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UEA English Lit and Creative Writing reading list?

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University of East Anglia UEA

Degree level: undergraduate, awarded by: university of east anglia, english literature with creative writing with a year abroad, course options.

University of East Anglia UEA has participated in the Teaching Excellence Framework. These ratings were awarded in 2023, for four years.

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Course summary.

Overview Do you love to write as much as you love to read? Do the books you read spark your imagination and inspire you to be creative? At UEA, we believe that good readers make good writers. It’s for this reason that we combine the study of English Literature and Creative Writing at all levels of this innovative course. You’ll immerse yourself in a thriving community of writers and thinkers. Learning from practicing writers and passionate teachers, you’ll sharpen your ability to sculpt language into stories, scenes and images. You’ll build worlds, develop your voice and find ways to express the inexpressible. Alongside this, you’ll study literatures from around the world, past and present. You’ll discover how writers and thinkers have expanded literary possibilities, made art out of lived experience and shown us, in myriad ways, what it means to be human. In the process, you'll become a more discerning and attentive reader and writer. On this course, you’ll spend a third of your time on Creative Writing and two thirds on English Literature in your first two years of study. In your third year, you may increase the amount of Creative Writing that you do or focus more fully on Literature. Either way, you’ll develop a balance between the two that best suits you. Your creative and literary training will go hand-in-hand, each enhancing the other, as you explore and experiment with diverse genres, forms and subjects, from creative non-fiction, to podcasting, to the fiction of the apocalypse. You’ll be based in the UK’s longest-established and most prestigious Creative Writing department, which is part of UEA’s vibrant School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing (you can follow our activities on Instagram!). You’ll also have access to world-leading facilities and resources, from the technological delights of the Media Suite to the opportunities of our student-run publishing project Egg Box, from the riches of the British Archive for Contemporary Writing to the Sainsbury Centre. What’s more, you’ll live and work in the beautiful city of Norwich, a UNESCO City of Literature, and home to the National Centre for Writing. After the course, you'll have a wealth of skills that will open doors to fulfilling careers to you, whether you want to work in the creative or cultural industries, or in business, marketing or social media management. Events such as Working with Words will give you the chance to meet and network with creative industry professionals and UEA graduates working in journalism, publishing or as freelance writers. If you want to join their ranks, this is the course for you! On this version of the course, you’ll have the exciting opportunity to spend your third year studying at one of our partner institutions across the globe. Disclaimer Course details are subject to change. You should always confirm the details on the provider's website: www.uea.ac.uk

How to apply

This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.

Application codes

Points of entry.

The following entry points are available for this course:

Entry requirements

Qualification requirements, ucas tariff - not accepted, a level - aaa, pearson btec level 3 national extended diploma (first teaching from september 2016) - ddd, access to he diploma - d: 45 credits, scottish higher - aaaa, scottish advanced higher - bbb, international baccalaureate diploma programme - 34 points, cambridge international pre-u certificate - principal, t level - not accepted.

GCSE Requirements: GCSE English Language grade 4 or C and GCSE Mathematics grade 4 or C. UEA are committed to ensuring that Higher Education is accessible to all, regardless of their background or experiences. One of the ways we do this is through our contextual admissions schemes – please see our website www.uea.ac.uk/apply/undergraduate/contextual-admissions for further information. We welcome a wide range of qualifications - for further information please visit our website www.uea.ac.uk

Additional entry requirements

Shortlisted candidates are invited to submit a creative writing sample as part of our assessment

English language requirements

We welcome applications from students from all academic backgrounds. We require evidence of proficiency in English (including speaking, listening, reading and writing). We will also accept a number of other English language qualifications. Please check our website for details: https://www.uea.ac.uk/apply/our-admissions-policy/english-language-equivalencies

Student Outcomes

There is no data available for this course. For further information visit the Discover Uni website .

Fees and funding

Tuition fees.

*This is a provisional fee and subject to change.

Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .

Additional fee information

Provider information.

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University of East Anglia UEA Norwich Research Park Norwich NR4 7TJ

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How I spent the pandemic: MA in Crime Fiction Writing at University of East Anglia

I am not the kind of writer who gets to a certain point in their development and decides that they’ve learned enough, that they’re good enough. I enjoy studying the craft of writing and continuing to improve as a writer. But as I become a more knowledgeable and well-trained writer (a process which took many years), it becomes increasingly hard to find appropriately advanced learning opportunities.

