About this course
Enhance your skills with a master's in creative writing at the University of Southampton. This programme challenges you to cross boundaries and become an expert in 5 areas of contemporary writing:
- fiction
- scriptwriting
- creative non-fiction
- writing for young people
- poetry
You’ll also be able to tap into the University’s rich resources in theatre, music, art, and the sciences. On completion of your degree, you’ll be ready for careers in publishing and arts administration.
Our Master of Arts in Creative Writing is a stimulating course which will prepare you to be a professional writer. You’ll have opportunities to publish and edit an anthology, take part in a literary festival, and pursue creative collaborations with everyone from scientists to visiting actors. Your fellow students will come from all over the world and bring with them a wide range of experiences and writing traditions.
You'll be taught by practicing writers, focusing on your own creative writing as well as studying contemporary work. Your lecturers will include four-time novelist Rebecca Smith, award-winning fiction writer and Washington Post freelancer Carole Burns, experimental poet Sarah Hayden, and the highly acclaimed non-fiction writer Philip Hoare.
You'll study with faculty staff and students from countries all over the world, including India, Columbia, Pakistan, Iceland, the USA, Nigeria, and of course the UK. This gives the programme an international focus, and will expose you to a wide range of experiences and writing traditions.
You can take part in a lively programme of literary events, including our own 'Writers in Conversation' reading series. We hold this event 3 times each semester, featuring authors such as Pulitzer Prize winner Jennifer Egan, American writer Gish Jen, and BBC scriptwriter Stephen M. Thompson. We'll also encourage you to take advantage of the University's rich arts environment, including the on-campus Turner Sims Concert Hall and affiliation with Southampton's John Hansard Gallery.
Our Centre for Modern and Contemporary Writing also hosts regular events, readings, and conferences. Recent visitors to the centre include Caroline Bergvall, Lavinia Greenlaw and Amitav Ghosh.
We’ll provide you with a supportive environment in which to learn, grow and develop your writing skills, and help you think deeply and critically about your work. You can specialise in topics that interest you, and choose from a wide variety of optional modules offered by the School of Humanities.
Flexible study
If you prefer, you can apply to study this course as:
- a part-time master's - study the same course content over 2 or more years
Your modules and fees may vary if you choose a different study option.
Course lead
Your course leader is a former journalist and accomplished short story writer with interests in narrative craft and the creative in both fiction and non-fiction. Visit Carole Burns’s staff profile to learn more about her work.
Course location
This course is based at Avenue.
Awarding body
This qualification is awarded by the University of Southampton.
Download the Course Description Document
The Course Description Document details your course overview, your course structure and how your course is taught and assessed.
Changes due to COVID-19
Although the COVID-19 situation is improving, any future restrictions could mean we might have to change the way parts of our teaching and learning take place in 2021 to 2022. We're working hard to plan for a number of possible scenarios. This means that some of the information on this course page may be subject to change.
Find out more on our COVID advice page.
Entry requirements
You’ll need a 2:1 degree in English literature or a related subject.
Find the equivalent international qualifications for your country.
You also need to provide a sample of written work that we can assess.
English language requirements
If English isn't your first language, you'll need to complete an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) to demonstrate your competence in English. You'll need all of the following scores as a minimum:
IELTS score requirements
- overall score
- 6.5
- reading
- 6.0
- writing
- 6.0
- speaking
- 6.0
- listening
- 6.0
We accept other English language tests. Find out which English language tests we accept.
Recognition of professional experience
If you don't have the exact entry requirements, but you have significant work experience in this sector we’ll assess your relevant professional experience, your subject knowledge and your aptitude for learning.
We'll consider your application on individual merit and may ask you to attend an interview.
Got a question?
Please contact us if you're not sure you have the right experience or qualifications to get onto this course.
Email: enquiries@southampton.ac.uk
Tel: +44(0)23 8059 5000
Course structure
This is a full-time master’s course. You’ll study for 12 months, from September to the following September.
In the first 9 months (semesters 1 and 2) you’ll study the taught part of your course.
