Creative Writing

Application is by submission of an online form including a personal statement, and a sample of your own creative work. Your application should be tailored to one of our specialist routes: Novel, Poetry, Writing for Children & YA, Scriptwriting or Creative Non-Fiction.

Please indicate at the top of your personal statement which specialist route you are applying for. You should use the rest of the statement to tell us a bit about yourself, give a good overview of your reading and writing interests, and a sense of what has led you to apply for our course and any ideas you have for what you’d like to write with us. Personal statements should be approximately 500 words long.

For the creative sample, applicants to the Novel, Children's & YA and Creative Non-Fiction routes should submit up to 2,000 words of prose; poetry applicants should submit up to 15 poems; and scriptwriting applicants should submit up to 15 minutes running time of script. The work submitted can be a complete piece, or an extract, or a number of extracts from a longer work or works, but must all be within the chosen specialist route.

We have intakes into the programme in September and January each year.

In each application assessed we will be looking for evidence of:

• A very high standard of written English
• Control of form, style and technique
• Substantial reading of contemporary work within the relevant field
• Commitment to the craft of writing and willingness to engage with the editorial process of receiving feedback and redrafting work-in-progress
• Experience of the development of writing skills through workshops, supervision, mentoring or previous study

Applicants whose first language is not English are required to produce evidence of English Language proficiency. Overseas applicants will require IELTS with an overall score of 6.5, with no sub-component below 5.5, or an equivalent accepted English qualification.

Accepted English qualifications can be viewed here.

At the heart of the Manchester Writing School are our masters programmes in Creative Writing, available to study on campus in Manchester, City of Literature, or from anywhere in the world as part of our dynamic international online distance learning community.

On our Master of Fine Arts (MFA) programme, you will explore and practice techniques and styles of modern and contemporary writing and apply these through the development of your own full-length book or script.

MFA students undertake all of the elements of our MA Creative Writing programme (a taught element blending writing workshops with reading modules, option modules, and a dissertation), then take an additional module about the publishing, literary and arts industries and submit a full-length manuscript: a completed novel or short story collection, poetry collection, book for children or young adults, script for stage, screen or radio, or book of creative non-fiction.

You will be introduced to professionals from the publishing industries, which may include literary agents, publishers, broadcasters and arts practitioners, and the School has strong links with many major arts, educational and cultural organisations. Our MFA model is exceptional in coaching students through the development and completion of a full-length book under the sustained guidance of distinguished, practising writers and seeing those students achieve success in publishing.

You will specialise in one of the following routes: Novel (including Short Fiction), Poetry, Writing for Children & Young Adults, Scriptwriting (for stage, screen or radio) or Creative Non-Fiction.

The MFA is available to complete in two years full-time or three years part-time. The novel and poetry routes are available to study on campus (full-time or part-time) or online (part-time only). The writing for children and creative non-fiction routes are online (part-time) only. The scriptwriting route is available to study on campus only. We have intakes to the programme in September and January each year.

Applications are also welcome from those already holding an MA in Creative Writing (180 credits) from Manchester Metropolitan or other universities who would like to top-up to an MFA by taking an additional 120 credits (including the Manuscript unit).

Visit the Manchester Writing School website for more information, including profiles of staff and published students, news, events and projects.

Please visit our Masters scholarships page for information on funding opportunities.