In 2015, I stumbled on the announcement of a new low residency, part time creative writing degree– the MA in Crime Fiction Writing at University of East Anglia (UEA) in Norwich, UK. At the time, it was the only creative writing program focusing on crime fiction in the world. I was immediately interested, but I no sooner discovered its existence than I dismissed the course as impracticable and unaffordable for me in the United States. But for the next four years, I periodically revisited the UEA site and fantasized.

The discovery also set into motion an intermittent exploration and daydreaming about, what I initially thought, were more practical, low residency MFA programs closer to home in the United States. Off and on, over the course of a couple of years, I created a massively detailed comparison spreadsheet of pertinent writing programs. From time to time, I added to it with the results of my investigations– answers to questions I’d emailed to directors and alumni, notes about conferences I’d attended on various campuses, and even a meeting with a recruiter.

Gradually, I let go of preconceptions. You might suspect that I rationalized my initial intention. Maybe. But when I eventually analyzed and compared costs and did cold hard financial calculations, I came to an unexpected realization. UEA’s MA in Crime Fiction Writing was not more expensive than an American MFA; it was less. And it might be the best fit for me for a number of reasons:

• No other MA/MFA specialized in crime fiction. In the past, I’d taken a number of workshops focused on genre fiction or fiction in general. While they were worthwhile and I learned a lot, I wanted to focus on crime fiction specifically and exclusively–to be with faculty who specialized in crime fiction and to be with classmates who shared my love of crime fiction.
• I wanted a rigorous academic approach to crime fiction, to explore the theory, philosophy, politics, and socio-economics of crime fiction as well as the practice of writing it. (Take a look at the amazing reading list )
• At the time, before Brexit, international students paid the same tuition fees to UEA as UK residents and that was a very good value, and much less than low residency MFA tuition in the U.S. I realized the money saved could be applied toward travel abroad for the short residentials.
• The MA in Crime Fiction requires three brief residencies a year (September, January, May) in Norwich, UK. For students in the UK and Europe, this was an easy, convenient, and relatively inexpensive trip. For those of us in the rest of the world, it was quite a hurdle and had me stymied for a long time. (However attendance at residential turned out to be somewhat negotiable and once the pandemic hit, it became a non-issue as everything went online anyway). Gradually I came to realize that the extra expense of the residential trips could be combined with side trips in the UK and Europe, very much longed for and deferred side trips. And, the kicker– the cost of travel for the residential did not come to more than the cost of an American low residency MFA.
• Attending would in fact be remedying a lifelong regret at not doing college study abroad and checking off an item on the bucket list that I didn’t even know I had. Win!

So, I applied to UEA, was accepted, figured out how to pay international tuition, obtain a short term study visa for residencies, and travel to Norwich.

UEA’s MA in Crime Fiction was the right decision for me.

The required fiction reading, literary criticism reading, and analytic writing were excellent. The creative writing module was excellent. Faculty (tutors in British-speak) were excellent and possessed deep and broad knowledge of crime fiction. Classmates were talented and hard working and generally all-round excellent people who were a joy to be around.

Attending was not only a taste of study abroad and a chance to travel, it was also a surprisingly interesting and satisfying chance to experience another culture.

The city of Norwich was fantastic with an incredibly rich history and lots of medieval buildings. In my two visits for the first two residencies before the pandemic hit, I became a huge fan of Norwich.

After the first semester of the two year course, the pandemic hit. Fun. Residencies became entirely virtual. Which worked okay for classwork (other than the time differences around the world. The morning session began at 5am Eastern for me and my classmate in Japan ended the last session of the day at 3am Japanese time). Online wasn’t as satisfactory for socializing. My classmates and I were sad that we couldn’t see each other in person for lunch and dinner and tea breaks and hanging out during residencies. It wasn’t possible to mingle, meet, and get to know the cohorts in front of us or coming up behind us. Fortunately we’d established a WhatsApp group before the pandemic and we instituted monthly zoom socials. But it wasn’t the same.

On the other hand, surprisingly, most of us agreed that it was great to be “on the course” (British speak) during the pandemic–it gave us something to focus on other than the garbage fire that was the current state of the world. It gave us goals and filled the hours spent confined at home. As hard as it was to concentrate sometimes during the pandemic, my guess is, it would have been even harder to juggle the coursework with life and work in normal busy times. So, an unexpected pandemic silver lining!

The coursework was substantial and a bit shocking if you’ve been out of school for a while as most of us had, but manageable. The final project is a complete crime novel that has been written and workshopped over the preceding two years. Also manageable.

For more info, check out my uncomprehensive twitter list of UEA MA in Crime Fiction alumni, current students, faculty, and guest lecturers, or tweet or email me any questions.

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BA (Hons) Drama and Creative Writing

Key Details

Why you should choose us

Course overview.

