uea creative writing reddit

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Creative Writing

Maybe you’re a novelist.

You sit, for hours every day, pouring over your laptop screen, your keyboard struggling to keep up with the velocity of your fingers. It’s your second instalment of a seven-book series, and your fans are waiting eagerly. It’s three am. You’ve been writing for weeks.

Or perhaps you’re a poet.

After your lectures, you sit leisurely in a café, tea at the ready, articulating your weekly musings. The spine of the notebook groans, you’ve written so much, it can hold no more. The paper awaits your contemplations, your handwriting speeds up.

You could be a scriptwriter. A short-story enthusiast. You might be a writer of haikus, on bits of napkin, or letters to your granny in the highlands – or perhaps you’ve only ever written inside birthday cards. Even if you’ve only ever considered putting pen to paper, we’re asking you: do you want to write?

UEA’s Creative Writing Society is proud to exist in one of the UK’s most vibrant scenes for writing and literature. The city of Norwich is brimming with writers’ events: poetry open mics, famous authors, independent publishing houses, and we’re right in the heart of it!

Of course, we don’t just sit silently and scribble. Most of our writing workshops round off with a drink in the union bar or café, and we also collaborate with other societies, like Litsoc, Eggbox Publishing and Headucate.

But most we’re famous at UEA for our open mics, when three or four times a semester, we head out to a venue in town. Members bring friends and flatmates, grab a drink, and then get behind a mic to read, shout, sing, whisper, perform, pour water over their heads (yes, we had that once) by way of sharing their work! It’s always an amazing variation of talent, and an inspiration to see what you come up with.

If any of this has roused your interest, please get in touch with us! We're always more than happy to meet new members...

CWS Committee 2023/2024

President: Michael Baker

Vice President: Helena Keys

Social Secretary & Treasurer: Lily Glenn

Welfare: Nathan Rodney-Jones

Equality & Diversity: Klara Sher

Health & Safety Officer: Eli Wilkinson

Union Representative: Ann Johansen

• International

BA (Hons) English Literature with Creative Writing

Key Details

Chat to us on Unibuddy

Any questions? Chat online with current students, staff and experts. This is your chance to ask anything about UEA, university life, Norwich and more.

Why you should choose us

In the UK for Creative Writing

The Times/Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023

in the UK for Creative Writing

The Complete University Guide 2024

Of graduates go on to work and/or study within 15 months after the course

Graduate Outcome Survey 2020

Course Overview

Creative Writing has been part of the UEA story for over 50 years. In that time, countless writers have emerged from our seminars and workshops and made a lasting impact on the field of contemporary literature. Are you ready to join them?

Immerse yourself in a thriving community of writers and thinkers through the study of English Literature with Creative Writing at UEA. Learning from practicing writers and passionate teachers, you will sharpen your ability to sculpt language into stories, scenes and images. You will build worlds, develop your voice, find ways to express the inexpressible. Alongside this, you will study literatures from around the world, past and present. You will discover how writers and thinkers have expanded literary possibilities, made art out of lived experience and shown us, in myriad ways, what it means to be human. In the process, you will become a more discerning and attentive reader and writer. Does that sound like your kind of thing? If it does, this might be your kind of place.

‘To write is to practice, with particular intensity and attentiveness, the art of reading.’ So wrote Susan Sontag. In a similar way, at UEA we believe that good readers make good writers. It’s for this reason that we combine the study of English Literature and creative writing at all levels of our degree programme. While in one seminar you might examine the practice and possibilities of point of view, or rhythm, or setting; in another you might find yourself discussing the relationship between literature and history or reflecting on the ways queer or deconstructive theories can re-frame your way of reading. In this way, your creative and literary training go hand-in-hand, each enhancing the other. You’ll be able to draw on the wealth of literature you’ve been reading to inspire your writing, and your understanding of how literature works will be deepened by your attempts to write it yourself.

You will be studying at a university rich in famous creative writing alumni, including Booker Prize winners Ian McEwan and Anne Enright, Forward Prize winner Mona Arshi, and Nobel Prize winner Sir Kazuo Ishiguro.  You will draw inspiration from this rich lineage, while working closely with our many practicing writers – novelists, scriptwriters, poets and non-fiction writers – in seminars, workshops and supervisions. Whatever kind of writer you are, you will be able to draw on expert advice and guidance to help you become the best writer you can be. In your study of English literature, you’ll discover a wealth of writers from the classical past right up to poets and novelists writing now. You’ll explore diverse literary traditions from across the globe, and you’ll tackle a heady mix of genres, which currently range from the gothic to contemporary fiction, crime writing to children’s literature, early modern women’s writing to modern Japanese fiction.

