MA in Creative Writing

Learning and assessment

In this course, you’ll have the structure and space to express yourself creatively, while developing your voice. You’ll explore different writing styles, and learn how to engage your readers.

You'll develop your understanding of a range of literary forms and genres. And whether your writing ambitions are towards publication, or just becoming a better writer, you'll be supported and encouraged all the way to achieve your full potential

You’ll also write, read and critique your work in small, self-directed study groups, where constructively critical practice and discussion will hone your abilities in drafting and editing.

You’ll learn from published and practising creative writers.

Study modules

Compulsory modules

• The Writing Studio (40 credits)
  This is the core module taken by all our students at the beginning of the MA. Through workshops led by our staff and Creative Writing Fellows, it’s designed to lead you out of your comfort zone and get you writing in ways you might never have contemplated. In our virtual space – the studio – you are free to think, write and depart in new directions. It demands a readiness to go out of the “comfort zone” and ask real questions of your own writing.

Optional modules

• Narrative (40 credits)
  You’ll learn about the techniques – the “tricks of the trade”, in a completely positive sense – which highly successful authors use to achieve their aims. You’ll explore how narratives and stories are constructed through elements like plotting, pace, perspective and structure. You’ll be aiming to identify these writerly techniques, to describe them and - most importantly of all – to incorporate them in your own writing.
  We’ll look at:
  • characterisation through dialogue
  • unspoken stories
  • the unreliable narrator
  • omniscient narrators
  • the slow reveal.
• Poetry (40 credits)
  What is poetry? What is it for, and what can it do that prose can’t? You’ll focus on contemporary poetry in terms of its functions, as well as its form. While the emphasis will be on your own writing, we’ll also study the poetry of both contemporary and traditional writers from Britain and further afield, who work or have worked in a variety of forms and using a range of techniques.
  You’ll also look at topics like:
  • poetry and place
  • narrative poetry
  • voice
  • confession
  • experiments in form.
• Writing Lives (40 credits)
  If you’ve ever wanted to write about your own life or the lives of others, this module is for you. We’ll look at autobiography, biography, hagiography, diaries, fictional recreations of real lives, and fiction taking in individual or family lives. Using the set texts as a basis, each session will consist of a short, tutor-led discussion, focusing on the technical issues. You’ll follow these with intensive attempts to apply these techniques to your own writing.
• Writing Voice (40 credits)
  You’ll explore methods for writing creatively in relation to voice. We’ll discuss and analyse works by contemporary authors in a range of forms (poems, novels, short stories), to inspire you to explore different voices in your own writing.
  We’ll investigate:
  • how writers create distinctive voices to control and modulate tone and register in a text
  • the interplay of multiple voices (author, narrators, characters)
  • interrelated notions of identity, authenticity, social construction, style and aesthetics.
• Independent Study (40 credits)
  This is a great chance to design your own course of study, allowing you to explore an area of writing that fascinates you. You’ll start by producing a detailed project plan, to be agreed upon with your supervisor and module leader. You’ll develop high-level research skills, manage your own schedule and produce well-structured, articulate work at the master’s level. Examples of independent studies have included: an extended poem developed from the literature and art of ancient Persia, and a pacy novel for young adults set in a militaristic dystopia.

Final project

• The Writing Project (60 credits)
  You’ll complete an extended piece of your own creative writing, in any genre, accompanied by a self-evaluating critical commentary. You’ll develop your work in group sessions, through one-to-one tutorials, and in workshops with Creative Writing Fellows.
  Your writing project will be a maximum of 20,000 words in length, but the minimum word length may vary according to the genre and format. You’ll decide all these factors – genre, format and length – in consultation with your module leader and supervisor.

Learning and teaching

You’ll learn creative writing skills through reading, writing and discussing. You’ll learn to create and to adapt.

You’ll experience a variety of teaching and learning methods that include:

• Collaborative seminars
• Presentations and shared readings
• Group workshops
• Visiting notable speakers
• 1-1 supervision
• Research
• Writing and rewriting.

You’ll also work with our Creative Writing Fellows and guest speakers who each lead a class every semester:

• Patience Agbabi FRSL, award-winning poet, international performance poet, and children's author, most recently The Infinite and The Time-Thief
• Sally Bayley, fiction and nonfiction author, most recently Girl With Dove and No Boys Play Here
• Steven Hall, a Granta Best Young British Novelist 2013, author of internationally-acclaimed The Raw Shark Texts, and Maxwell's Demon
• Simon Mason, author of Moon Pie (Guardian Children's Fiction Prize - shortlisted) and YA series Garvie Smith, and leading children's fiction editor

Oxford is an internationally renowned literary hub. When you graduate, you’ll be a better writer. You will also join alumni who have secured deals with leading publishers such as Simon & Schuster, Penguin, and Doubleday, and who have been nominated for major literary awards.

You’ll also know how to approach literary agents and navigate the world of commercial publishing.