BA (Hons) English Language and Creative Writing

Do you have a story to tell, or have you always wanted to be a writer? Perhaps you want to learn how to be a critical reader or gain a greater understanding of the craft of writing.

Through the BA English Language and Creative Writing, you’ll gain a better understanding of the English Language, as well as the process of writing so that you can find your voice, whether as a poet, playwright, or novelist. We offer a stimulating and supportive environment in which you can explore your ideas, hone your craft, and understand how to use language effectively. Our creative writing modules are taught by lecturers who are themselves award-winning practitioners and who bridge the gap between creative and academic approaches to literature. They include our poetry lecturer Wayne Holloway-Smith, winner of the Poetry Society’s Geoffrey Dearmer Prize, and Seamus Heaney Prize nominee.

In your first year, alongside core English Language modules, you’ll also explore the diversity of use of the English language including regional variants, pidgin and creole English, language and ethnicity, and slang and street English. The core Creative Writing module, Becoming a Writer, will introduce you to genres and forms and examine the universalities of dialogue, plot, and language. A second core module, Writing for the Screen, introduces you to the key principles of scriptwriting, while the optional module Identity and Contemporary Writing introduces you to some of the most exciting new writing as a model for your own work.