Whichever modules you choose to study, you’ll be taught by our world-leading writers and critics. UEA’s School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing is famous for innovation in teaching and for cutting-edge research – that’s why in the most recent Times Higher Education Analysis (REF2021), UEA was ranked 19th in the UK for the quality of its research in English Language and Literature. 

 When you’re not in the classroom, you’ll be able to explore the glories of Norwich, an extraordinary place in which to be a writer. Not only is it jaw-droppingly beautiful; it’s also England’s first UNESCO City of Literature – awarded in recognition of the city’s vivid literary heritage and vibrant contemporary writing scene – and home to the National Centre for Writing . You’ll immerse yourself in this community, perhaps sharing your work with a packed audience of students and professional writers at our UEA Live: New Writing series, or attending literary festival events with internationally-renowned literary figures. 

We say that UEA is the place where literature lives – when you join the School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing , you’ll join a unique and supportive community of critics, writers, and drama practitioners, who bring literature to life every day. It’s a pretty good place to be, and you can find out more about the activities in our school by following us on Instagram .

Placement Year and Study Abroad

You have the option to apply to study abroad for one semester of your second year. Study abroad is a wonderfully enriching life experience – you’ll develop confidence and adaptability, and will have the chance to deepen your understanding of writing while learning about another culture. At UEA, you’ll be surrounded by the many students we welcome from around the world to study with us.  

For further details, visit the  Study Abroad section  of our website.

Study and Modules

During your first year, you’ll take two bespoke Creative Writing modules. In combination, they will provide you with a bedrock of craft skills and theoretical understanding on which you will build during your English literature and Creative Writing degree.

In the first semester, you’ll be guided through the principles of prose fiction, poetry and scriptwriting. You’ll read texts by some of the best contemporary writers; in seminars, you’ll try out different forms and techniques, both in discussion and through writing exercises. In the second semester, you'll experiment with avant-garde techniques and explore genre, taking risks and pushing your own boundaries as a writer, while developing the ability to critically reflect on your own creative practice.

On the literature side, you’ll explore the breadth of English Literature across history. You’ll immerse yourself in the global history of English, from its origins in multilingual medieval society to the extraordinary literatures still being forged today from the legacies of colonialism and its resistance. Meanwhile, you’ll experience the thrill of paying close attention to texts, growing your analytical skills as a reader. You’ll discover first-hand how the two parts of your degree work together, your writing developing alongside your critical understanding. 

Compulsory Modules

Creative writing: beginnings, reading literature in history, reading now, slow reading, creative writing: experiments with genre, writing across borders.

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, the University will endeavour to consult with students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. In some cases optional modules can have limited places available and so you may be asked to make additional module choices in the event you do not gain a place on your first choice. Where this is the case, the University will inform students.

Teaching and Learning

The bulk of your teaching will be in the seminar room. In groups of roughly 15 writers, you’ll experience the thrill of bringing your craft into alignment with your imagination. One week you might burrow deep into the psyche of a particular character, the next you might pursue the perfect image for desire, or fear, or hope. You’ll be guided all the way by a tutor for whom this business of putting words on a page is as captivating as it is for you.

Meanwhile, lectures on literature will surprise you with new ideas, and seminar discussions will shape your thinking about what you've read that week. You'll meet your academic adviser who'll support you through your whole degree with everything from choice of modules to launching your career.

Independent Learning 

You’ll spend time working on your own writing and reading some extraordinary books, with a framework of guided tasks to help you get the most out of them. You'll explore the library and the Sainsbury Centre , discovering a wealth of resources and inspiration. You'll throw yourself into the whirlwind of extra-curricular creative writing events and activities. Sometimes, you might just sit and think, finding a still space to take it all in. By the end of this year, you'll be equipped with the fundamental skills you’ll need for your literary and creative journey. 

Throughout your degree, all modules in English Literature and Creative Writing have no exams – we believe that the best way to express your thoughts about literature and to show off your creative development is through carefully crafted pieces of written coursework. On the creative side, you'll start by writing your own stories and poems, developing fundamental skills in drafting, keeping a writer's notebook, and submitting to deadlines, before embarking on more experimental exercises, which invite you to take greater risks. In your studies of literature, you'll develop renewed enthusiasm for writing academic essays, and express your thinking in a diverse variety of forms, from reviews to personal reflective writing.

