MA English Literature (Creative Writing)

About the course

You'll study contemporary creative writing and develop your skills in different genres and styles. You'll also develop and explore your own writing through practical workshops.

You'll complete two 30-credit core modules, optional modules worth 60 credits and a 60-credit dissertation. Your final portfolio of work may take the form of short stories, a novel extract, script or poetry.

Core modules

Choose two from:

• Creative Writing: Fiction 1
• Creative Writing: Fiction 2
• Creative Writing: Poetry 1
• Creative Writing: Poetry 2

Optional modules

A range including:

• 'Tales of the City: The Living Space in Contemporary American Fiction
• Contemporary British Poetry
• Memory and Narrative in Contemporary Literature
• (15 credits) Language and Literature in the Workplace
• Study of Texts

Teaching

• Workshops
• Seminars

Assessment

• Essays
• A creative writing dissertation
• Portfolio

Fiction writers and dramatists: 12,000 words of creative work. Poets: 50 poems or equivalent. All students complete a 3,000-word critical essay.

Part-time study

Part-time students usually take one taught module in each semester. In the second year, you'll also take a dissertation module. For most courses, you'll need to come in for one half-day per week.

This course is taught in the evening. Some modules, such as Theatre and Performance, may require greater time commitment. We try to be as flexible as possible to accommodate the different needs of our students.

Your career

An English Literature masters from Sheffield is the mark of an independent thinker, a skilled researcher, someone who can bring complex projects to fruition. Our graduates go into teaching, management and consultancy, advertising, journalism, publishing, and all branches of the arts – especially theatre, film and creative writing.

Cultural life

There is always something going on, and there are plenty of chances to get involved. We have extensive links with arts and heritage organisations including Arts Council England and Sheffield Theatres. Recent poetry readings featured Carol Ann Duffy and Ciaran Carson.

Our Arts/Science Encounters events bring together musicians, writers, architects and academics to explore ideas. The English Society, run by our students, organises theatre trips, guest lectures and seminars. Students also get the chance to take part in drama and readings.

First-rate facilities

We're based in a brand new building at the heart of the campus. There are computer workstations especially for postgraduates and a DVD library with viewing facilities.

Our theatre workshop is a fully equipped teaching/performance area with excellent film-viewing facilities and audio suites.

Specialist resources

The University Library subscribes to the major periodicals and full-text electronic archives, including Early English Books Online and Eighteenth-Century Collections Online.

Special collections include an outstanding collection of Restoration drama, the Hope Collection of eighteenth-century periodicals, the Jack Rosenthal scripts collection, and papers of contemporary writers such as Anita Brookner, Marina Warner, Fay Weldon and Peter Redgrove.

Research training for PhD

If you intend to progress to a PhD, your course can be tailored to include essential research training. The same applies to students on the online course.

Apply now

You can apply for postgraduate study using our Postgraduate Online Application Form. It is a quick and easy process.

Postgraduate Online Application Form