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English Literature (Creative Writing)
School of English,
Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Course description
You’ll study contemporary creative writing methods and practices and develop your skills in different genres, cross-genres and a wide range of formal and genre experimentations. You’ll also develop and explore your own creative and critical writing through practical workshops and the critical reading of contemporary creative and theoretical texts.
You’ll be encouraged to take all four creative writing core modules, with a minimum of three, which are designed to interact with each other theoretically, thematically and methodologically, to allow for experimentation between literary practices and productive genre crossovers.
The course culminates in a dissertation. You’ll be producing portfolios of both creative and critical work for each module and for your dissertation, all of which may take the form of poetry, prose poetry, short stories, a novel extract, poetic prose, hybrid texts and other genres, as well as formal or cross-media experimentations.
This MA will help you develop your creative writing to a publishable quality, providing a positive, friendly, nurturing, intellectual and creative environment for confident, bold and imaginative development of contemporary creative writing forms and practices. You’ll explore your own writing through practical workshops and learn how to creatively and constructively critique your own and other students' work.
You’ll benefit from the buzzing literary culture at Sheffield and get involved in public and university readings, publications and festivals throughout your time with us. You're encouraged to publish your work and to participate in student-led, peer-feedback editorial sessions.
We run monthly public readings within the Centre for Poetry and Poetics with established writers and have an annually published creative writing journal, Route 57, which is edited and assembled by our own creative writing students. Each year we also run various creative writing projects, student readings and hubs which will give you a variety of opportunities to meet fellow writers within our well established Postgraduate Creative Writing community which comprises current and alumni students of the MA and PhD.
Modules
Optional modules may also include the many modules listed under the general MA in English Literature.
Core modules:
- Core Skills in Postgraduate Study
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This module will help support you in making the transition to MA study. It is taught through a series of workshops on topics such as writing essays at MA level, finding and using secondary materials, giving presentations, and employability. Throughout, you'll be encouraged to reflect on your experiences and expectations, as well as receiving guidance from lecturers. Although the module is not formally assessed, and does not carry credits, it's taken by all students on the MA English Literature programme and as well as helping you to understand the skills you'll be using at MA level will include reflection on your learning and development.
Optional Modules
- Creative Writing: Fiction, Genre, Theory - Bodies and Landscapes
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This module can be taken as a standalone module, though it complements all other Creative Writing Modules. In this module we will ask what it means to write from and with the body as archive, as a site at which all that is known and unknown, internal and external, self and other, meet. Reading contemporary fiction alongside hybrid works and theory, we will explore different ways of writing the body with writing landscapes. Through this framework, we will develop a nuanced and experimentally-inclined understanding of how to deploy character, setting, voice, situation, plot, perspective, tone, and atmosphere, in prose fiction. We will expand our understanding of fiction through reading and incorporating into our own practice other forms of writing, including creative non-fiction, prose poetry, creative-critical writing and other hybrid and experimental forms. We will consider the relationship between literary experimentation in the context of the climate crisis and the numerous other structural crises that mark the contemporary moment. This module will encourage you to expand and experiment with your existing fiction-writing practise by producing new work every week, independently seeking out texts and experiences which speak to your own 'body archive', and contributing to critical and creative discussions in seminars.
30 credits - Creative Writing: Poetry, Poetics, Fusion - (De)Constructi(ve)ing Selves
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This module can be taken as a standalone module, though it complements EGH443,EGH440 and EGH441,a practical and theoretical workshop which is designed to look at current methods of creative writing exploring a wide range of forms of poetry and poetics, prose poetry, poetic prose and the hybrid. During the term our core readings and discussions (critical and creative) will be focusing on language itself and within that on concepts of self and selves, complex concepts of identity as fusion of the private and the public, political and personal, the position of the lyric, or fictional, 'fused' and layered I or is, on phenomenological questions in poetry such as the correlation between psyche and world, language and self, inside and outside while exploring notions and structures of memory, trauma, movement, documentation, perception, body (psyche) and place and environment, politics, historicity, constructions and deconstructions of self, identity and gender; we will be focusing on unnameables, hybrid - psychoanalytical, philosophical and other theoretical concepts through the lens of the creative writer; liminalities and boundaries within the contemporary text of (an old and new) genre, as made, found, de-constructed words of selves. During the module you will be given the opportunity to develop your writing in various contemporary formations of more established and currently forming conventions/experimentations; your critical thinking through a wide range of creative samples by current published authors of both poetry and prose and other speculative genres of fusion; and through the weekly workshops to sharpen your editorial skills.
