| Program start date | Application deadline |
| 2024-09-01 | - |
| 2025-09-01 | - |
Program Overview
The MA in Creative Writing at Aberystwyth University fosters creative vision and writing abilities through a balance of reading, analysis, and writing workshops. Students develop technical and creative skills, engage in discussions about technique, and produce a substantial portfolio in poetry or prose fiction. The program enhances employability and imparts transferable skills applicable to diverse fields, including the arts, literature, and journalism.
Program Outline
Degree Overview:
The MA in Creative Writing at Aberystwyth University is designed to help students develop their creative vision and writing abilities through a balanced program of reading, analysis, and writing workshops. The program aims to expose students to a range of contemporary writers of both prose and poetry, stimulating their creative approach and fostering confidence and maturity. Students will engage in discussions about technique, explore the wider issues related to the practice of writing, such as the significance of genre and the mechanics of publication, and receive individual tuition from published creative writers. The program culminates in the production of a substantial portfolio in the form of a collection of poetry or an extended piece of prose fiction.
Outline:
The program is structured as follows:
- Duration: 12 months full-time; 24-36 months part-time.
- Academic Year: Divided into three semesters: September to January; January to June; June to September.
Modules:
- Year 1:
- Core Modules:
- Writer as Practitioner 1 (WRM6140): 40 credits
- Writer as Professional (WRM6620): 20 credits
- Writer as Scholar (WRM6320): 20 credits
- Writer as Practitioner 2 (WRM6060): 60 credits
- Optional Modules:
- 21st-Century Medievalisms (ENM0920): 20 credits
- Late Modernist Poetry (ENM0020): 20 credits
- Postwar American Fiction (ENM1220): 20 credits
- Queer and Now: 100 years of Queer Writing (ENM0220): 20 credits
- Reading Ulysses (ENM3120): 20 credits
- Research and Project Planning (ENM3020): 20 credits
- Romantic Radical Cultures (ENM1520): 20 credits
- Sensational Sales: Victorian Popular Literature 1848-1894 (ENM1720): 20 credits
- Women, Fiction and Female Community, 1660-1792 (ENM1620): 20 credits
- Writing Poetry: Modes in Contemporary Poetry (WRM6420): 20 credits
- Note: Modules listed are intended for delivery during the next academic year and may be subject to change.
Assessment:
Assessment for the program includes:
- Portfolios of prose and/or poetry: Including critical commentaries.
- A long research project.
- Reflective writing on professional practice.
Teaching:
- Teaching Methods: The program involves two core modules and three optional modules from the Department's portfolio of MA provision or other relevant study areas, including Literary Studies. Each module comprises ten weeks of study with a weekly two-hour group meeting and provision for tutorial consultation.
- Faculty: Students will be taught by some of the UK's leading scholars in Creative Writing and Literary Studies, who are either qualified to PhD level or have commensurate professional experience. Most academic staff also hold Fellowships with Advance HE.
- Unique Approaches: The program emphasizes a dynamic and supportive learning environment, encouraging students to widen their artistic horizons and develop their abilities within a constructive critical environment.
Careers:
The MA in Creative Writing is designed to enhance employability by developing writing and research abilities, as well as key skills required in a variety of workplaces. The program helps students master approaches to planning, analysis, and presentation, enabling them to tackle complex projects thoroughly and with professional independence. Graduates will be well-equipped for careers in the arts, literature, journalism, and other fields.
Key Skills and Competencies:
Upon graduation, students will have mastered an array of technical and creative skills relating to writing, including:
- Factual research.
- Evaluative writing.
- Problem-solving through the process of writing.
- Understanding genre and register.
- Narrative viewpoint and voice.
- Justifying creative choices within a chosen form.
- Awareness of intended readership.
- Identifying their place in the wider context of literary fiction and/or poetry.
- Experience in giving and receiving stringent but supportive criticism within a positive group setting.
Self-Motivation and Discipline:
The MA program requires high levels of discipline and self-motivation from students. While they will have access to the expertise and guidance of Departmental staff, they are ultimately responsible for devising and completing a sustained program of scholarly research. This process strengthens skills in planning, executing, and analyzing work projects, reflecting standard practice in the world of employed work.
Transferable Skills:
The MA program provides a range of transferable skills applicable in various academic and employment contexts. Graduates will be desirable to employers seeking individuals who can balance creative flair and artistic vision with a dependable work ethic and highly adaptable writing skills.
Other:
- Nationally Significant Research: The program's teaching is informed by nationally significant research, conducted by some of the UK's leading scholars in Creative Writing and Literary Studies.
- Research Activity: The majority of the Department's research activity was judged either internationally excellent or world-leading (REF 2021).
- Writing Portfolio: The centrally important component of the course is the Writing Portfolio, which will comprise either prose or poetry. Students will be assigned a supervisor whose interests are closely matched to their own.
- Assessment Profile: Students have the opportunity to vary their assessment profile through elective modules that allow for assessment via oral presentation, critical essay, or learning journal.
