Creative Writing (Taught)

This MA Creative Writing gives you the chance to better understand the craft of writing and gain valuable constructive criticism from other writers and experts who are as serious about developing your work as you are. It is ideal if you want to develop your practice as a writer and work toward publication and/or sustaining a career in the industry.

Why choose this course?

• Our MA is highly respected and we have a growing list of published and prizewinning authors whose work started life in our seminars, recently including Abi Daré, JJ Bola, Lily Dunn, Annalie Grainger, Louise Hare, Sally Hinchcliffe, Vanessa Onwuemezi, Melody Razak and Saba Sams.

• You will study the art of writing with a faculty of acclaimed authors, which include Julia Bell, Luke Williams and David Eldridge.

• You will benefit from the experience and expertise of a team who have been running this course for almost 20 years.

• You can also graduate with an MA Creative and Critical Writing. This pathway allows you to combine practice-based learning with specialism in contemporary literature.

What you will learn

On this MA Creative Writing you will deepen your knowledge of reading and writing and of literature across all forms and genres, as well as developing critical and professional skills relevant to the workplace.

You will take core modules which focus on the fundamentals of writing and then choose option modules in areas such as:

• writing for video gaming

• screenwriting

• playwrighting

• memoir writing

• poetry

• creative non-fiction

• genre fiction.

How you will learn

This course is available to study full- or part-time. Classes take place in the evening. You will benefit from close and attentive readings of your work and consider issues of craft, expression and meaning while also developing existing skills and new techniques and approaches to writing under the tutelage of published authors.

Entry to the course is based on the submission of a portfolio of creative work, and candidates whose work shows promise will be invited for interview.

Please note that to follow the MA Creative and Critical Writing pathway you will need to start this course in October.

Highlights

• Birkbeck was ranked 2nd in the UK for its English Language and Literature research in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework.

• This environment is fostered by close links between the MA and the Centre for Contemporary Literature at Birkbeck, which runs a wide variety of talks and conferences. In addition to working with the established and award-winning writers, you will have contact with industry professionals, such as publishers and literary agents.

• MIROnline is a forum for the most exciting new writing in short fiction, poetry and creative non-fiction selected from students on this course and beyond.

• Birkbeck is located in the heart of literary London, in Bloomsbury, WC1. You could be studying in a building that was once home to Virginia Woolf and frequented by members of the Bloomsbury Group.

• We have a range of scholarships available to enable talented students on low incomes to study with us, such as the Sophie Warne Fellowship.

Careers and employability

On successfully graduating from this MA, you will have gained an array of important transferable skills, including:

• strong creative and critical skills

• a sophisticated use of written and spoken English

• the ability to engage with ideas and develop your own opinions and arguments

• facility and precision in the use of analytical tools

• strong skills and initiative in collecting and organising complex materials and writing up clear, well-presented reports.

Graduates can pursue career paths in areas such as:

• academia

• research

• teaching

• publishing

• copywriting

• marketing

• narrative design

• editing.

For information about course structure and the modules you will be studying, please visit Birkbeck’s online prospectus.

Four short creative pieces with critical essays (67%). A dissertation (15,000 words) in one of the following genres: a novella, novel or collection of short stories, with a preface of 3000 words (33%).