Creative Writing
Entry requirements
Please contact the Postgraduate Admissions team or consult the website for more details. The University usually expects a 2.1 Honours degree or higher in a related subject but experience is also considered.
Months of entry
January, December, November, October, September, August, July, June, May, April, March, February
Course content
The PhD in Creative Writing (On-Campus or by Distance Learning) within the English Department aims to support you in the development of a long-form piece of creative writing (for example, a novel or a script), or a sequence of related works (poems and short stories). You will be working in an environment which supports and encourages the development of craft and participation within a community of writers and scholars.
You will outline a specific creative project, for completion within 3 years (full-time), and will also be able to identify critical concerns and interests related to your creative practice. The final submission is a document which is divided between the creative piece and a related critical document (the weightings are listed below).
PhD submission will usually entail:
For prose: a creative document (50 – 80%) of either long-form prose/novel, or a collection of short-form prose/stories supported by a critical paper (20–50%) of a similar length to a critical literary PhD submission (around 80,000 to 100,000 words)
For poetry: a creative document of collected poems or a single work with a developed critical thesis (around 50,000 words)
For scriptwriting (for film and live performance): a single project or a collection of multiple shorts should be of comparable length and commitment as the prose element, with a critical element between 20-50% of the overall submission.
Other creative formats (for example a script for a graphic novel) will follow the poetry or prose model, with a 20–50% split for the critical element.
The submission will be of publishable quality (meaning both elements, creative and critical, will be ready for submission to an editor / agent).
The creative and critical elements will entail considered independent research and development. The creative document will be original work of significant, publishable quality which demonstrates an understanding of craft, genre, and form. The critical document will present a structured and developed argument which demonstrates an awareness of context, and discuss, where relevant, critical and creative processes.You can study for a PhD on campus or by Distance Learning.
Explore postgraduate study at Birmingham at one of our on-campus open days (Friday 4 March 2016). Register to attend at: www.birmingham.ac.uk/pgopendays
If you can’t make it to one of our on-campus open days, our virtual open days run regularly throughout the year. For more information, please visit: www.pg.bham.ac.uk
Department specialisms
Fiction and short film ; The application of Surrealist technique; The short story; editing theory and practice; cross-disciplinary models of authorship; writing as translation and adaptation; autobiographical and biographical poetry
Fees and funding
Scholarships to cover fees and/or maintenance costs may be available. For more information, please visit the University's Postgraduate Funding Database.
Qualification and course duration
PhD
Course contact details
- Name
- Postgraduate Enquiry Service
- postgraduate@contacts.bham.ac.uk
- Phone
- 0121 414 5005