30 credits - Creative Writing: Prose, Ekphrasis, Experiment, Ritual Writing - Prose Transformations
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This module can be taken as a standalone module, though it complements all other Creative Writing Modules. This module allows you to develop your own creative prose by engaging both creatively and critically with texts which push at, break and spill over the boundaries of genre and form. Through studying a wide range of fiction, hybrid texts, poetry, creative-critical writing, and theory, you will develop a practical and theoretical understanding of the ways in which the creative process can transform texts. We will ask: what does it mean to write the self and the other, or the self as the other? We will consider how texts can function as modes of resistance and repair, or resistance to the idea of 'repair', particularly in the context of racism, ableism, sexism, homophobia, and other structural harms. We will look at different ways of generating material from unusual sources, ranging from other art forms to biographical and historical material, to theory. to dreams, myths and folklore. Through experimenting with different processes of writing, you will challenge your expectations around our own approaches to literary style, genre and form. Through alternating discussion-based seminars and peer workshops, you will produce your own writing that engages creatively and critically with the themes and concerns of the module.
30 credits - Creative Writing: Poetry, Prose, Hybrid - Writing, New Writing, Rewriting, Not Writing
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This module can be taken as a standalone module, though it complements EGH442, EGH440, and EGH441, a practical and theoretical workshop which is designed to look at current methods of creative writing exploring a wide range of forms experimenting further with genre-fusions, the boundaries of genre conventions exploring forms of writing as re-writing and writing as process and experimentation focussing on through stretching borders and edges of poetic and prose forms contours of self, selves and identity: prose poetry, poetic prose, lyric poetry, hybrid, creative nonfiction, fictional memoir, auto-theoretical prose texts, poetic prose, blog, script and other cross-media. Through a wide range of conventional and cross genres, we will continue to be exploring notions and structures of identity, of perception and consciousness, the construction and re/de/constructions of self and selves in writing, layers of memory, trauma, the correlation between psyche, body, place, movement and environment, politics, historicity, race and gender; we will be focusing on unnameable, the 'difficult' and 'tender tissues' of the writing and writer's material, the abject, the other, the liminal and further hybrid concepts, psychoanalysis, post-modern philosophy, liminalities and boundaries of the contemporary creative text, as made, found, speculated, re-invented, documented, de-constructed words of public and private selves. During the module you will be given the opportunity to develop your writing in various contemporary formations of more established and currently forming conventions/experimentations; your critical thinking through a wide range of creative samples by current published authors of prose, poetry, creative non-fiction, speculative prose, play, radio and performance, cross- and multimedia and the hybrid; and through the weekly workshops to sharpen your editorial skills.
30 credits - Dissertation (MA in English Literature)
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The Dissertation is an independent research essay equivalent to around 15,000 words on a topic chosen by you, relating to your programme of study on either the MA in English Literature, MA in Creative Writing or the MA English Studies. It will be supervised by a member of staff with an academic interest in the topic, and you will meet your supervisor approximately three times. The dissertation should present an argument that develops over a series of chapters/sections. It should demonstrate an ability to carry out effective research using appropriate methods of enquiry, as well as expertise in writing and the communication of research discoveries, and in organisation.
60 credits
The content of our courses is reviewed annually to make sure it's up-to-date and relevant. Individual modules are occasionally updated or withdrawn. This is in response to discoveries through our world-leading research; funding changes; professional accreditation requirements; student or employer feedback; outcomes of reviews; and variations in staff or student numbers. In the event of any change we'll consult and inform students in good time and take reasonable steps to minimise disruption.
Open days
An open day gives you the best opportunity to hear first-hand from our current students and staff about our courses.