This is made up of modules that everyone on the course takes, including the Creative Skills Workshop which is the main feature of the programme. You’ll also choose from a list of optional modules from other Humanities MA programmes to personalise the course to your interests.
For the last 3 months, over the summer, you’ll work independently on your final Creative Project, with guidance and support from your supervisors.
Want more detail? See all the modules in the course.
Modules
Changes due to COVID-19
Although the COVID-19 situation is improving, any future restrictions could mean we might have to change the way parts of our teaching and learning take place in 2021 to 2022. We're working hard to plan for a number of possible scenarios. This means that some of the information on this course page may be subject to change.
Find out more on our COVID advice page.
For entry in Academic Year 2022-23
Year 1 modules
You must study the following modules:
This is the culmination of your MA programme. It gives you the opportunity to carry out a sustained piece of writing independently, and bring to bear the ideas, skills, and insights that have been learned on the programme. You will do this under the guida...
This is a two-semester module that runs weekly. All students taking the MA Creative Writing will join this workshop which provides the central spine for the entire programme. The substance of the workshop is a discussion of a selection of your writing in ...
You must also choose from the following modules:
Adventures in Literary Research will provide you with the advanced knowledge and skills you need to be a successful researcher and scholar in the field of literary studies. You will learn about the methodologies of theory and criticism, book history, text...
This core module for the MA Global Literary Industries Management introduces the critical vocabularies for understanding the literary and cultural industries. It introduces the key conceptual and creative ideas that underpin literary arts management. It e...
The core course for the MA, convened on a multidisciplinary basis, and taught by all those contributing to the MA in a given year, will introduce students to the key theoretical, historiographical and conceptual debates surrounding the study of the long e...
This core module for the MA English Literary Studies (Nineteenth-Century) pathway, taught by all those contributing to the pathway in a given year, will introduce students to the key critical, theoretical, historiographical and conceptual debates surround...
This core module for the MA English Literary Studies (Twentieth-Century) pathway, taught by all those contributing to the pathway in a given year, will introduce students to the key critical, theoretical, historiographical and conceptual debates surroundi...
The global industries shaping contemporary literary cultures are diverse, dynamic and rapidly changing. They incorporate children’s literature, graphic novels, plays and poetry, site-specific and experimental writing, popular genre fiction, as well as the...
Whether in the form of monuments, stories or rituals a desire to remember seems to be everywhere in most if not all contemporary nation states. In some respect this has been fuelled by the continually evolving international situation, which has posed a se...
Writing is inherently an interdisciplinary art. From novelists to poets to narrative non-fiction writers, writers tend to delve into fields that are not their own. Ian McEwan shadows neurologists for several years as he was researching Saturday; Hilary Ma...
This module investigates how cultural narratives have been produced, disseminated and consumed across national boundaries since the mid-twentieth century. Through examination of a range of narrative forms, including fiction, essay, memoir, film and photog...
This module offers an in-depth exploration of three concepts that have shaped the modern world: nation, culture, and power. Drawing on staff expertise in cultural and critical theory, the module will investigate the key questions that worldwide thinkers a...
The Special Project (Text, Context, Intertext) module will allow you to write a written assignment or equivalent on a topic of your choice, undertaking independent research with individual guidance from the convenor. You will normally have three one-to-o...
The Special Project module will allow you to produce a written assignment or equivalent on a topic of your choice, undertaking independent research with individual guidance from the convenor. You will normally have up to four one-to-one supervisions of u...
The Special Project (Text, Culture, Theory) module will allow you to write a 4,000-word essay on a topic of your choice, undertaking independent research with individual guidance from the convenor. You will normally have three one-to-one supervisions of ...
The Special Project (Text, Culture, Theory) module will allow you to produce a written assignment or equivalent on a topic of your choice, undertaking independent research with individual guidance from the convenor. You will normally have up to four one-...
This module offers advanced training in the writing of fiction, and does so in a wider international context than the usual selection of UK and possibly US texts allows. Instead of basing our examples of good practice only in British and American fiction,...
