University of Hertfordshire - BA (Hons) Creative Writing

University of Hertfordshire

BA (Hons) Creative Writing

Creative Writing is more than just writing stories. It’s about learning how to engage your readers, how to capture their attention. It’s about how to communicate with others; to help them see the world through your eyes, while still giving them space to use their own views. You can use these skills in many fields and career paths, including marketing, education and even business.  

You’ll learn about different genres, cultures, and eras when it comes to writing. You can join competitions in poetry, prose, fiction, drama, and short stories. You’ll learn the theory that underpins what writing is about. You’ll then put into practice what you learnt. You’ll be given writing tasks; read each other’s stories and comment on the stories you have read for that week. As homework you’ll write stories, poetry, and prose, which you’ll then discuss in a friendly class environment with your course mates.  

In your first year, your modules will focus on giving you a solid understanding of what it means to be a writer and what genres are out there. You’ll study writing for the screen, learn to interpret stories and delve into contemporary as well as traditional writing. 

 In your second year, you’ll learn more about the art of writing to an audience. You’ll also look at writing for the stage, literature, and poetry. You’ll choose two optional modules that suit your interests, for example how to make a historical documentary or 20th century literature. Our students can choose a work experience module, Literature at Work, which explores English in the classroom and aspects of the literary heritage industry. The module is centred around a six-week work placement where you’ll gain valuable transferable skills. Our students have worked as school classroom assistants, in publishing houses or attractions such as London’s Charles Dickens Museum and Dr Johnson’s House.

Study abroad/work placement option: In between your second and third year, you can take an optional study abroad or work placement year. During this year you have the chance to study at one of our partner universities in a different country or spend a year in industry gaining valuable experience. If you prefer, you can go straight to your third year without this ‘extra’ year in between. The choice is all yours.  

In your third year, most modules are optional. That means you can choose the ones you like the most and really tailor your degree to what you want to do in life. You’ll delve deeper into the thin line between reality and fiction and examine the ethical questions this raises. You will take a compulsory module on writing for popular fiction markets, to increase your employability. Lastly, if you are studying BA (Hons) Creative Writing, you will work on a final year writing project in the genre of your own choosing, with one to one tutor support throughout. You will have produced something to be proud of that you can take with you when you leave university.  

If you'd like more information, contact Lorna Gibb.

Entry Requirements

UCAS pointsA LevelBTECIB
112-120BBC-BBBDMM-DDM112-120

GCSE

: Grade 4/C in English Language and 4/D Mathematics

Access course tariff: An overall merit profile in 45 credits at Level 3.

All students from non-majority English speaking countries require proof of English language proficiency, equivalent to an overall IELTS score of 6.5 with a minimum of 5.5 in each band.

Career Prospects

You will have the opportunity to gain the professional, intellectual and creative skills necessary to establish yourself as an author or for a career in a related communications field or for postgraduate study. Career development is supported through the Poetry, Prose and Publishing Module in your second year taught by a former editor of Granta, the renowned magazine of new writing, who will teach you the practicalities of getting published or working in literary publishing.

Specialist modules in Year 2 and Year 3 also look at the skills required and the opportunities afforded in the areas of commercial fiction, non-fiction and drama.

Course Details

Degree programmes are structured into levels, 4, 5 and 6.  These correspond to your first, second and third/final year of study.  Below you can see what modules you’ll be studying in each.    

Year 1

Becoming a writer
Genre fiction: building worlds
Writing for the screen
Texts up close: reading and interpretation
Make it new: literary tradition and experimentation
Journeys and quests: adventures in literature
Identity and contemporary writing
Leisure and lifestyle: 20th century american music, sport and entertainment

Year 2

Graduate skills
Writing for the stage
Language and imagination: the art of the poem
Poetry, prose and publishing
The short story workshop

Optional modules
Studies in twentieth century literature, 1900-1945
Ways of reading: literature and theory
Literature at work
Making a historical documentary
Employability skills

Year 3

Tell it slant: writing and reality
Year abroad
Graduate skills
The humanities placement year
Placement with study abroad
Writing serial drama
Writing for popular fiction markets

Optional modules
Between the acts: late victorian and edwardian literature 1890-1920
Texts and screens: studies in literary adaptation
African-american literature
Generation dead: young adult fiction and the gothic
Everyday lives: an intimate history of twentieth century women a
Euro-crime on page and screen
Creative writing project poetry
Creative writing project prose
Creative writing project script

*The information’s are correct at the time of publishing, however it may change if university makes any changes after we have published the information. While we try our best to provide correct information, It is advisable to call us or visit university website for up to date information.

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