Program Overview
This multi-faceted BA course explores the relationships between creative writing, film, and theater. Taught by published authors, it develops writing skills, understanding of literary and dramatic texts, and practical film and theater approaches through a combination of lectures, seminars, and workshops. Graduates are highly employable in creative industries such as theater, film, and journalism, or in fields requiring strong communication and cultural literacy.
Program Outline
Degree Overview:
Develop and hone your writing skills, and explore the important relationships between film and theatre, in our BA Creative Writing and Film & Theatre course. Taught jointly by the Department of English Literature and the Department of Film, Theatre and Television, this multi-faceted course will:
- develop your creative writing in a small-group environment
- explore a variety of literary, dramatic and film texts
- provide practical and theoretical approaches to film and theatre. Creative writing, film and theatre complement each other perfectly. Developing characters and narratives in your creative writing, and working to improve and refine them, will make you a better writer. This will enhance your ability to create compelling characters and narratives in your filmmaking and theatre work. 94% of students in the Department of English Literature said our teaching staff were good or very good at explaining things (National Student Survey, 2023).
Outline:
Year 1
- Introduction to Creative Writing
- Poetry in English
- Analysing Theatre and Performance
- Approaches to Film
Year 2
- Introduction to Drama (optional)
- Shelf Life (optional)
- Modern American Culture and Counterculture (optional)
- Comedy on Stage and Screen (optional)
- Radical Forms in Theatre and Performance (optional)
- Thinking Translation: History and Theory (optional)
- What is Comparative Literature? (optional)
- Optional Language Modules
Year 3
- Creative Writing Dissertation (optional)
- Film and/or Theatre Dissertation (optional)
- Creative Research Project (optional)
- British Black and Asian Voices: 1948 to the Present (optional)
- Lyric Voices, 1340-1650 (optional)
- Creative Writing Masterclass: Poetry (optional)
- Performance and Design (optional)
- Literature and Mental Health (optional)
- Creative Writing Masterclass: Prose (optional)
- Writing Women: Nineteenth-century Poetry (optional)
- Adaptions across Stage and Screen (optional)
- Musical Theatre (optional)
- Advanced Scriptwriting (optional)
- From Romance to Fantasy (optional)
- Children's Literature (optional)
- The Bloody Stage: Revenge and Death in Renaissance Drama (optional)
- Modern and Contemporary British Poetry (optional)
- Decadence and Degeneration: Literature of the 1890s (optional)
- Placing Jane Austen (optional)
- Screen Bodies (optional)
- Film Festivals and Programming (optional)
Teaching:
Modules are taught by practising, published authors who have strong links with professional writing communities. We regularly invite published authors to read from their work and participate in teaching. We’ll help you develop your creative writing skills in a variety of settings:
- lectures concentrate on specific, practical issues such as how to construct a character or tackle a specific literary form
- seminars involve small group discussions, led by one of the teaching team, with short practical writing exercises
- workshops allow you to explore and develop your writing in small peer groups.
Careers:
As a creative writing graduate, you will enter the job market with well-developed communication, research and writing skills, together with a high level of cultural literacy and critical sophistication. According to the latest Graduate Outcomes Survey 2020/21, 95% of our leavers are in work or further study within 15 months of graduation . Our flexible degrees are designed to develop the skills valued by both creative and commercial industries, providing you with a diverse range of career opportunities following graduation. Many of our alumni work in the creative industries, in roles such as:
- theatre director
- arts management
- actor
- playwright
- film director
- television producer
- critic. Graduates also go on to work in:
- commercial marketing and media
- advertising
- journalism
- teaching.
- New UK/Republic of Ireland students: £9,250
- New international students: £22,350
- UK/Republic of Ireland fee changes UK/Republic of Ireland undergraduate tuition fees are regulated by the UK government. These fees are subject to parliamentary approval and any decision on raising the tuition fees cap for new UK students would require the formal approval of both Houses of Parliament before it becomes law. EU student fees With effect from 1 August 2021, new EU students will pay international tuition fees. Additional costs Some courses will require additional payments for field trips and extra resources. You will also need to budget for your accommodation and living costs. Financial support for your studies You may be eligible for a scholarship or bursary to help pay for your study. In addition to university-wide scholarships, the department offers the Bulmershe Bursary that supports eligible students with £1,000 towards the costs of university life. It is open to all full-time UK or EU undergraduate students studying degrees offered by Film, Television, and Theatre including our joint honours programmes. Students can apply in semester 1 of each year. Students from the UK may also be eligible for a student loan to help cover costs.
