modules and one of the optional modules. Optional modules will run based on staff availability and the number of students enrolled in each module.

You will study all compulsory modules and two  of the optional modules. Optional modules will run based on staff availability and the number of students enrolled in each module.

The aims of this module is to provide you with the opportunity to:

• identify potential professional opportunities and goals

• develop the skills and personal networks to make effective applications

• develop a real-life understanding of contemporary industry/organisational practice

• identify core competencies to support your future career

• cultivate a critical understanding of your strengths and weaknesses in a work-based situation

• develop your online professional presence and add elements to your portfolio of practical work (while refreshing key production skills).

Media Content Production

In this module, you will learn the workflows and typical outputs of a three to four camera television studio. You will learn new roles and techniques based on communication (via talkback) and time management (both in the studio and on-screen).

• Requirements: UK
• Requirements: International

These can include:   

• A Levels at grade B, C and C, or above   
• BTEC Extended Diploma with Distinction, Merit, Merit   
• Access to HE Diploma

You also need GCSE English and Maths (grade 9 - 4 / A* - C) or Level 2 equivalents.

Looking for BA (Hons) English and Creative Writing with Foundation Year?

Mature applicants (aged 21+): If you do not hold the qualifications listed but have relevant work experience, you are welcome to apply. Your application will be considered on an individual basis.

Level 5 (year 2) entry To directly enter the second year of this course you will need to show appropriate knowledge and experience. For example, you are an ideal candidate if you have 120 undergraduate credits at Level 4 or a CertHE in a related subject area.

Level 6 (year 3) entry To directly enter the third year of this course you need to show appropriate knowledge and experience. For example, you are an ideal candidate if you have 240 undergraduate credits (at Levels 4 and 5), a DipHE, Foundation Degree or HND in a related subject area.

You need to meet our English language requirement - a minimum of IELTS 6.5 or above, with 6.0 or above for each of the 4 individual components (Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening). Visit our English language requirements page for information on other English language tests we accept.

You also need academic qualifications at the same level as UK applicants. In some countries where teaching is in English, we may accept local qualifications. Check for local equivalents . 

We offer pre-sessional English language courses if you do not meet these requirements.

Find out more about our English Language courses .

Fees & funding

• Funding: UK
• Funding: International

Additional costs

There are additional costs for this course that are not included in the tuition fees. See the links below to get a better idea of what to expect:

• optional study trips

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 your studies

You may be eligible for a student loan to cover the cost of tuition fees, or a maintenance loan. Additional funding is available to some types of students, such as those with dependants and disabled students.

We offer generous bursaries and scholarships to make sure your aspirations are your only limit. In recent years, hundreds of students have received our Full-time Undergraduate Student Bursary.

Additional scholarships specifically for students in the fields of film, media and design are also on offer .

View full details, including conditions and eligibility.

International students - funding your studies

We offer scholarships for international students including International Ambassador Scholarships. 

Further information about funding and financial support for international students is available from the UK Council for International Student Affairs .

Teaching staff

Professor Garin Dowd

I am a Professor of Film, Literature and Media, and my current research focuses on representations of space, location and spatial relations in the novel and in film. I am a member of the European Network for Cinema and Media Studies (NECS), the Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS) and the Samuel Beckett Society.

Professor Jeremy Strong

Dr Jonathon Crewe

Dr Marcus Nicholls

Dr Matilde Nardelli

Professor Helen Hester

Study & career progression

Once you graduate with your English and creative writing degree, you may go on to find work in:

• film and television
• radio broadcasting

You may decide to specialise in a related area or explore a new subject. Please see our postgraduate courses for a range of options.

How to apply

• How to apply: UK
• How to apply: International

Head to the UCAS website where you can apply using:

• our institution code - W05
• the UCAS course code (below)

Want to ask us a question first? We would love to hear from you. Contact us free on: 

• 0800 036 8888
• [email protected]

Apply for this course

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.

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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].

You can apply online at any time by following the link below.

Our application form will ask you for some information about what you want to study, your previous qualifications or experience, and how we can contact you.

You can apply to us in two ways:

• on the UCAS website  you will need our institution code (W05) and the UCAS course code (at the top of this page)
• directly on our website – follow the ‘apply now’ link below

Want to ask us a question first? Our dedicated international students’ team would love to hear from you. 

