Creative Writing (Research)

Our PhD in Creative Writing offers committed and talented writers the opportunity to study creative writing at the highest level.

Join our community of writers and readers based in a UNESCO World City of Literature. Our creative writing team includes well-published and prize-winning writers of poetry and prose fiction and a dedicated Writer-in-Residence. They include:

• Dr Jane Alexander - Fiction

• Dr Lynda Clark - Fiction

• Dr Patrick Errington - Poetry

• Dr Miriam Gamble - Poetry

• Professor Alan Gillis - Poetry

• Dr Jane McKie - Poetry

• Dr Allyson Stack - Fiction

• Kim Sherwood - Fiction

• Alice Thompson - Fiction

Supported by us, you will work independently towards the production of a substantial, publishable piece of creative writing, accompanied by a sustained exercise in critical study. You will choose to specialise in either fiction or poetry.

The University is home to multiple groups and societies dedicated to publishing, reading and performing, as well as to discussion and debate. Our resources for the study and enjoyment of literature are exceptional.

Over the course of your PhD, you will write a manuscript consisting of two components:

• A creative component (75%)

• A critical component (25%)

Creative component

If you specialise in fiction, you will write a novel or collection of short stories totalling a maximum of 75,000 words.

If you specialise in poetry, you will write a collection of poetry of a maximum of 75 pages.

Critical component

You will write an essay of approximately 20,000 to 25,000 words. This can take a number of forms, from traditional academic to critical-reflexive (in which you situate your creative project in a critical context).

It is important that your creative and critical components are sufficiently connected for your manuscript to form a coherent body of work.