Creative Writing

Entry requirements

This is a popular and selective programme.

All applications must follow the standard entry requirements for the College of Arts:

• First or Upper Second Class Honours Degree or equivalent qualification (2:1 in the case of UK Research Council supported students)
• A Masters qualification or equivalent

In addition, for both our MFA and DFA we are looking for writers to have a preparatory one-year, postgraduate masters in Creative Writing with either Merit or Distinction (MA, MLitt or MPhil) or three publications in respected literary journals or magazines, in the intended genre of study. Compelling equivalencies will be considered.

We also require a 20-30 page portfolio of your writing. This portfolio must include a one-page proposal for the project you intend to undertake on our courses and a short sample (5-6 pages) of critical work, if you are applying to the DFA.

As with standard entry requirements we require two letters of reference. Your referees should include an academic and a creative referee where possible. Where this is not possible, you can provide referees from other areas who can vouch that you are who you say you are and that your work and achievements are your own. It is particularly helpful if these referees are familiar with your writing and can provide references on that basis.

Months of entry

Anytime

Course content

Our Creative Writing Research degrees are unique and intense programmes for practising writers who wish to complete an ambitious creative project.

Our new research Master of Fine Arts (MFA) and Doctor of Fine Arts (DFA) build on a long history of offering Masters and Doctoral options in the study and practice of Creative Writing.

Our research degrees incorporate hybrid taught elements (literary and practical seminars; workshops; and practical pedagogy) within a supervised research context that best support your creative and critical work.

Both programmes give you dedicated, supported time to complete a substantial creative work, include opportunities to teach writing to undergraduates and apply to be a graduate teaching assistant for other literature courses, and the DFA additionally allows you to undertake an extended academic research, informed by your work and practice, leading to a significant critical essay or output.

Our students enjoy the guidance of writers including Carolyn Jess-Cooke, Colin Herd, Laura Marney, Elizabeth Reeder, Zoë Strachan and Louise Welsh, and critics such as John Coyle, Jane Goldman, Rob Maslen, Alan Riach, and Helen Stoddart.

Across all our postgraduate provision, both taught and by research, students have access to the best of the new and also develop a sense of the origins and histories.

Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow is based in the Edwin Morgan Writing Room with its book, periodical and audio-visual library. There is an ambitious programme of visiting speakers, masterclasses and public events. The University Library with its modern collections and archives is a crucial resource, including the archive for Edwin Morgan’s Papers. We also collaborate with the Mitchell Library, one of the great civic libraries of Europe. And our popular Creative Conversations bring a carefully curated range of visiting speakers to campus every week during the semester.

We have strong links with literary agents and an impressive history of published graduates.

Information for international students

International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic module (not General Training)

• 7.0 with no sub-test under 7.0.
• Tests must have been taken within 2 years 5 months of start date. Applicants must meet the overall and subtest requirements using a single test.