Postgraduate, Professional and Short Courses Open Event
You are here : Skip Navigation LinksUniversity of Gloucestershire > Courses > Postgraduate Taught Courses > Creative and Critical Writing

Postgraduate Taught Courses

 Creative and Critical Writing 

Postgraduate Certificate/Postgraduate Diploma/MA

Giving emerging writers the chance to hone their craft, students can work closely with experienced writers in a small-group environment. Working in this way encourages the development of critical thought, and of writerly engagement with the creative work presented.

As well as developing your writing skills and reading widely, you’ll be invited to approach your chosen genre from a critical point of view - looking at theoretical, historical, and stylistic developments within the field, as exemplified by a series of key texts and writers. For those who wish to teach creative writing, we have a dedicated module on which you will be offered real teaching experience, backed up with theoretical study and practical professional advice.

Other modules offered include our Employment Focused Research Project. This will allow you to build on career-orientated skills, such as preparing a scholarly article for journal publication, translation, adaptation or journal editing. Our highly innovative Analysing the Creative Process module focuses on analysing theories and models of creativity from a variety of disciplines and evaluating them from the prospective of the creative writer.

Assessment is by thesis, supplemented by extended projects. The thesis is presented at the end of one calendar year (or two calendar years if you study part-time) and consists of a substantial body of creative work that is written, developed and structured during the course.

Some of our modules

  • Analysing the Creative Process
  • Teaching Creative Writing
  • Theme, Issue and Stylistic Development

Benefits

  • taught by practicing writers
  • includes writing, theory and the study of the teaching of creative writing in a small-group environment
  • graduate diploma programme available for this course

Career paths

  • writer
  • teacher of creative writing
  • arts administrator

Entry Requirements

Your entry will be by portfolio assessment, but a standard of writing is expected that is equivalent to an honours degree.

Mode of attendance

Full-time and part-time with day and evening attendance

Location

Francis Close Hall

Enquiries and Applications

Student Recruitment Office
Waterworth Building
The Park, Cheltenham
Gloucestershire GL50 4BS
Tel: 01242 714500
Fax: 01242 714827
Email: postgrad@glos.ac.uk

Share

Profile: Angela France

Angela France

"Cheltenham is a lovely town with a great range of cultural and social opportunities."

MA Creative and Critical Writing
I attended the open day because I was interested in the Creative Writing course; I was already getting some success with publishing but had been studying on my own and felt the need for some input to develop further.  My concerns were to do with my ability to cope with the academic requirements as I don’t have a first degree (or even ‘A’ levels!).  Talking to the Course Leader convinced me that the focus would be on enabling me to explore and develop my own poetry, not to make my writing a clone of the tutor’s. He also convinced me that my experience and track record equipped me to tackle the academic side of the course and fantastic marks in the first year have confirmed this.  I doubt that I would have enrolled at all if I hadn’t had the opportunity to discuss the course and my concerns with the Course Leader at the open day.
Cheltenham is a lovely town with a great range of cultural and social opportunities.
The elements I like best about the course are being in an environment where poetry is important and can be discussed, tutors who are skilled, experienced writers, and workshops that are rigorous, exciting, and focussed.
I think I’ve improved my craft and my confidence whilst I’ve been here, developed skills in academic writing and been able to take advantage of opportunities and contacts to get essays published.
In fact I already had a good track record of being published in leading journals and had a collection published in 2000.  However, with hindsight I believe that the collection was premature and the one due to come out from publishers Ragged Raven is much more likely to do well. It is possible that I would have got a publishing contract at some time but I do believe that the forthcoming collection is due mainly to the opportunity I’ve had here to improve my writing and use networks established through the university.
I’ve also had a paper published in the ‘Writing in Education’ journal, presented a paper at the Bangor ‘Great Writing’ conference and am due to present a paper at the ‘Playful Paradox’ postgraduate conference in Bedford – I don’t believe any of these would have happened if I hadn’t been on the course.
I’m loving every minute of my studies and don’t even want to stop for holidays!  I’m delighted that I’ve been accepted to go on to a PhD and hope to eventually work full time in writing, probably in combination with teaching and leading workshops.

View profile

Ready To Apply?
Fees - 2012/13 Academic Year
Home and EU Students  
MA Full Course Fee£4740
Master's stage£1240
Postgraduate Diploma stage£1750
Postgraduate Certificate stage£1750
Graduate Diploma (Full time and Part time)£8250
Fees information for international students

Contacts

Course Leader
Dr Nigel McLoughlin
Tel: 01242 714694
Email: nmcloughlin@glos.ac.uk

 

University of Gloucestershire, The Park, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL50 2RH. Telephone +44 (0)844 8010001.