This unique degree unites UEA’s strengths in creative writing and in drama to give you an exhilarating immersion in writing and performance. 

You will have the opportunity to study all kinds of creative writing, with a particular focus on writing for theatre, cinema, television, and radio. Alongside, you'll be exploring the contemporary practice, criticism, and history of dramatic writing and performance. Your writing will be enriched by an awareness of theatrical and literary traditions from around the globe. 

You’ll take practical drama modules, and you’ll have full access to our professionally equipped 200-seat Drama Studio. This comprehensive grounding in acting, directing, and all other aspects of stagecraft will enable you to graduate as a writer with an instinctive feel for the world of theatre and performing arts.  

Our BA Drama and Creative Writing is ranked 6th for Creative Writing by  'The Guardian University Guide 2023'.

You'll gain a thorough grounding in writing for stage and screen, which will be complemented by opportunities to develop your skills in non-dramatic writing, too. Your stage and screen writing will be improved by getting to grips with the ins-and-outs of theatrical performance, while you become better able to analyse dramatic language by writing it yourself. 

At the heart of your degree are scriptwriting masterclasses with practising writers, where you’ll discover the formats, conventions, and techniques of writing for different   dramatic genres and media. You’ll learn by writing scenes and short scripts, offering critiques of each other’s work, and by working closely with other Drama students. 

In your second and third years, you'll be able to develop your craft as a writer by taking workshops in prose or poetry, working closely with our world-famous creative writing colleagues.  

Throughout your degree, you will gain hands-on experience by participating in production and practical project work. You’ll have the keys to our professionally equipped 200-seat Drama Studio, giving you the chance to control everything in your own productions. You’ll also have access to performance and placement opportunities, including a creative industries internship in your second year, which involves a work placement in a drama-producing organisation or environment.  

You’ll encounter an astonishing array of drama and a wealth of performance styles, from naturalism to Noh theatre. You’ll engage with major theoretical and directorial approaches, from Aristotle to Boal, from live art to physical theatre. And you can examine the use of theatre and performance – by the state, by political activists, and by theatre and performance practitioners – to solidify or challenge structures of power. 

You’ll benefit from our highly regarded student run Minotaur Theatre Company, which gives you the chance to gain additional performance, technical and scriptwriting experience, as well as exciting chances to share your writing at events such as New Writing Live. Find out more about life in the School of Literature, Drama, and Creative Writing on our Instagram @uealdc. 

Placement Year and Study Abroad

You have the option to apply to study abroad for one semester of your second year. Studying abroad is a wonderfully enriching life experience – you will develop confidence and adaptability, and will have the chance to deepen your understanding of drama and writing while learning about another culture. At UEA, you will also be surrounded throughout your degree by the many students we welcome from around the world to study with us. 

For further details, visit the  Study Abroad section  of our website.  

Entry Requirements

A Level – BBB

BTEC L3 Extended Diploma – DDM

UEA are committed to ensuring that Higher Education is accessible to all, regardless of their background or experiences. One of the ways we do this is through our contextual admissions schemes .  

Applications from students whose first language is not English are welcome. We require evidence of proficiency in English (including writing, speaking, listening and reading):  

IELTS: 6.5 overall (minimum 5.5 in all components) for year 1 entry 

We also accept a number of other English language tests. Review  our English Language Equivalencies  for a list of example qualifications that we may accept to meet this requirement.

If you do not yet meet the English language requirements for this course, INTO UEA offer a variety of English language programmes which are designed to help you develop the English skills necessary for successful undergraduate study:  

Pre-sessional English at INTO UEA   

Academic English at INTO UEA   

Additional Information or Requirements

UEA are committed to ensuring that Higher Education is accessible to all, regardless of their background or experiences. One of the ways we do this is through our contextual admissions schemes.  

If you do not have an A-Level or equivalent qualification in one of the subjects listed above,  once you have submitted your UCAS form we may then contact you to ask you to submit a short analysis of a passage of a literary text in support of your application.

We welcome and value a wide range of alternative qualifications.  If you have a qualification which is not listed here, please contact us via Admissions Enquiries .

If you do not meet the academic requirements for direct entry, you may be interested in one of our   Foundation Year programmes

Important note

Once enrolled onto your course at UEA, your progression and continuation (which may include your eligibility for study abroad, overseas experience, placement or year in industry opportunities) is contingent on meeting the assessment requirements which are relevant to the course on which you are enrolled.

International Requirements 

We accept many international qualifications for entry to this course. View our International Students pages for specific information about your country.

Fees and Funding

Tuition Fees  

View our information for Tuition Fees.  