• Ask the International Recruitment Team a question  
• learn more about international student applications
• find out more about why you should study in London at the Career University.

Related courses

Ba (hons) english and media and communications.

BA (Hons) English and Film

BA (Hons) Journalism

BA (Hons) Content, Media and Film Production

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Find out more about the work our students produce and view some of their recent work by visiting our Film, Media and Communication ARTSFEST page.

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BA Humanities English with Creative Writing (DN530/ENS6)

• I am a Non-EU Applicant
• I am an Irish/EU/UK Applicant
• I am a Current Student

Curricular information is subject to change.

Video with Text

If your interest in literature extends to an ambition to write creatively, this degree programme will support that ambition through classes, workshops, and seminars dedicated to the development of your creative talent. In the final year, you will work on – and complete to high standard – a substantial writing project. To help you reach this standard, you will be advised and directed by one of the supervisors on the Creative Writing team.

About this Course

Why is this course for me.

You will study the work of a wide range of writers, focusing on how they create their works. You will learn about form and genre. You will explore a range of narrating voices by reading texts selected to illustrate this range. In a similar way, you will learn how characters are constructed, how to handle dialogue, how to manage time and sequencing and many other elements of the craft of writing, which will be generally helpful and occasionally inspiring in your own writing. You will be introduced to contemporary developments in literature by considering the work of a number of Irish writers, who will address the class and provide valuable insight into the writing process.

What Will I Study?

Modules include:

• Creative Writing 1 & 2
• How to Read Poetry
• Writing the Body
• Reading World Literature
• Literature & Crisis
• Contemporary Irish Writing
• Literary Genre

As well as a range of English with Creative Writing modules students will benefit from an additional subject stream. Options include:

• Drama Studies
• Film Studies
• German Beginners
• German Non-Beginners
• Greek & Roman Civilisation
• Irish Studies
• Spanish Beginners
• Spanish Non-Beginners

Second Year

• Intermediate Creative Writing 1 & 2
• Critical Theory
• Medieval Literature
• Irish Literature in English
• Renaissance Literature
• Romanticism
• Victorian to Modern Literature
• Modern American Literature
• The English Novel
• UCD Special Collections: Archival Resarch Methods

For detailed information on subject content click here.

You will choose from a range of options that will enable you to broaden your horizons and enrich your academic experience:

• Apply for a competitive internship in an area that interests you and/or relates to your area of study.
• Study abroad for a trimester/year to develop your language skills and immerse yourself in a new culture.
• Deepen your knowledge by studying in-depth Creative Writing modules including: Poetry Workshop, Fiction Workshop, Creative Non-Fiction Workshop.

Students will also choose from a wide range of specialist English modules such as Making Shakespeare, Gender & Sexuality in the 18th Century, Austen’s Peer, Yeats, Reading Ulysses, Reading Beckett, The Theatre of Martin McDonagh.

Fourth Year

Students will choose from a wide range of advanced English modules, including: Contemporary, Historical Fiction, Detecting Fictions, Contemporary Irish Writing, Memory & the Irish Stage, Contemporary Irish Women’s Poetry, Modern American Poetry & Poetics. Students will also partake in advanced Creative Writing Workshops.

View All Modules

Below is a list of all modules offered for this degree in the current academic year. Click on the module to discover what you will learn in the module, how you will learn and assessment feedback profile amongst other information.

Incoming Stage 1 undergraduates can usually select an Elective in the Spring Trimester. Most continuing undergraduate students can select up to two Elective modules (10 Credits) per stage. There is also the possibility to take up to 10 extra Elective credits.

International Study Opportunities

Students can study in various EU and non-EU destinations through the Erasmus and Study Abroad programmes, in partnership arrangements between UCD and universities across the world.

Career & Graduate Study Opportunities

Writer, editor, literary agents and critics, content creator, copywriters, broadcaster/journalist, public relations, business, law, politics, teaching, management consultancy, humanities research and many others.

UCD English, Drama and Film offer a wide range of postgraduate courses, including the MA and MFA in Creative Writing.

See  www.ucd.ie/englishdramafilm/study/  for more details.

Fees, Funding & Scholarships

Non-EU Undergraduate Fee information can be found  here .

