English Literature

Explore the breadth and depth of English literature and choose to develop your creative writing skills on our MA degree. You can opt to focus on a particular time period, genre, style or theme, creating a programme that is unique to you and your interests.

You’ll study a range of areas in depth, such as contemporary and modernist literature, world cinema, Gothic studies, poetry, letter writing and literary linguistics. You can also engage with contemporary creative writing methods and practices.

Your assessment through essay assignments and research exercises will support your development as a scholar and equip you with a wide range of broadly applicable and employable skills.

Your masters dissertation allows you to undertake a significant and personal piece of research, with individual supervision from a member of our expert academic staff.

If you opt for creative writing, you’ll be producing portfolios of both creative and critical work for each module and for your dissertation, all of which may take the form of poetry, prose poetry, short stories, a novel extract, poetic prose, hybrid texts and other genres, as well as formal or cross-media experimentations.

As a postgraduate student you’ll also be encouraged to connect with the Faculty research centres (eg the Centres for the Gothic, for Film and Poetry and Poetics) and to engage with the research culture of the school. Sheffield also has a buzzing literary culture, and there are plenty of public and University readings, publications and festivals for you to get involved in.