Feedback 

You'll receive feedback on your writing (creative and critical) from your tutors (in one-to-one tutorials) and your peers. Feedback on assessed work will be returned within 20 working days (after it has been carefully marked and moderated). As your first year does not count toward your overall degree result, it's the perfect moment to experiment and take risks.  

Building on the skills you developed in the first year, you’ll begin to focus your creative writing on a particular form (or two), choosing from prose, poetry, creative non-fiction and scriptwriting modules, as well as options in publishing and journalism.

In the classroom, you’ll continue to discuss and analyse superb exemplary works of literature. Now, however, you’ll start sharing your writing with your peers and a published author in our creative writing workshops. You’ll receive feedback and learn how to give constructive criticism to your peers, too. It’s a defining moment in your UEA career, when your writing starts to come out of the shadows and into the light. As a literary critic, you will be able to choose from all the available literature modules, gaining a grounding in a variety of literary periods. You might also choose to experiment with our innovative creative-critical modules, where the reading and writing of literature go hand-in-hand.

Over the course of this year and the next, you’ll also take at least two modules in literature written before 1789. This ensures you graduate as a writer who has a real awareness of how your work emerges from and reacts to the traditions that precede it. 

Optional A Modules

Victorian writing, european literature, critical theory and practice, contemporary fiction, literature studies semester abroad (spring), medieval writing: quest, fable and romance (pre-1789), shakespeare (pre-1789), romantic transformations: 1740-1830, early modern writing 1600-1740: the making of english literature (pre-1789), optional b modules, reading and writing in elizabethan england (pre-1789), making it public: publishing, audience, & creative enterprise, reading and writing contemporary poetry, the writing of journalism (aut), the short story (aut), arts and humanities placement module, optional c modules, writing in the world: placements, podcasts, creative nonfiction, scriptwriting: tv/film, creative writing: prose fiction (spr), scriptwriting: stage/audio, creative writing: prose fiction (aut), creative writing: poetry (aut), scriptwriting: screen and stage, optional d modules, literature and philosophy, adaptation: cross-media transformations, the writing of history, transatlantic literatures, intermediate french ii - b1 cefr, intermediate german ii - b1 cefr, intermediate spanish ii b1 cefr, lgbt and beyond: sexual cultures, queer identities, and the politics of desire, feminist theatres.

Your writing will be taken to the next level through the 'workshopping' process (pioneered in the UK by UEA).  You'll become accustomed to putting your work out into the world and getting feedback from your peers and your tutors. You’ll learn the art of constructive critique, helping your fellow writers to grow as they help you. Lectures and seminars will immerse you in particular eras of literature, and you'll also have the chance to take seminars in more vocational areas like journalism or publishing (using our state-of-the-art Media Suite), or you might take a placement as part of a humanities-wide module.

You'll continue to read widely, pursuing your own passions or discovering new ones. You’ll become adept at journaling, at looking at the world for inspiration. And you’ll work on your stories and poems and scripts, revising them towards submission. You'll finish the year with a real sense of how your degree might open out into future careers.

You'll continue to submit written coursework for all your creative writing and literature modules. Your creative writing will flourish as you produce more substantial pieces of prose (a 1250-word short story or longer 2000-word narrative), portfolios of poetry, or scripts for stage or screen (20-30 minutes in length). You’ll write reflective pieces to understand better your own creative processes. You'll take your critical essay writing to new heights in projects of around 2500 words, and you might experiment with creative criticism, for instance by writing a short story which reveals your critical understanding of that form. You may take one module from another discipline this year, which might lead you to take an exam, but the majority of our students are assessed by 100% written coursework.

You'll continue to have the support and feedback of all your tutors, and your creative work will be deepened by your immersion in the workshop environment, where you receive feedback from your peers and learn to give feedback on their work, an enormously valuable skill in many careers.  

In your final-year creative writing modules, you will focus intensively on your own practice. You’ll take a workshop, modelled on our world-famous Creative Writing MA. This will give you the chance to push your work to new levels of accomplishment. You’ll also have the chance to write a creative writing dissertation in which you produce a substantial piece of work, with one-to-one support from a tutor, who will perform a similar role to an editor or dramaturg.  

On the literature side, you’ll choose from a dazzling array of specialist modules, led by the research passions of our academics – currently we offer topics covering everything from the global Middle Ages to the art of emotion. Modules are carefully ordered into two option ranges to give you the chance to study literature in specific historical contexts and to explore genres or concepts across time. Or you might choose to write a dissertation on an aspect of English literature of your choice, working one-on-one with a specialist tutor as your supervisor. 

