University of Surrey, MA, Creative Writing

The MA Creative Writing programme will build your confidence and technical ability in composing creative prose and/or poetry, while deepening your critical awareness of the cultural, literary and theoretical history of text production.

This programme will hone your research and writing skills to produce critically informed prose or poetry, and creative criticism. The University will help you to locate your work in its literary and cultural context, and you will have the chance to reflect on your creative process and the finished work.

You will have access to a yearly calendar of events hosted at the University created to broaden your thinking, and develop your writing skills such as the Morag Morris Poetry Lecture, the annual Surrey New Writers’ Festival and the Surrey Poetry Festival.

The MA in Creative Writing provides a strong foundation to embark upon a career in writing, communications, publishing, marketing, advertising, journalism or teaching, or to undertake a PhD.

Programme learning outcomes:

The programme provides opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding, skills, qualities and other attributes in the following areas:

• Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the main principles and challenges of creative writing
• Relate developments in the field of literary studies to the social, political and historical contexts of their own creative work
• Distinguish different approaches to literary studies and reflect upon these in their own
• Develop a critical engagement with various theoretical approaches and methods
• Recognize the critical language required in advanced literary studies
• Identify and explain relevant techniques and strategies for producing high quality creative writing