UCD offers a number of competitive undergraduate scholarships for full-time, self-funding international students, holding an offer of a place on a UCD undergraduate degree programme. For information on Undergraduate Scholarships, please see the UCD  International Scholarships webpage.

How to Apply

What our students and graduates say.

“Studying English with Creative Writing has allowed me to take something I love and incorporate it directly into my degree. The hardest part about writing is often finding the time to do it. The English with Creative Writing course allows me to focus entirely on something I am passionate about. The School of English, Drama and Film offers an impressive range of English modules is unparalleled and gives me the freedom to explore English and Creative Writing in great depth. This year, I was able to do an internship with the National University of Ireland. It was a fantastic practical experience, editing documents for publication and transcribing lectures from politicians.”

Djamel White, Student

Undergraduate (Level 8 NFQ, Credits 240)

From time to time UCD would like to send you further information that we feel, based on your enquiry, would be of interest to you.

English Literature & Creative Writing

Book an Open Day

Do you want to develop your creative writing skills? We’ll help you to hone your talents, write in a wide variety of genres and work towards becoming a professional writer.

On this course you’ll enhance your skills as a creative writer and gain experience of writing in a whole range of different styles and genres.

You’ll study the development of ‘English’ as a multicultural literary landscape, and look at how issues of race, gender, class, national identity and ethnicity are explored in key works of literature.

You’ll learn the skills you need to become a professional writer, gaining insights from experts who are enjoying successful careers in different fields of writing and publishing.

Why study with us

• 1 st in the UK overall Guardian University Guide (Creative Writing) 2023/24
• 2 nd in the UK for student satisfaction Complete University Guide (Creative Writing) 2023/24
• You may be able to study abroad as part of your course. You can choose spend a semester or full year abroad. We have exchange agreements with universities in many countries.
• Through our Live Literature Room, which features its own stage and library, you can share your work with others and attend events featuring industry professionals.
• Embark on field trips to important literary locations (such as Haworth, home of the Bronte sisters) and enjoy unmissable opportunities to see a Shakespeare play performed live.

What you'll do

• Gain valuable work experience through our Live Literature Room project - previous students have organised creative writing events, literary festivals and a major ‘Comicon’ event.
• Creative writing is mainly taught in workshops, where you get to work in small groups with other students, exchange ideas and hone your skills.
• You’ll be able to tailor your study programme to suit your own interests and career aspirations through a variety of optional modules.
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Discover our English courses

Compulsory modules

These modules are set and you have to study these as part of your course.

Story Shapes: Drama, Structure & Plot

Enable you to practice a variety of techniques for writing fiction and drama and reflect critically on your writing process Develop a critical and theoretical understanding of the ‘principles of story’ in historical and contemporary context Develop your ability to read, interpret and evaluate contemporary fiction and drama in light of the way it conforms to or challenges these principles Enable you to recognise the connections between fiction and drama as well as the unique challenges and possibilities of writing for page or performance.

Exploring Form and Genre

This module focuses on exploring diverse genres while fostering imaginative engagement. You'll also develop critical analysis and writing skills, fostering an understanding of language use within various contexts and encouraging self-reflective growth as a writer.

Literary Landscapes

This module will develop your global writing analysis skills, with the option of creating original creative work. You'll explore modern approaches to portraying landscapes across various genres. Theoretical aspects cover literature's connections to place, environmental concerns, and globalisation. You'll hone English language skills for academic writing and research, and gain insights into the publishing industry and opportunities.

Reading Texts: Literary Theory

The concepts and ideas within literature and text will be introduced in this module. You'll develop close reading skills and focus on the importance of interpretations sensitive to the role of context in all its forms. You will examine texts using a range of strategies to provide a useful introduction to the field of literacy theory.

Introduction to Renaissance Literature

This module will allow you to explore some of the key features of the period including the engagement with classic literature and myth. You will be encouraged to evaluate and analyse a range of Renaissance literature encompassing drama, poetry and non-fictional writing.

Readers and Reviewers

You will build on work undertaken in EN1215 Reading Texts, Literary Theory. You'll get the opportunity to develop the critical skills necessary for advanced undergraduate work. You'll become aware of a variety of critical approaches to the study of English Literature and the existence of a debate between and amongst these approaches.

