Creative Writing

Program Overview

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Liverpool Hope University's Creative Writing program fosters students' writing skills in poetry, prose, and creative non-fiction. Led by published writers, the program emphasizes creativity, employability, and ethical considerations in writing. Students engage in workshops, field trips, and independent research, preparing them for careers in writing, publishing, and beyond.

Program Outline

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Creative Writing at Liverpool Hope University

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Degree Overview

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Objectives:

• Develop students as writers of poetry and prose (fiction and creative non-fiction) across a broad field of literature.
• Foster students' command of craft, confidence in expressing their ideas and emotions, and an understanding of the values informing their writing practice.
• Encourage students to reach beyond their own experiences to explore contemporary and historical communities as creative stimuli, reflecting upon social contexts, power, and the communication of truth and justice through writing.
• Cultivate a broad appreciation for forms, genres, and applications of creative writing by the end of the degree.

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Features:

• Led by published writers and academics.
• Focuses on creativity and employability.
• Offers field trips for expanded learning experiences and writing inspiration.

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Outline

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Year One

• The Creative Process: Introduction to the nature of creativity through writing exercises, exploring the senses, improvisation, and visual arts.
• Writing Practice: Development of writing skills, understanding figurative language, poetic and prose forms, critical writing, drafting, revising, editing, and reviewing the building blocks of language (grammar and punctuation).
• Writing Techniques: Poetry, Prose, and Creative Non-Fiction: Exploration and writing in different genres, building a portfolio of diverse short works.
Group writing project engagement.

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Year Two

• Critical and Ethical Concepts in Writing: Exploration of the ethical considerations of being a writer and professional writing implications, including theories and philosophies of writing practice, writing for social topics, and issues related to race, migration, gender, environment, and protest.
• The Writing and Reading Interface: Examining how literary works inform personal writing practices, both in theory and application.
• Writing Workshops in Poetry, Prose, and Creative Non-Fiction: Development through shared drafts, feedback, and critique.
Group writing project participation.

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Year Three

• The Research Project: Independent research and investigation of chosen creative writing area, placing personal practice within a broader context of literary texts, theoretical frameworks, publishing considerations, and relevant world issues.
• The Vocational Seminar: Exploration and engagement with the practicalities and realities of being a writer, including working with editors, collaborating, writing for different platforms and purposes (e.g., magazines, features, competitions), freelance work, and societal benefits of creative writing (e.g., community writing, writing and diversity).
• Advanced Studies in Poetry, Prose, and Creative Non-Fiction: Mastery of advanced writing techniques under expert guidance, exploring topics like characterization, plot structure, free verse, poetic form, biography, autobiography, writing for articles, and podcasting.
Development of individual voice and production of publishable-standard writing.

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Assessment

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Methods:

• Critical and reflective essays.
• Written exams or take-home tasks.
• Practice-based portfolios of diverse writing styles.
• Active participation and writing workshops with peer and tutor feedback.
• Individual supervision for research projects.

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Feedback Cycle:

• First Year: Weekly verbal feedback during seminars and tutorials, detailed written feedback within 4 weeks of assessment deadlines, and one-to-one discussions on work-in-progress before assessments.
• Second Year: Similar feedback pattern to Year One, including weekly writing workshop participation and detailed peer feedback.
• Third Year: Regular group seminar feedback and individual supervision for the research project.

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Teaching

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Structure:

• Lectures with student input.
• Seminars with writing exercises.
• Tutorials with limited student groups (10 students max in First Year).

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Hours:

• Approximately 6 teaching hours per year, with an expectation of minimum 9 additional hours of independent study per week.

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Careers

• Publication opportunities in poetry, fiction, criticism, or blogging.
• Writing features for magazines and broadcasters.
• Multimedia application development for businesses.
• Copywriting for advertising and public relations.
• Freelance writing careers.
• Postgraduate studies.

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Other

• SALA (Service and Leadership Award) program for extra-curricular service, leadership development, and career preparation.

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• The tuition fees for the 2024/25 academic year are £9,250 for full-time undergraduate courses.
• If you are a student from the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands, your tuition fees will also be £9,250.
• The University reserves the right to increase Home and EU Undergraduate and PGCE tuition fees in line with any inflationary or other increase authorised by the Secretary of State for future years of study.
• The International Tuition fees for 2024/25 are £12,500.