This module will explore the various ways in which the Holocaust has been represented in film and television, with specific focus on American film. Each week will focus on a particular issue and present case studies (for example, the immediate post-World ...
This module draws upon the expertise of three US historians to explore different dimensions of the American past, from the founding of the republic forward. This year, we will be focusing on the theme: ‘The other among us: conspiracies, cults and counterr...
This module will provide students with an opportunity to explore some key themes in imperial history, with a likely focus on the history and historiography of the British Empire. Topics may be drawn from any period in imperial history, from the beginnings...
This module offers an overview of the development of Jewish/non-Jewish relations from antiquity to the post-Holocaust era. We will explore change and continuity in the nature of responses towards Jews, and the creation of Jewish identities in relation to ...
Historians have become interested in ‘ordinary people’ in recent years. Why? This module explores this question through looking at case-studies of women’s, men’s and children’s histories in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Britain, and at varieties of ‘o...
This module offers an extended exploration of the question: what is European history, and how do we go about writing it? It explores how the development of the discipline, and indeed the field, has trained us to see (and not to see) certain histories in...
The module investigates transnational approaches to migration and global mobility. It combines a theoretical emphasis in the first part with one based on specific empirical case studies and methodological issues in the second.
This module covers the essential elements of writing for children and young people. It is a practical module that will look at a range of texts from picture books to novels for teenagers. It will cover the essential elements of writing quality fiction and...
Learning and assessment
Learning
You may be surprised by what you find out about yourself during this course. Experience has shown that students often come to us thinking they want to write prose and end up writing poetry, or vice versa, or discover a gift for scriptwriting or children's literature they never thought they had.
We’ll challenge your preconceptions about yourself, so come prepared with an open mind. We don't promise to get you published outside of our own end-of-year anthology, but we do anticipate that by the end of the course you will have learned enough to make informed decisions about the directions your writing career might take next.
We aim to:
- develop your skills and confidence as a writer in specific genres of your choice
- train you to be articulate in your discussions and coursework
- give you an understanding of the theoretical and conceptual issues involved in writing
- enable you to work independently and productively on extended pieces of writing
- help you explore a range of periods and genres of English literature and culture
- introduce you to performance writing and the range of international literatures in English
Throughout the programme, we’ll develop your skills by emphasising:
- active participation
- independent learning
- creativity
- personal initiative
We teach in small groups, with one or more writing tutors guiding students through the implications and potentials of their own writing paths.
We’ll expect you to read widely and experiment freely with your writing and composition beyond the parameters of individual modules.
Assessment
Depending on the modules you choose, we’ll assess you through a combination of:
- essays
- individual and group presentations
- a creative portfolio
- creative work in fiction
- scriptwriting
- a short story
- critical commentaries reflecting on issues of genre, redrafting, creative influence and your voice
- your final Creative Project
Dissertation
For your final Creative Project, you’ll demonstrate your ability to develop an individual vision, realise it in textual form, and manage any problems that emerge along the way.
You’ll write a 15,000-word piece, working one-to-one with a supervisor in your chosen area. The project will be accompanied by a 3,000-4,000-word critical commentary, which will explore a key practice-based or research-led question raised by your creative work.
Your supervisors will be available to provide regular and supportive advice, guidance and feedback on your progress.
Academic Support
You’ll have access to:
- a personal academic tutor to give you guidance and support with academic or personal issues
- the Creative Skills workshop, which is a weekly forum focused on your own writing
- the annual Litmus project, which pairs creative writers with research scientists
- a final end-of-year anthology launch
- talks from former creative writing graduates
Careers
Our graduates go onto careers in:
- writing (from journalism to fiction)
- international PhD programmes
- teaching
- broadcasting
- creative industries
More generally, a master’s degree will help you develop the key skills that employers look for, such as:
- time, deadline and project management
- problem solving
- teamwork, relationship-building and working independently
- cultural awareness
- using your initiative
- critical thinking and research analysis
Above all, you will learn to communicate your ideas and enthusiasm to a wide range of audiences.