CREATIVE WRITING: PROSE

Creative writing: scriptwriting, creative writing: prose (aut), creative writing dissertation (aut), literature dissertation: post-1789 (spr), writing television drama, literature dissertation: post-1789 (aut), publication, production, performance, creative writing dissertation (spr), literature dissertation: (pre-1789) (aut), literature dissertation: (pre-1789) (spr), shakespeare's dramatic worlds (pre-1789), the business of books (pre-1789), women's writing in early-modern britain: the emergence of female authorship (pre-1789), reading modern japanese fiction: translation and canonisation, nervous narratives, monsters, marvels and creative medieval heritage (pre-1789), the birth of the gothic: romance, revolution, empire, banned books, ghosts, haunting and spectrality, the art of murder, children's literature, imaginary endings: british fiction and the apocalypse, mythos: rewriting the classics (pre-1789), feminist writing, culture and performance, the art of emotion: literature, writing and feeling.

Your time at UEA will move towards its climax. You’ll bring everything you’ve learnt into one of our advanced workshops, or into the dissertation, focusing on the form of your choice. You’ll be writing and thinking at a level you hadn’t thought possible, guided every step of the way by a practicing writer. Alongside this, you'll have the chance to explore cutting-edge literary topics in real depth, in three-hour seminars taught by specialists passionate about their subject.

You'll bring together all the skills and confidence you've developed in critical and creative writing to master the forms of writing and fields of literary study that have come to matter to you the most. Perhaps you’ll also get involved in publishing the annual undergraduate anthology of creative writing. Either way, you’ll be feeling increasingly ready for what the world beyond UEA can offer. 

You'll continue to be assessed by 100% written coursework. Your participation in another workshop will allow you to complete even more ambitious portfolios of writing (for example, 3000 words of prose or 12 to 15 pages of poetry), and if you choose to do a creative dissertation, this will become the culmination of your achievements as a writer. You'll perfect the craft of critical essay writing in equally substantial projects (3500-5000 words), and if you wish you might continue to experiment with the forms in which you express your critical ideas, writing Shakespearean sonnets or experimenting with the new boundary-defying genre of ‘auto-fiction’.

All the feedback you've received enables you to graduate with highly developed skills in writing and argument across a host of forms and for an array of audiences, and with an ability to give sensitive but incisive critique of others' work. These are all transferable skills hugely valued by employers.

Entry Requirements

ABB including English Literature or one of the subjects listed below: English Language and Literature, English Language, History, Ancient History, History of Art, Archaeology, Anthropology, Classical Civilisation, Classical Studies, Politics, Government and Politics, Sociology, Drama, Theatre Studies, Film Studies, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Media Studies, Psychology or Law.

DDM alongside A-level grade A in English Literature, or one of the subjects listed below: English Language and Literature, English Language, History, Ancient History, History of Art, Archaeology, Anthropology, Classical Civilisation, Classical Studies, Politics, Government and Politics, Sociology, Drama, Theatre Studies, Film Studies, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Media Studies, Psychology or Law. Excludes BTEC Public Services, BTEC Uniformed Services and BTEC Business Administration.

UEA are committed to ensuring that Higher Education is accessible to all, regardless of their background or experiences. One of the ways we do this is through our contextual admissions schemes .

You are required to have Mathematics and English Language at a minimum of Grade C or Grade 4 or above at GCSE.

Applications from students whose first language is not English are welcome. We require evidence of proficiency in English (including writing, speaking, listening and reading):  

IELTS: 6.5 overall (minimum 5.5 in all components) 

We also accept a number of other English language tests. Review  our English Language Equivalencies  for a list of example qualifications that we may accept to meet this requirement. 

Test dates should be within two years of the course start date. 

If you do not yet meet the English language requirements for this course, INTO UEA offer a variety of English language programmes which are designed to help you develop the English skills necessary for successful undergraduate study:  

Pre-sessional English at INTO UEA  

Academic English at INTO UEA  

Most applicants will not be called for an interview and a decision will be made via UCAS Track. However, for some applicants an interview will be requested. Where an interview is required the Admissions Service will contact you directly to arrange a time.  

We welcome applications from students who have already taken or intend to take a gap year.  We believe that a year between school and university can be of substantial benefit. You are advised to indicate your reason for wishing to defer entry on your UCAS application.  

This course is open to UK and International applicants. The annual intake is in September each year. 

