Creative Writing

Overview

Course Details

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.

This Creative Writing MA course offered at the University of Southampton 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.

Career Opportunities

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.