English with Creative Writing

Why study BA English with Creative Writing at Goldsmiths
The degree is ideal if you are curious about literature, with the imagination to turn that curiosity into creativity.

• This flexible BA English with Creative Writing degree allows you to choose from a range of topics – comparisons of literature across different cultures and art forms (also known as comparative literature), American literature and culture, and diverse aspects of language use in linguistics modules.

• You'll have the space to develop your own creative writing practice, while our Work Placement module also offers valuable workplace experience in professional environments relevant to your area of study.

• Goldsmiths has one of the most established and long-running creative writing centres in UK Higher Education, and many of our graduates are now leading writers and editors in their field, winning major literary awards and appearing on the shortlists of national prizes.

• Our teaching staff of celebrated writers and scholars are ready to support you and your work as a Goldsmiths student.

• We’re regularly visited by literary guest speakers, and our students have recently enjoyed events with Ali Smith, Bernadine Evaristo, C A Conrad, George Saunders, Nikesh Shukla,  Michael Rosen, Eimear McBride, Joelle Taylor, Olivia Laing, Rachael Allen and Eley Williams.

• Our forward-thinking approach to the fields of creative writing and literary studies is supported by our hosting and running of the Goldsmiths Prize, awarded annually to work that pushes the boundaries of the novel.

• Your literary and creative studies will be supported by lectures and seminars that will give you practical advice to help you improve your essay writing and refine your research strategies.

• Our location on the doorstep of central London means that you will have easy access to one of the most diverse, historic, and dynamic literary centres in the world.

Course Modules

Year 1

In your first year, you'll take the following compulsory modules:

• Explorations in Literature

• Genre

• Foundation Workshop in Creative Writing

• Critical Writing

• Contemporary Creative Industries

Year 2

In your second year, you will study the following compulsory modules:

• Creative Writing Workshop

• Writing in Revolutions and Society

• Special Topics in English

• The Goldsmiths Project

Special Topics in English

Within this module, you will choose and study from a selection of specialist topics in literary studies. Indicative topics include American Gothic; Aesthetics; Homer and Contemporary Literature; Shakespeare Then and Now; Language and Society; and Post-1945 Poetry.

Optional modules

You will also choose one optional module. Modules vary from year to year, but may include the following:

• Work Placement (English)

• The Goldsmiths Elective

• Weird Fictions

Goldsmiths Elective

The Elective allows students to take a module outside of English, provided by a different Subject Area of Goldsmiths. Or students may wish to take the current English Elective in Weird Fictions.

The Work Placement

You can choose to take a work placement module as one of your option modules in your second year. This module allows you to undertake a work placement which will benefit your studies, your skillset and your CV.

Students have previously been placed with Penguin; the Poetry Library, Southbank Centre; Macmillan publishers; Wandsworth Council; the Museum of London; Prototype Publishing; the homeless charity HARP; and leading international poetry magazine Poetry London which is in-house at Goldsmiths English and has two placements available every year.

Year 3

In your final year, you'll take the following compulsory modules:

• Modern and Contemporary Literatures

• Challenging World Literature: Diversity and Difference

• Research Topics in English

• Project Development

Research Topics in English

Within this module, you will choose and study from a selection of specialist topics in literary studies. Indicative topics include Caribbean Women Writers; Decadence; Shakespeare’s Sisters (Women’s Writing: 1920s to the Present); Language and Society; Contemporary Indigenous American Literatures and Cultures; and American Crime Fiction.

Please note that due to staff research commitments not all of these modules may be available every year.