Writing Adaptations

Writing Adaptions introduces a range of genres, including literary and popular forms. You will examine the adaptations of an original text and evaluate similarities and differences. You will consider the extension, prequel, sequel, point of view, setting, period, and culture. You will reflect on your writing practice as well as your technical abilities.

Reading and Writing the Short Story

To engage with and critique the theory and practice of writing short fiction. To practice the techniques of writing short fiction and writing about this form/genre. To develop a critical and theoretical understanding of the short story as a distinct form in historical and contemporary contexts and markets. To encourage critical reading, selectivity and focused consideration of short fiction writers and their potential influence on contemporary writing practice.

A World of Difference: Literature in Translation

The module will introduce you to World Literature in translation and will consider the most important critical concepts for the practice of reading texts of this kind. The module will explore the role of languages, cultures and history in a global context as they inform the artistic productions of culturally diverse nations. It will involve detailed study of some highly distinctive cultural products and practices and will aim to challenge some ingrained cultural assumptions and presumptions about our ‘Others’ – those subjects most often represented ‘for’ us by writers from a similar background to our own. Ethical and political issues in the translation of certain languages into a hegemonic ‘world language’ such as English will be discussed with reference to critical concepts such as World literature and globalisation. Assessment is two essays.

Live Literature Project

This module will help you learn research skills alone and in groups, preparing you for careers and dissertation work. It will enhance your subject-specific knowledge and general skills while showcasing employability skills like planning, teamwork, and problem-solving.

From Romantics to Decadents: Literary Culture 1789 - 1900

This module will examine a selection of poems and novels from the late-eighteenth century through to the First World War. This will enhance your skills in assessing useful resources in print and digital formats.

Optional modules

Depending on how many compulsory modules you take, you may be able to choose optional modules to make up your course.

Reading and Writing for Children and Young Adults

You'll begin by examining audience and the different bands within children’s literature. Explore a range of techniques including voice, character, setting and structure, as well as how to write and critique specific sub-genres. Gain an understanding of the current trends, the relationship between words and images and issues such as appropriate language and subject matter, censorship and the gatekeepers who inform and shape what children read. 

Reading and Writing Fairy Tales

This module will provide you with an exciting experience to revisit your favourite childhood tales. The major European collections of tales, such as those of Perrault, Grimm and Andersen, will provide the main focus of study, but non-European collections will also be considered.

The Graphic Novel

On this module you'll be introduced to the 'graphic novel'. Emphasis will be placed on the close reading of these texts and the different aesthetic strategies used by these writers to develop a broad understanding of the genre. You'll also look at the criticisms of this genre, generating a critical framework for addressing the different aspects of its storytelling.

The Creative Writing Dissertation

Our specific creative writing dissertation module will give you the chance to showcase all your skills that you have developed over the entirety of your course. You will produce an independent piece of work on your chosen genre by applying critical thinking to extensive research processes.

Experimental Writing

This module delves into a diverse array of prose, poetry, and drama forms, investigating techniques, historical context, and theories. Through reading, critiquing, and comparing examples, you'll analyse and debate contemporary issues and evolving trends in different genres. You'll also hone your technical and reflective writing skills to tailor language for different audiences and purposes.

The Shock of the New: Modern & Contemporary Literature

This first part of this module takes in canonical texts from the modernist period, to ensure that you have an understanding of the work of major figures in early twentieth century literature. You will examine the cultural and historical contexts in which the texts are produced, focussing on formal innovation across different kinds of literature.

English Literature Dissertation

The English Literature Dissertation module allows you to pursue an independent area of scholarly research within the field of ‘Literature.’ The dissertation takes the form of an extended piece of written work (7500-10,000 words) on a topic chosen by you with approval of the dissertation tutor.

Creative Non-Fiction

Explores the different forms and approaches that creative non-fiction can take including memoir, the lyric essay, travel writing, literary journalism and poetry. You'll be introduced to the theory and criticism of creative non-fiction. You'll experiment through practical writing exercises as well as develop your final idea through the process of workshopping. 

Otherworlds: Reading and Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy

On this module you'll develop your knowledge and skills of writing for science fiction and fantasy. You'll gain a theoretical and historical understanding of the genres and how to critically approach texts. You will be expected to familiarise yourself with a range of critical material and different fantasy and science fiction short stories, and to show evidence of your understanding in class discussions and your written work.

