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Creative Writing at Oxford Brookes University - UCAS

Course options

2024 - 2025
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There are other course options available which may have a different vacancy status or entry requirements – view the full list of options

Course summary

Whether words come easily to you, or you work tirelessly at every sentence, we want to help you bring your writing craft to a professional level. We’re looking for passion, no matter your background or level of experience. Every writer might be different - but every writer can benefit from the insight of our published experts. Our Creative Writing MA is a well-established course taught by acclaimed professional writers published around the world. You’ll benefit from the input of creative writing fellows and visiting lecturers such as Patience Agbabi, Sally Bayley, and Steven Hall. And you’ll be studying in one of the world’s great literary cities. You'll gain a better understanding of your craft and how to apply it to different literary genres and forms. You’ll also meet and pitch your work to top literary agents Felicity Bryan Associates and publisher Philip Gwyn Jones. Whether or not you aspire to get published, we’ll support and encourage you all the way to achieving your full writing potential.

Modules

Compulsory modules The Writing Studio This is the core module taken by all our students at the beginning of the MA. Through workshops led by our staff and Creative Writing Fellows, it’s designed to lead you out of your comfort zone and get you writing in ways you might never have contemplated. In our virtual space – the studio – you are free to think, write and depart in new directions. It demands a readiness to go out of the “comfort zone” and ask real questions of your own writing. Optional modules Bringing a Story to Life You’ll learn about the techniques – the “tricks of the trade”, in a completely positive sense – which highly successful authors use to achieve their aims. You’ll explore how narratives and stories are constructed through elements like plotting, pace, perspective and structure. You’ll be aiming to identify these writerly techniques, to describe them and - most importantly of all – to incorporate them in your own writing. We’ll look at:

  • characterisation through dialogue
  • unspoken stories
  • the unreliable narrator
  • omniscient narrators
  • the slow reveal.
Writing Poetry Now What is poetry? What is it for, and what can it do that prose can’t? You’ll focus on contemporary poetry in terms of its functions, as well as its form. While the emphasis will be on your own writing, we’ll also study the poetry of both contemporary and traditional writers from Britain and further afield, who work or have worked in a variety of forms and using a range of techniques. You’ll also look at topics like:
  • poetry and place
  • narrative poetry
  • voice
  • confession
  • experiments in form.
Writing the Lives of Others If you’ve ever wanted to write about your own life, or the lives of others, this module is for you. We’ll look at autobiography, biography, hagiography, diaries, fictional recreations of real lives, and fictions taking in individual or family lives. Using the set texts as a basis, each session will consist of a short, tutor-led discussion, focusing on the technical issues. You’ll follow these with intensive attempts to apply these techniques to your own writing. Topics on this module include:
  • The Diary
  • Autobiography
  • Biography
  • Hagiography
  • Fictionalising Lives.
Writing Voice You’ll explore methods for writing creatively in relation to voice. We’ll discuss and analyse works by contemporary authors in a range of forms (poems, novels, short stories), to inspire you to explore different voices in your own writing. We’ll investigate:
  • how writers create distinctive voices to control and modulate tone and register in a text
  • the interplay of multiple voices (author, narrators, characters)
  • interrelated notions of identity, authenticity, social construction, style and aesthetics.
Topics will include:
  • Monologue and Dialogue
  • Unreliable Voices
  • Polyphony
  • Children’s Voices
  • Dialect
  • Historicised voices.
Independent Study This is a great chance to design your own course of study, allowing you to explore an area of writing that fascinates you. You’ll start by producing a detailed project plan, to be agreed with your supervisor and module leader. You’ll develop high-level research skills, manage your own schedule and produce well-structured, articulate work at master’s level. Examples of independent studies have included: an extended poem developed from the literature and art of ancient Persia, and a pacy novel for young adults set in a militaristic dystopia. The Writing Project You’ll complete an extended piece of your own creative writing, in any genre, accompanied by a self-evaluating critical commentary. You’ll develop your work in group sessions, through one-to-one tutorials, and in workshops with Creative Writing Fellows. Your writing project will be a maximum of 20,000 words in length, but the minimum word length may vary according to the genre and format. You’ll decide all these factors – genre, format and length – in consultation with your module leader and supervisor.

Assessment method

You’ll constantly share and discuss your work with your tutors and your peers. This regular feedback will strengthen your self-assessment skills - helping you develop your craft as a writer. You’ll be formally assessed via:

  • Portfolios of your creative writing, with accompanying critical essays
- A final Writing Project in your chosen form and genre

How to apply

International applicants

Applicants whose first language is not English should hold one of the following qualifications: - British Council (IELTS) Test: band 7 overall with at least 6 in each band - Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency: grade C or above - NEAB University Test in English for Speakers of Other Languages: Pass - JMB Test in English for Overseas Students: grade 1, 2 or 3. Please also see the University's standard English language requirements.

Entry requirements

Applicants should normally hold a good honours degree (2.1 or above), or equivalent, in an appropriate discipline and must be able to demonstrate ability in creative writing. A portfolio of recent creative work must be submitted consisting of 2000 words prose, or 5 poems, or a proportionate mixture of the two. Applicants may also be interviewed. If it is some time since you completed your undergraduate education and you do not meet the standard requirement, it may be possible to consider your application based on evidence of other relevant personal and professional experience, the support of your referees and your portfolio of written work.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

England £9150 Year 1
Northern Ireland £9150 Year 1
Scotland £9150 Year 1
Wales £9150 Year 1
Channel Islands £9150 Year 1
EU £16950 Year 1
International £16950 Year 1

Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website .

Additional fee information

Fees quoted are for the first year only. If you are studying a course that lasts longer than one year, your fees will increase each year.
Creative Writing at Oxford Brookes University - UCAS