English with Creative Writing, BA (Hons)

Course summary

Storytelling is part of every culture and reveals much about a person’s lived experience, values and aspirations within a given time. If reading is a pleasure and creative writing very much a part of you, then an English degree with creative writing might appeal.If you’re ready to explore more widely, think more deeply and consider how you, as a reader, are placed in relation to a text and how that affects your interpretation, you’ve come to the right place.Brunel offers one of the most highly regarded creative writing courses in the UK, with many staff members active as novelists, writers for performance, or as cultural critics. Through them you will learn and practice the fundamentals of writing in a variety of forms including poetry and film.After a first year of introductory writing modules with options in literature to develop your critical reading, your exploration in English and creative writing is very much down to your own interests.In years two and three a wealth of optional modules await you, covering every period and genre in literature from Shakespeare to Austen, comedy to horror and world literature, alongside further writing options in journalism and modern fiction.Throughout your course you will be encouraged to express your own thoughts and creativity in your coursework and seminars, which will help you to grow as a critic and writer.English with Creative Writing BA will equip you with personal skills employers’ prize in graduates – exceptional written and verbal communication and the ability to work collaboratively in teams. At Brunel you will be able to develop these in abundance.Opt for a placement year and you will gain real-world work experience while you study which will further increase your attractiveness to employers when you graduate.Outside of your classroom, you can look forward to events and activities organised by the Brunel Centre for Contemporary Writing, including the annual Hillingdon Literary Festival: a free weekend of literary performances from internationally renowned authors, writing workshops and lively debates, right here on campus.

Year 1 Core Modules Introduction to Writing Fiction Introduction to Writing Drama Introduction to Writing Poetry Workshop Diary World Literature, World Literacies Creative Writing Practice Optional Modules Critical Reading Portfolio Creative and Critical Portfolio Reading Resilience The Creative Process Year 2 Optional Modules Nineteenth-Century Novel Shakespeare Text and Performance The Women’s Movement: 20th Century and Contemporary Writing Post-Colonial Writing Modernism Romanticism and Revolution Contemporary British and Irish Fiction Genre Fiction Writing Journalism Writing the Short Story Screenwriting Life Writing Writing Contemporary Poetry Horror, Sci-Fi and Fantasy Creative Writing for Therapeutic Purposes Year 3 Core Modules Project Optional Modules Psychogeography Writing Modern Fiction Writing Comedy Writing Film and Television The Creative Industries Writing Poetry for Performance Victorian Literature and Culture The Muslim World in Early Modern English Literature Modern and Contemporary Lesbian Literature Chaucer to Shakespeare Post-War and Late Twentieth-Century Literature, 1945-2001 Reading for Writers / Writing for Reader Violence