Open days and campus tours
Duration
- 1 year full-time
- 2 years part-time
Teaching
How we teach core modules
For the four core creative writing modules, you’ll meet for a two-hour workshop each week. These workshops are held in the late afternoons or early evenings.
A workshop is an informal, creative and critical environment that allows you to receive feedback on your writing from both the tutor and your fellow students.
You’ll have the opportunity to discuss creative and theoretical practices, drawing on a wide range of selected contemporary reading material. You'll be encouraged to produce new writing on a weekly basis, which we discuss in the workshops.
How we teach optional modules
Modules from MA English Literature are taught in seminars, which can vary from 1.5 to 2.5 hours long. These are held weekly or fortnightly depending on the module. Many of these seminars are held during the day.
Teaching staff
Our current staff are active and internationally-recognised authors, academics and creative forces in their fields:
- Dr Agnes Lehoczky (Programme Convenor for the MA in Creative Writing, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing)
- Professor Adam Piette (Professor of Modern Literature)
- Clare Fisher (Lecturer in Creative Writing)
- Dr Michael Kindellan (Vice Chancellor’s Fellow)
- Jane Lowe (Creative Writing Programme Administrator)
Former teaching staff have included Dr Vahni Capildeo, Professor Simon Armitage, Dr Honor Gavin, Professor Denise Riley, Dr Laura Joyce and Dr Rachel Genn.
Assessment
You'll be assessed at the end of each term on creative writing portfolios which will include your creative work and a critical essay as well as your dissertation project which will consist of both creative and critical components.
The dissertation is 80% creative and 20% critical reflection on your own work, genre or relevant literary tradition. You'll prepare for it through work you've done in both creative writing modules.
The word count for fiction is:
- 12,000 words of creative work
- 4,000 words of which may already have been workshopped or submitted
- 3,000-5,000 word critical essay
For poetry, the word count is:
- 20 poems, or equivalent (roughly up to 400 lines approx), five of which may have already been previously workshopped or submitted (as long as drafts are submitted to indicate changes)
- 3,000-5,000 words critical essay
Mixed portfolios are welcome. For work previously submitted, we would like you to submit drafts to show changes and developments made to the material.
Your career
Our alumni have gone on to publish creative work and pursue research paths in various sectors. View a list of publications by our current students and alumni who have published work during and since completing our degree programme in Creative Writing.
School
School of English
We're a research-intensive school with an international perspective on English studies. Students can specialise in their chosen subject, while taking modules from other programmes, forging interdisciplinary connections. We encourage you to get involved and to apply your academic learning, working in partnership with external organisations both within the city of Sheffield and beyond.
Our staff are researchers, critics, and writers. They're also passionate, dedicated teachers who work tirelessly to ensure their students are inspired.
We keep seminar groups small because we believe that's the best way to stimulate discussion and debate. Our modules use a range of innovative assessments and can include designing websites, writing blog posts, and working with publishing software, in addition to writing essays and delivering presentations.
We're committed to providing you with the pastoral support you need in order to thrive on your degree. You'll be assigned a personal tutor with whom you'll have regular meetings. You're welcome to see any of our academic staff in their regular student consultations if there's anything you want to ask.
Facilities
Entry requirements
Minimum 2:1 undergraduate honours degree in a relevant subject.
Subject requirements
We accept degrees in the following subject areas:
- English Language
- English Literature
- History
- Linguistics
- Modern Languages
- Philosophy
Your degree should be in an Arts and Humanities or Social Sciences subject.
View an indicative list of degree titles we would consider
English language requirements
IELTS 7.5 (with 7 in each component) or University equivalent
If you have any questions about entry requirements, please contact the school/department.
Fees and funding
Apply
You can apply now using our Postgraduate Online Application Form. It's a quick and easy process.
Contact
english.admissions@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 0220
Any supervisors and research areas listed are indicative and may change before the start of the course.
Recognition of professional qualifications: from 1 January 2021, in order to have any UK professional qualifications recognised for work in an EU country across a number of regulated and other professions you need to apply to the host country for recognition. Read information from the UK government and the EU Regulated Professions Database.