Creative Writing and Critical Life MA

This course combines creative writing with critical writing. You'll develop your creative writing in the context of advancing your critical skills and knowledge of English Studies. You'll also engage with a wide variety of literary genres as both a critical reader and a creative practitioner, with expert guidance from published creative writers and academic researchers.

This Masters degree enables you to reflect critically on and develop creative writing in the context of a broad range of literary genres and critical fields. Supported by teaching staff who are actively engaged in both critical and creative writing, you'll develop a theoretically informed understanding of the relation between different forms of critical and creative writing.

Throughout the course, you'll have opportunities to explore areas of personal interest and participate in workshops to hone your skills in diverse forms of writing.

You'll also produce an independent research project, through which you can specialise in creative or critical writing, or combine both, according to your interests.

Specialist resources

The University of Leeds Library is one of the UK's major academic research libraries. It has extensive holdings to support your studies, including English Literature Collections that have been designated of national and international importance.

Our Special Collections offer a huge range of rare books, manuscripts and art, as well as the archives of poets like Tony Harrison, Geoffrey Hill and Simon Armitage, and literary publications such as Stand and The London Magazine.

Take a 360 tour around our libraries:

Brotherton Library
Laidlaw Library
Edward Boyle Library

Other highlights include materials relating to novelists like Arthur Ransome, Angela Thirkell, Melvyn Bragg and Sophie Hannah, and critics like George Wilson-Knight and Bonamy Dobrée.

The School of English is also home to the University of Leeds Poetry Centre, which brings together the University’s strength and heritage in creative writing. It hosts regular poetry readings by visiting international poets and supports a poetry reading group.

The MA in Creative Writing and Critical Life forms a bridge between registers typically kept apart. You'll develop skills in creative writing and critical thinking, the course explores the history, generic conventions and experimental possibilities of both creative literary forms and schools of critical thought.

In addition, the course considers the intersection between critical and creative writing, drawing out the critical aspects of creative writing and the creative dimensions of critical writing, in a way that allows us to examine both historical and emergent popular writing forms. The course addresses the concept of critical life: that is how one responds critically to life; and how life is in a critical condition under various forms of threat.

You'll study a range of literary forms, including creative nonfiction, prose fiction, and poetry. Theories and schools of criticism will be covered, such as gender studies and queer theory, postcolonialism and race theory, psychoanalysis and poststructuralist theory.

You'll also gain experience of creative practice as research. You'll write a critical/creative research project/dissertation on a subject of your choice with support from a specialist supervisor and the research resources of the University's Brotherton Library.

Course structure

The list shown below represents typical modules/components studied and may change from time to time. Read more in our Terms and conditions.

For more information and a full list of typical modules available on this course, please read Creative Writing and Critical Life MA Full Time in the course catalogue

Modules

Year 1

Learning and teaching

On this course you’ll be taught by our expert academics, from lecturers through to professors. You may also be taught by industry professionals with years of experience, as well as trained postgraduate researchers, connecting you to some of the brightest minds on campus.

Entry requirements

A bachelor degree with a 2:1 (hons) in English literature, or a degree scheme that includes a significant proportion of English Literature content, or a related subject.

Applications from those with degrees in other subjects may be considered on an individual basis, along with a sample of recently written work.

We accept a range of international equivalent qualifications. Contact the Postgraduate Admissions Office for more information.

English language requirements

IELTS 6.5 overall, with no less than 6.0 in each component. For other English qualifications, read English language equivalent qualifications.

Improve your English

International students who do not meet the English language requirements for this programme may be able to study our postgraduate pre-sessional English course, to help improve your English language level.

This pre-sessional course is designed with a progression route to your degree programme and you’ll learn academic English in the context of your subject area. To find out more, read Language for Arts and Humanities (6 weeks) and Language for Social Science and Arts: Arts and Humanities (10 weeks).

If you need to study for longer than 10 weeks, read more about our postgraduate pre-sessional English course.

How to apply

Deadlines

We don’t have a final deadline for MA Applications, and we’ll consider your application right up until the start date of the programme. However, we encourage you to apply before the end of July if possible, to make arrangements such as securing funding, accommodation or visas. Modules will be allocated to offer holders in early August, so if you apply after that point you may have a more limited choice of modules.

You’ll also need to apply for a place before applying for any scholarships, so check the deadlines for available scholarships on the postgraduate scholarships database.

Apply (Full time)

Apply (Part time)

This link takes you to information on applying for taught programmes and to the University's online application system.

If you're unsure about the application process, contact the admissions team for help.

Documents and information you need

You’ll need to upload the following documents when completing the online application form:

• A transcript of your completed BA degree or grades to date

• A personal statement of around 500 words in response to the questions asked in the supporting statement section of the application form

• If English is not your first language, you’ll need to submit proof of your English language results (eg IELTS).

We do not generally request references, unless further information is required to support the assessment of your application.

Where further information to support the assessment of your application is needed, we may ask for a recent sample of written work.

Next steps

We will decide whether to offer you a place based on your application form, personal statement, transcripts, predicted or actual degree results and, where appropriate, any additional documentation requested.

Read about visas, immigration and other information in International students. We recommend that international students apply as early as possible to ensure that they have time to apply for their visa.

Admissions policy

Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures Postgraduate Admissions Policy 2021

Fees

• UK: £9,750 (total)
• International: £20,750 (total)

For fees information for international taught postgraduate students, read Masters fees.

Read more about paying fees and charges.

Brexit 
Visit our Brexit page for the latest information on the effect of the UK's exit from the EU on current students and applicants to the University.

Part-time fees
Fees for part-time courses are normally calculated based on the number of credits you study in a year compared to the equivalent full-time course. For example, if you study half the course credits in a year, you will pay half the full-time course fees for that year.

Additional cost information

There may be additional costs related to your course or programme of study, or related to being a student at the University of Leeds. Read more about additional costs

Scholarships and financial support

If you have the talent and drive, we want you to be able to study with us, whatever your financial circumstances. There may be help for students in the form of loans and non-repayable grants from the University and from the government.  Find out more at Masters funding overview.

The School of English also offers a range of scholarships for taught postgraduate study. Find out more on our Scholarships page.

This course will equip you with advanced transferable skills which are valuable in a wide range of careers.

You’ll be a confident researcher who can work independently as well as within a team. You’ll be a strong communicator, both verbally and in writing, and be able to think critically and analytically. In addition, you’ll have a strong level of cultural and critical awareness, and you’ll be able to look at a situation from different points of view.

All of these qualities are attractive to employers across sectors, and you’ll be well equipped to pursue a career in a wide range of fields depending on your interests. These could include teaching, journalism, publishing, advertising, broadcasting and law. Many of our graduates also progress to PhD-level study and you’ll be in a good position to develop a career in academia.

Careers support

Leeds for Life is our unique approach to helping you make the most of University by supporting your academic and personal development. Find out more at the Leeds for Life website.

We encourage you to prepare for your career from day one. That’s one of the reasons Leeds graduates are so sought after by employers.

The Careers Centre and staff in your faculty provide a range of help and advice to help you plan your career and make well-informed decisions along the way, even after you graduate. Find out more at the Careers website.