Creative Writing, BA (Hons)

Course summary

Explore and define your creative skills as a member of our dedicated, diverse writing community, within a vibrant arts environment. Our three-year degree programme is creatively stimulating, experimental and industry focussed. You will be part of a committed creative community, supported by our enthusiastic team of lecturers and visiting professionals to develop your own voice and understanding of who you are as a writer. The course delivers contemporary approaches, creative provocations and critical thinking across prose, poetry, script and beyond, allowing you to develop a striking portfolio of creative and critical writing. Taking full advantage of our place within the North’s only dedicated arts university, you will engage with peers across the spectrum of arts practice, producing work that reflects real world, industry collaborations. Recent cross-course collaborations include Visual Communication, Photography, Illustration and Popular Music Performance.Our writers fully engage with the lively arts and literary scenes in Leeds and beyond, where we run open mic nights, present work as part of literary festivals and spoken word nights, and support our writers to share their work. You will consider career paths and how to professionalise your creative practice, working with and gaining feedback from industry professionals. You will submit work to awards and competitions, supported by your peers and tutors, and make connections across the creative industries and literary world.

Year one – Writing workshops play a central role as a collaborative method to accelerate and consolidate student learning. It will expand your critical vocabulary and develop technical skills in the drafting and editing work required of a professional writer. Tutorials, lectures, seminars, masterclasses, and cross-disciplinary project work also feature in year one. Year two – You will now be developing a clear sense of your writing direction and favoured mode of production and will produce work that responds to outward facing briefs and opportunities. Tutorials, masterclasses, and collaborative project work help you to focus on technical skills, which may include the use of screenwriting, editing, and publishing software. Hands-on learning and mentoring by professional writers as well as visits, online forums, and blogs will develop and challenge your writing breadth and skills. Year three – The final year gives you the opportunity to negotiate, develop, and complete a major writing project. This culminates in the production of a substantial body of original work, contributing to your chosen writing platform. It will reflect your individual philosophy and career aspirations as a talented new writer.