Creative Writing

Overview

There is a strong practical element to the programme, helping you develop your creative skills through workshops, presenting your work for peer discussion, and hearing from guest writers and other professionals on the practicalities of life as a writer.

You’ll also sharpen your critical skills through seminars exploring the particulars of your chosen form and through option courses in literature, helping you move from theoretical considerations to practical applications.

The Creative Writing programme at The University of Edinburgh culminates with the publication of ‘From Arthur’s Seat’, an anthology of student work.

Literature has been taught here for over 250 years, and today Edinburgh thrives on its designation as the first UNESCO World City of Literature, home to the National Library of Scotland and the Scottish Poetry Library, and a number of celebrated publishing outlets, from Canongate and Polygon, to Luath Press, Birlinn and Mariscat. The University hosts the prestigious James Tait Black Awards, established in 1919 and the oldest literary prizes in Britain.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this course, you should be able to:

• identify, conceptualise and define formal elements of craft in your chosen field (poetry or fiction) within published works and within works by your peers

• remain open to criticism and respond effectively and creatively to feedback on your own creative work

• work from initial conception through multiple drafts to the final version of a creative piece within your chosen field (fiction or poetry)

• transfer editorial skills and creative abilities from one context to another

• analyse creative works within your chosen field (fiction or poetry), work with a focus on craft effectiveness, and articulate strengths and weaknesses in a piece of writing in a constructive manner

Career opportunities

Over the course of this programme, you’ll complete a body of creative work that has been rigorously peer reviewed.

A number of our graduates have seen their student work professionally produced, such as Sarah Kamlet (now Fulton), a writer and photographer living in Los Angeles, whose ‘Ode to Jeff Goldblum’ was written for the Creative Writing MSc and subsequently made into an animated short on Funny or Die.

Our students go on to careers in a wide variety of fields, including publishing, marketing, arts administration, web and audio book editing, script and ghost writing, and gaming narrative design.

You may also follow your own creative path, becoming a published writer, or decide to extend your studies and move into a career in academia.