Careers services at Southampton
We're a top 20 UK university for employability (QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2020). Our Careers and Employability Service will support you throughout your time as a student and for up to 5 years after graduation. This support includes:
- work experience schemes
- CV/resume and interview skills workshops
- networking events
- careers fairs attended by top employers
- a wealth of volunteering opportunities
- study abroad and summer school opportunities
We have a thriving entrepreneurship culture. You'll be able to take advantage of:
- our dedicated start-up incubator, Futureworlds
- a wide variety of enterprise events run throughout the year
- our partnership in the world’s number 1 business incubator, SETsquared
Fees, costs and funding
Tuition fees
Fees for a year's study:
- UK students pay £9,250.
- EU and international students pay £21,000.
What your fees pay for
Your tuition fee covers the full cost of tuition and any exams.
Find out how to pay your tuition fees.
Accommodation and living costs, such as travel and food, are not included in your tuition fees. Explore:
10% alumni discount
If you’re a graduate of the University of Southampton you get a 10% discount on your postgraduate tuition fees.
Postgraduate Master’s Loans (UK nationals only)
This can help with course fees and living costs while you study a postgraduate master's course. Find out if you're eligible.
MA Creative Writing Bursary: Maureen Taylor Scholarship
Applications for the Maureen Taylor Scholarship are open to all students, but with the specific aim of encouraging black and minority ethnic (BME) women writers.
To be eligible to apply, you will need to confirm your place on the MA Creative Writing programme. Applications are open to all, but we will particularly welcome these from students who meet at least two of the following criteria:
- BME background
- Female
- 25 years old or older
Please list the Maureen Taylor Scholarship on your application form.
If you have any questions, please email Carole Burns, Head of Creative Writing: c.burns@soton.ac.uk.
Deadline: To be considered for the scholarship, please apply to MA Creative Writing by 1 June of the year in which you wish to study.
Other postgraduate funding options
A variety of additional scholarships, grants and bursaries may be available to help you fund your master’s study, both from the University and from other organisations.
Funding for EU and international students
Find out about funding you could get as an international student.
How to apply
- Use the 'apply for this course' button on this page to take you to our online application form.
- Search for the course you want to apply for.
- Complete the application form and upload any supporting documents.
- Submit your application.
Application deadlines
UK students
Make sure we receive your application at least 4 weeks before the start of the course. This gives us time to consider your application, if there are still places available.
International students
Make sure we receive your application at least 6 weeks before the start of the course.
This gives us time to consider your application, if there are still places available. It will also give you time to apply for a visa if we offer you a place.
Application assessment fee
We’ll ask you to pay a £50 application assessment fee if you’re applying for any postgraduate taught course that starts in or after September 2021.
This is an extra one-off charge which is separate to your tuition fees. It covers the work and time it takes us to assess your application. You’ll be prompted to pay when you submit your application which won’t progress until you've paid.
If you're a current or former University of Southampton student, if you're applying for a Master of Research (MRes) degree, or if you're applying for a PGCE course via UCAS, you will not need to pay the fee. Find out if you’re exempt on our terms and conditions page.
Supporting information
When you apply you’ll need to submit a personal statement explaining why you want to take the course.
You’ll need to include information about:
- your knowledge of the subject area
- why you want to study a postgraduate qualification in this course
- how you intend to use your qualification
You'll also need to send 2 academic references.
Please include the required paperwork showing your first degree and your IELTS English language test score (if you are a non-native English speaker) with your application. Without these, your application may be delayed.
You may also be asked to provide:
- a sample of written work
Learn more about how to apply with our postgraduate application guide.
What happens after you apply
You'll be able to track your application through our online Applicant Record System.
We'll assess your application on the strength of your:
- academic achievements
- relevant professional experience
- personal statement
- academic references
We'll get back to you within 6 weeks with a decision about your application.
Equality and diversity
We treat and select everyone in line with our Equality and Diversity Statement.
Got a question?
Please contact us if you're not sure you have the right experience or qualifications to get onto this course.
Email: enquiries@southampton.ac.uk
Tel: +44(0)23 8059 5000