BA in Creative Writing
Kingston upon Thames, United Kingdom
DURATION
3 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Request application deadline *
EARLIEST START DATE
Request earliest startdate
TUITION FEES
GBP 9,250 / per year **
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* only for home students. We will continue to accept applications from international students after the 25th of January
** UK students: £9,250 per year | international: £14,300 for the first year
Introduction
Why choose this course?
Are you a budding novelist, Netflix screenwriter or experimental poet? On this degree, you'll learn the art and craft of writing in all its forms. Taught by published authors, you'll gain a wide range of skills across creative and non-fiction genres. You'll examine how writing can be used to communicate in a range of contexts, with appropriate uses of style, register and form.
You'll take part in masterclasses by industry professionals and join the thriving community of our specialist Writers' Centre. An extended writing project will be on a subject of your choice. You'll also build a professional portfolio and work on real-life industry projects, giving you vital employment experience to prepare you for a career in writing.
Reasons to choose Kingston
- Many of our graduates have had their work published. Recently, Oyinkan Braithwaite's multi-award-winning debut novel My Sister, The Serial Killer, was longlisted for the Booker Prize 2019.
- This course covers a range of formats, including digital writing, creative non-fiction, prose writing, poetry, and dramatic writing.
- Workshops will allow you to hone your writing craft, while lectures and seminars will give you the tools you need to develop your own creativity.
Gallery
Admissions
Curriculum
What you will study
This course is intellectually stimulating and exciting, designed to provide you with opportunities for creative writing across a variety of genres and media, embracing poetry, prose fiction and non-fiction, professional writing, and writing for performance on stage, radio and screen.
You'll work with published writers, academics and industry professionals on writing for digital media, pitches, exhibitions, reviews, and articles.
Modules
Each level is made up of four modules each worth 30 credit points. Typically a student must complete 120 credits at each level.
Year 1
In your first year, you'll be introduced to the field of creative writing through a variety of practical workshops and seminars. You'll attend interactive lectures, small-group discussions and individual writing exercises.
Core modules
- Practical Journalism 1
- Introduction to Creative Writing I: The Writer's Toolkit
- Writing that Works
- Introduction to Communication
Year 2
In the second year, there is an increasing emphasis on private study and independent writing.
You'll develop the appropriate skills, techniques, and practices in order to produce a sustained piece of writing in poetry and fiction.
Core modules
- Style and Meaning
- Independent Creative Writing
Optional modules
- Content, Form and Creativity
- Magazine Journalism
- Write Action: Introduction to Dramatic Writing
- Introduction to Screenwriting
- Transforming Realities: Innovation and Social Change in Twentieth Century and Contemporary Literature
Optional year
This degree is also available with a sandwich option. Students selecting this route will be supported by the placements office in finding a suitable work placement.
You can also study abroad or take a work placement in your second year at locations in Europe, the United States, and Australia.
Final year
In your final year, you'll have the opportunity to complete an extended writing project on a subject of your choice, and to work on real-life industry projects, giving you vital employment experience.
Through optionality, both at the assessment and module level, the programme will enable you to tailor your degree to suit your interests and employment or enterprise goals. Workshops will allow you to hone your writing craft, while lectures and seminars will give you the tools you need to develop your own creativity.
Core modules
- Dissertation: Creative and Professional Writing
- Professional Writing in Practice
Optional modules
- Special Study: Literary Journalism and War
- Beyond Text: Advanced Dramatic Writing
- Special Author
- Black and Asian Writing
- Making Shakespeare: Text, Performance and Adaptation
- Gender and Sexuality
- Special Study: Narrative Techniques in Popular Fiction
- Creative Writing Special Study: Get a Life: Forms of (Auto)biography
- Creative Writing Special Study: Innovations in Poetry and Prose
- Box Set Drama: Writing for Television
Please note
Optional modules only run if there is enough demand. If we have an insufficient number of students interested in an optional module, that module will not be offered for this course.
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
Students in this course go on to become published authors and work in a range of written communication roles including creative writing, digital media, curation, public relations, journalism, publishing, communications, teaching and the civil service.
Links with business and industry
The Creative Writing degree has been developed as part of a major project in professional writing run by Writers' Centre Kingston which includes the development of online learning, short courses, and industry forums.
As part of this project, you'll have unique access to masterclasses involving our creative partners, which include individuals from companies including Macmillan Publishers, The Creative Society, PwC, Greene & Heaton literary agency and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. These partners will offer workshops and guest lectures.
As part of the major project, you'll undertake a piece of professional standard work in response to a live brief set by an employer, giving you valuable professional experience to prepare you for a career in writing.