Literature into Film

This module aims to help you to evaluate the relationship between fictional and filmic texts. You will investigate the extent to which such texts are the product of social, political, cultural and generic contexts. This module will help with more opportunities to analysis different written assessments.

The Gothic in Literature, Visual Culture and Film

This module will introduce you to Gothic literature with diverse examples, improving analytical skills across media and deepening historical understanding. It refines research and writing by engaging with non-Eurocentric Gothic, postcolonial themes, and the Neo-Gothic's relevance.

Colonial and Postcolonial Literature and Culture

This module studies how the legacies of European colonialism and imperialism have shaped our unequal, neo-colonial world. You'll investigate colonial ideology and history in texts and culture leading to the exploration of later postcolonial writing and culture. These cultural texts will be contextualised with important postcolonial theoretical concepts, such as ‘writing back,’ hybridity, the construction of race, intersectionality and diaspora.

Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of our published course information. However, our programmes are subject to ongoing review and development. Changing circumstances may cause alteration to, or the cancellation of, courses. Changes may be necessary to comply with the requirements of accrediting bodies or revisions to subject benchmarks statements. As well as to keep courses updated and contemporary, or as a result of student feedback. We reserve the right to make variations if we consider such action to be necessary or in the best interests of students.

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Book an Open Day to get a feel for our campuses and meet current students and staff. It's the perfect way to get a taste of university life.

English facilities

Future careers

On our English Literature and Creative Writing course we put a lot of emphasis on helping you to plan your future career and work towards becoming a professional writer.

We’ll give you the skills you need to become a professional writer. This course opens up career opportunities in fields such as travel writing and script writing. You’ll also be well equipped for entry into graduate professions in the cultural and creative industries, digital media, local government and public services.

Our graduates have gone on to enjoy successful careers in fields such as journalism, advertising, publishing, travel and tourism, and teaching.

There are also opportunities for further study at master’s and PhD level.

Fees and funding

Additional costs.

As part of your course there may be additional costs to consider that are not included in your tuition fees. Most of these will be optional, but some courses have essential additional costs. Find out more about additional costs .

Scholarships and bursaries

We have a wide range of bursaries, scholarships and funds available to help support you whilst studying with us.

Select your country to see eligibility information and how to apply by selecting more info on the cards below.

Care Leaver Bursary

Our Care Leaver Bursary is for students who need extra support because they have been in care or are estranged from their parents.

Estranged student support

Estranged Student Support Bursary is for students who need extra support because they are estranged from their parents.

Dependants Bursary

Students with financially dependent children may be eligible for our Dependants Bursary as part of our financial support package. 

Financial Bursary

If you are from a low income household our Financial Bursary may be able to help.

Learning and assessment

Your English Literature classes will be taught through an engaging mixture of lectures, seminars and workshops. Creative Writing is mainly taught in workshops, where you get to work in small groups and share ideas with other aspiring writers.

We’ll give you the opportunity to develop your own writing across a variety of genres, from poetry and drama to fiction and creative non-fiction.

We focus on equipping with you with a broad range of skills which will help you in your future career. We hold sessions on project management, problem-solving, team-working, work experience skills, and personal and career development.

You’ll be assessed through a variety of coursework assignments, which are likely to include critical and reflective essays, portfolios of creative work, online blogs, presentations and exams. You’ll have access to great resources such as our Livesey Library and Blackboard, an online learning environment.

You’ll benefit from being taught by tutors who are experts in English Literature and Creative Writing. We have a panel of creative leaders who support the development of our programmes, and publishers who come in to deliver talks about creative career planning.

A real highlight of this course is our unique Live Literature Module, where you’ll deliver an exciting project for a real client. This could involve organising a literature festival, creative writing competition, conference or exhibition.

Throughout the course you’ll get opportunities to meet professional writers, literary critics and other industry insiders. We’ll also take you on some fantastic trips – you’ll have the chance to see a Shakespeare play performed live in the Bard’s hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon, and visit other important literary sites, such as Haworth in West Yorkshire – home of the Bronte sisters.

This course is based in the School of Psychology and Humanities

For information on possible changes to course information, see our essential and important course information

You can find regulations and policies relating to student life at the University of Central Lancashire on our student contract page