Creative Writing, BA (Hons)

Join our dynamic writing community at Bath Spa University, guided by award-winning authors and creative experts. Explore a diverse range of genres, from fiction and poetry to scriptwriting and memoir, with a strong emphasis on professional development and employability. Tailor your projects with support for literary festivals, publications, and podcasts, fostering your unique voice. Our inspiring campus, set in a scenic 18th-century landscape, encourages creativity and experimentation, including responses to environmental issues.The programme is flexible and structured across three years. Year one introduces writing foundations through workshops and genres. Year two allows specialisation in areas like genre fiction or screenwriting, plus a professional portfolio project. Year three focuses on career progression with dissertation-style modules and industry-oriented options, culminating in commercial opportunities. Assessment is entirely coursework-based, involving creative portfolios and reflective essays, ensuring graduates are prepared for creative careers or further study.

Year One - The course is carefully designed to enable you to explore and experiment with your writing and understand the foundations of writing craft. In the Writer’s Workshop modules you’ll be introduced to an array of different writing forms and genres and you’ll be experimenting with them each week. You’ll have your first experience of the BSU writing workshop where you’ll learn how to work with other writers, giving and receiving feedback. You’ll have additional modules in poetry, fiction and script writing alongside a module where you’ll learn about the publishing industry and editing. You’ll also attend lectures from visiting writers and members of staff who will talk to you about their writing lives and experiences in the industry. Year Two - In the second year of the course, you have access to a range of modules that will enable you to specialise in a particular form or genre of writing. You’ll take a mixture of core and optional modules from a list that includes, for example, genre fiction, life writing, short stories, form and listening in poetry, and writing for screen. You will also take the project module, Professional Portfolio. This is an opportunity for you to develop your own creative project, designed to help you develop the skills you need as a professional writer. You will be assigned a member of staff to be your project supervisor. They will help guide and advise you as you develop your idea. If a collaborative project suits you, you can take a Publishing module where you work with a small team of fellow students to create your own independent magazine. Year Three - The final year of the programme is designed to consolidate your writing practice and support your progression into a writing-related career. You will take a dissertation-equivalent module in at least one of fiction, poetry, nonfiction, scriptwriting or writing for young people. These modules run through the year. Alongside that you have a choice of career-focused modules which include Live Literature and Professional Practice which offer you the opportunity to develop your own industry-facing creative projects. We also offer an extended project module, Creative Enterprise, over two semesters. This module helps you focus on developing a creative project into a commercial opportunity. For more information please refer to the website.