Additional Information or Requirements

Extended Diploma: DDD plus A in English Literature including English Literature or one of the subjects listed: English Language and Literature, English Language, History, Ancient History, History of Art, Archaeology, Anthropology, Classical Civilisation, Classical Studies, Politics, Government and Politics, Sociology, Drama, Theatre Studies, Film Studies, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Media Studies, Psychology or Law.

Diploma: DD plus A in English Literature or one of the subjects listed: English Language and Literature, English Language, History, Ancient History, History of Art, Archaeology, Anthropology, Classical Civilisation, Classical Studies, Politics, Government and Politics, Sociology, Drama, Theatre Studies, Film Studies, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Media Studies, Psychology or Law.

Extended Certificate: D plus AA to include one of the subjects listed: English Literature, English Language and Literature, English Language, History, Ancient History, History of Art, Archaeology, Anthropology, Classical Civilisation, Classical Studies, Politics, Government and Politics, Sociology, Drama, Theatre Studies, Film Studies, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Media Studies, Psychology or Law.

Special Entry Requirements

Candidates who are shortlisted will be asked to provide a sample of their creative writing:  we ask for around 3-5 pages of work, which can be on any subject and in any genre of the candidate's choice. Most choose to send poetry, prose, or a mixture of the two.

If you do not meet the academic requirements for direct entry, you may be interested in one of our  Foundation Year programmes such as - 

https://www.uea.ac.uk/course/undergraduate/ba-english-literature-with-a-foundation-year

UEA are committed to ensuring that Higher Education is accessible to all, regardless of their background or experiences. One of the ways we do this is through our contextual admissions schemes.  

We welcome and value a wide range of alternative qualifications.  If you have a qualification which is not listed here, or are taking a combination of qualifications, please contact us via Admissions Enquiries . 

International Requirements

We accept many international qualifications for entry to this course. View our International Students pages for specific information about your country. 

INTO University of East Anglia 

If you do not meet the academic and/or English language requirements for direct entry our partner, INTO UEA offers progression on to this undergraduate degree upon successful completion of a preparation programme. Depending on your interests, and your qualifications you can take a variety of routes to this degree: 

International Foundation in Business, Economics, Society and Culture (for Year 1 entry to UEA) 

International Foundation in Humanities and Law (for Year 1 entry to UEA)

Admissions Policy

Our Admissions Policy applies to the admissions of all undergraduate applicants.  

Fees and Funding

Tuition Fees   

View our information for Tuition Fees .  

Scholarships and Bursaries  

We are committed to ensuring that costs do not act as a barrier to those aspiring to come to a world leading university and have developed a funding package to reward those with excellent qualifications and assist those from lower income backgrounds. View our range of Scholarships for eligibility, details of how to apply and closing dates. 

Course Related Costs

Please see  Additional Course Fees  for details of course-related costs. 

How to Apply

Apply for this course through the  Universities and Colleges Admissions Services (UCAS) , using UCAS Hub.  

UCAS Hub is a secure online application system that allows you to apply for full-time undergraduate courses at universities and colleges in the United Kingdom. 

Your application does not have to be completed all at once.  Register or sign in to UCAS  to get started.  

Once you submit your completed application, UCAS will process it and send it to your chosen universities and colleges. 

The Institution code for the University of East Anglia is  E14 . 

View our guide to applying through UCAS for useful tips, key dates and further information: 

How to apply through UCAS  

Employability

After the course.

You will be a first-rate writer, an advanced critical reader and thinker with an independent cast of mind; you’ll know how to manage your time, how to work as part of a team, how to state your position and how to defend it. With the support of our Careers Service throughout your degree, you’ll have honed your CV and sought out internships. You’ll have attended Working with Words, an annual event in which you get to meet UEA alumni working in the creative industries. You might have got involved with the UEA Publishing Project, or its student arm, Egg Box , or one of many other exciting initiatives. In an increasingly text-based world these skills and experiences are highly valued by employers.

You could go on to work as a novelist or scriptwriter, or go into many careers in arts, media, publishing, politics, charities and NGOs, teaching or the commercial sector. You’ll also be well placed to study for a postgraduate degree, including our world-famous Creative Writing MAs. Regardless of the direction you choose, you will be superbly placed to start writing your own story. 

A degree at UEA will prepare you for a wide variety of careers. We've been ranked 1st for Job Prospects by StudentCrowd in 2022.

Examples of careers you could enter include:  

Freelance writer  

Publishing  

Journalist  

Media  

Marketing  

Teaching  

Discover more on our Careers webpages . 

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