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MA Creative Writing

Overview of the Programme

Anthony (current student) reading the the Wexford Cabaret The University has an excellent track record for the study of Creative Writing.  Masters’ programmes in Creative Writing have been offered here since 1997 and have attracted students from a range of backgrounds and experiences – from recent graduates to mature students with a wealth of life experience.

These programmes are designed for committed writers who wish to complete significant pieces of work and generally broaden their experience as writers.

There are two linked programmes available – the MA in Creative Writing and the MA in Creative and Script Writing.  Each programme offers participants an opportunity to work with internationally recognised writers with expertise in a number of genres, and a range of academic staff and visiting staff. 

The overall aim of the MA programmes is to equip students with the ability to hone their writing skills and to develop areas of creativity at an advanced level, while the practical benefits offered by the schemes will enable students to pursue careers as professional writers, editors and publishers as well as those roles which command an excellent command of language.

A focus on the ability to communicate clearly through precise language prepares students for a range of careers, from writing-based advertising or journalism, to related professions such as publishing, publicity or arts administration. Students will also become able to apply the knowledge and skills acquired on the courses to teach others these skills, whether it be in schools, colleges or in the community.

In addition to the programmes themselves the School and the University support a number of reading and social events in which students would be able to participate. We also support the student-led design, production, publication and promotion of a anthology of the years MA work in conjunction with established publishers.

Professional advice is offered to develop the publication as a brand and establish a promotional reading tour taking in venues such as the Hay Festival and the Dylan Thomas Boathouse in picturesque Laugharne as well as contributing experience and a vital showcase of writing to the University’s own cultural festival.

MA Students are also in charge of designing and promoting the well received online journal The Lampeter Review. As a result of this activity several former students now work in publishing and we are proud of our track record of student publishing success – at least one a year.

Module Content and Structure

Modules focus on acquiring an understanding of creativity and genre, research skills for writers, and self-determined projects. The dissertation element of the course allows students to develop work of a publishable standard with an individual tutor. The MA in Creative and Script Writing offers additional modules in Script Writing.

Modules comprise:

Part 1:

  • Approaches to Creative Writing
  • Writing Workshop: Research and Writing
  • Writing Workshop: Writing and Context
  • Writers World
  • Screenwriting

Part 2:

  • Creative Project (Dissertation)

Mode of Study

The programmes are delivered on the University’s campus in Lampeter.  They are taught through seminars, small workshops and individual tutorials and supervision that enable detailed and personalised feedback.   

Access to a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) enables additional learning, especially work-shopping, to take place outside the sessions and supports the development of a mutually supportive cohort of committed writers. Graduates from the programmes have gone on to become successful and prize winning authors.

The MA programmes also offer students the opportunity to write and discuss their work through the medium of Welsh should they wish to do so.

Assessment

There are no examinations.  All modules are assessed by original creative assignments supported by reflective and developmental material: logs, journals, treatments, reviews proposals. The Creative Project is provides the opportunity for students to develop a substantial piece of work to publishable standard.

Entry Requirements

Applicants may have achieved a 2:1 degree in Creative Writing or a cognate discipline (those with a 2:2 may be considered for entry to a Postgraduate Diploma in the first instance). Other applicants without a first degree but with a level of experience are also encouraged to apply. In all cases a writing sample and interview will form the major part of the application process. 

Career DevelopmentDinefwr Festival

  • Professional Writers
  • Editors
  • Publishers
  • Marketing
  • Expert tuition from professional writers, poets, novelists, dramatists, script-writers
  • An opportunity to learn about publishing through the design and production of the annual anthology
  • An opportunity to read your work at such events as the Hay Festival
  • Programme delivered on our beautiful and inspiring campus in Lampeter

Key Features

Educational Aims of the Programmes

The main aims of the programme are:

  • to provide, for the student with a serious commitment to creative writing, the opportunity to complete, with guidance and advice from experienced writers, a significant body of creative work;
  • to assist the student to a more complex understanding of the nature and difficulties of creative writing as a practice;
  • to assist the student to a more complex understanding of the relationship(s) between theory and practice within creative writing;
  • to create the spirit of a writers' community in which the student will have  regular and supportive contact with a wide range of writers, both professional and otherwise;
  • to encourage advanced and sustained creativity and critical and theoretically informed self-reflection and an awareness of cultural and linguistic production and reception of meaning.

Programme Outcomes

The programmes will provide the opportunity for students to achieve and demonstrate the following learning outcomes:

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

The programmes will provide students with the opportunity to develop and demonstrate an advanced and sustained knowledge and understanding of:

  1. approaches to creativity across a wide a range of genres;
  2. the range and variety of creative practice;
  3. the role of the creative writer;
  4. the market demands for creative writing;

INTELLECTUAL SKILLS

The programmes will provide students with the opportunity to develop and demonstrate the following:

  1. the ability to articulate advanced and sustained knowledge and understanding of a range of creative practice;
  2. the ability to engage theoretically and critically with various and varying creative perspectives
  3. critical and theoretically informed sensitivity to the roles of language and culture in the creation of meaning;
  4. the ability to plan and execute small and medium scale creative tasks and projects;
  5. the ability to independently plan and execute large scale creative projects.

PRACTICAL SKILLS

The programmes will provide students with the opportunity to develop and demonstrate the following:

  1. the ability to apply high level communication skills in a wide range of different contexts;
  2. aptitude in the acquisition and processing of diverse and complex information for, and into, structured tasks and projects;
  3. the ability to present work to meet rigorous professional standards and an awareness of the market place for creative writing.

TRANSFERABLE SKILLS

The programme will provide students with the opportunity to develop the following:

  1. the ability to communicate effectively complex information in a variety of different formats;
  2. independent research skills of information retrieval and organization;
  3. information-technology skills, including the use of electronic resources;
  4. effective and sophisticated time-management and organizational skills;
  5. the capacity for independent thought and judgement and ability to creatively challenge received ideas.