Creative Writing

Entry requirements

A good 2:1 Honours degree (or equivalent) in any subject.

The submission of a satisfactory entry portfolio of creative writing. This should consist of one of the following:

• 2000 words of prose (fiction or creative non-fiction)
• up to 10 poems (no more than 40 lines in length)
• the page equivalent of a short, fifteen-minute play

Months of entry

September

Course content

The new MLitt in Creative Writing course is for writers who wish to draw on the benefits of workshops with peers and tutors while developing their ideas. It combines the features of both a research-based and taught masters course.

Throughout the course, creative industry experts lead core creative writing classes and skills-focused projects and workshops. Specialist related modules are available and the course comes to an end with a dissertation. This gives students the opportunity to work on an extended creative project which you will develop on a one-to-one basis with your tutor.

Staff at the University of Strathclyde can offer specialist tuition in a wide range of genres including:

• poetry
• historical fiction and fiction for young adults
• radio drama
• screenwriting

What you’ll study

The course consists of six classes that are 20 credits each and a dissertation worth 60 credits. Four of the classes will be creative writing-specific, and two will be electives that may be chosen from an approved list of other masters level courses offered by the University.

Semester 1:

• Creative Writing Workshop 1
• Skills Workshop
• Option 1

Semester 2:

• Creative Writing Workshop 2
• Skills Project
• Option 2
• Dissertation

The content of the Creative Writing workshops in semester 1 and 2 partly depends on the nature of the creative projects individual students wish to develop. Tutors will suggest a supportive programme of relevant reading and common issues for discussion and analysis. The main aim of these student-led workshops will be to provide a supportive framework for the development and review of student writing, regardless of genre.

The Skills Workshop in semester 1 focuses on the idea of the 'writing life'. It prepares you for the practical side of literary development, as well as opening up options you may not already have considered for yourself. It will include topics such as:

• setting up a journal
• social media for writers
• writing for the screen
• collaboration with artists in other media

The Skills Project (scheduled for semester 2) consists of an individual project chosen and developed in discussion with a course tutor. This will build on chosen aspects of the first semester Skills Workshop classes that interest you.

Options 1 and 2 above refer to the two electives worth 20 credits each that you can chose from other University masters courses including the Masters in Literature, Culture and Place or the new MSc in Gender Studies.

During semester 2, students will meet several times on a one-to-one basis with tutors to determine the nature and scope of the dissertation which you will write over the course of the summer.

Fees and funding

See our website for information on scholarships.

Qualification and course duration

MLitt