Scholarships and Bursaries 

We are committed to ensuring that costs do not act as a barrier to those aspiring to come to a world leading university and have developed a funding package to reward those with excellent qualifications and assist those from lower income backgrounds. View our range of Scholarships for eligibility, details of how to apply and closing dates. 

Course Related Costs

View our information about Additional Course Fees.  

How to Apply

Apply for this course through the  Universities and Colleges Admissions Services (UCAS ), using UCAS Hub. 

UCAS Hub is a secure online application system that allows you to apply for full-time undergraduate courses at universities and colleges in the United Kingdom.

Your application does not have to be completed all at once.  Register or sign in to UCAS  to get started. 

Once you submit your completed application, UCAS will process it and send it to your chosen universities and colleges. 

The Institution code for the University of East Anglia is  E14. 

View our guide to applying through UCAS for useful tips, key dates and further information:  

How to apply through UCAS  

Employability

After the course.

Some graduates go into careers in film, drama, radio, and scriptwriting, as writers, developers, agents, casting directors, or artistic directors of their own companies. Recent graduates from our drama degrees include the actor Matt Smith (famous for his portrayal of Doctor Who and his leading role in The Crown), the presenter of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show, Greg James, and the playwright Tom Morton-Smith (whose 2015 play Oppenheimer was performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company). For others, this degree is a stepping-stone towards careers in the arts, media, publishing, politics, charities, and NGOs, teaching, and the commercial sector.  Our Careers Service is here to support you in launching your career by advising with CV writing, internships, and much more. Every year we run an event, Working with Words, which gives current students the chance to meet and hear from successful UEA alumni from across the creative industries.   UEA also has its own in-house student publishing project, Egg Box, along with many other exciting initiatives that give you opportunities to turn your love of writing and performance into a foundation for your future career. 

A degree at UEA will prepare you for a wide variety of careers. We've been ranked 1st for Job Prospects by StudentCrowd in 2022.

Examples of careers you could enter include:  

Scriptwriting  

Theatre and film  

Journalism  

Media  

Teaching  

Publishing  

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Your essential checklist for Welcome Week 2024

By: Communications

1. Complete  y our r egistration

Before anything else, make sure you finish your registration through e:Vision . This step is crucial to access all the systems and services at UEA.  

2. Set u p y our p assword and m ultifactor a uthentication  

Your digital safety is key. Set up a secure password and enable  multifactor authentication to protect your UEA accounts.  

3. Set u p y our UEA e mail on Outlook  

Your UEA email is your main hub for all university communications, so setting it up on Outlook is essential . L ook out for important messages from the University via [email protected] , along with updates from your School, Residential Life team (if you live on campus), and module organi s ers to ensure you’re up to date.  

4. Connect to eduroam wifi  

Stay connected across campus by  joining the eduroam network using your UEA credentials. It’s free and available everywhere you’ll need it.    

5. Log on to MyUEA , e:Vision and Blackboard  

These platforms will be your go-to for academic updates and key university communications. Check your dashboard regularly for the latest student news in the news carousel, and look out for urgent alerts, like travel or building access updates, in the blue ‘news alert’ banner above it.  

6. If you’re living off campus, collect your campus card  

Your campus card is essential for accessing buildings and facilities. If you’re living off-campus, head to The Warren on The Street to pick it up.  

7. Register with a Doctor  

Register with a GP online at the UEA Medical Centr e . If you’re staying in the UK for 6+ months, then you’re eligible for free NHS healthcare .  

8. Register for Council Tax Exemption  

If you live off-campus, you may be eligible for a council tax exemption.  Take a look at this page for more details on student council tax exemption.  

9. Explore Campus  

Get familiar with your new home by taking a campus tour.  Tours run daily during Welcome Week from 10am – 3pm and t he Welcome guide includes details on the best spots to check out (see pages 2-3 of the guide for more info).  

10. Check Blackboard and your School’s MyUEA pages for induction events  

These platforms will also keep you informed about your induction events, lectures, and key academic updates. Check them regularly.    

11. Take part in Welcome Week!  

Finally, immerse yourself in Welcome Week activities. Whether  it’s rock climbing, getting crafty, or joining sports events, there’s something for everyone. You can take a look at the full Welcome Week schedule here.  

By following this checklist, you’ll be all set for an amazing start at UEA. Get ready to make memories, meet new people, and most importantly, enjoy every moment of Welcome Week!  

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We understand that starting university can also be overwhelming. This year’s Welcome Week is packed with events designed to cater to diverse needs and preferences, ensuring that no one is left behind.

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