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Our Managing in the Creative Economy MA programme bridges the gap between creativity and business. This unique business degree programme enables you to combine specific creative practice and skills with a rigorous business education customised for the creative industries. It has been developed by academics and creative economy practitioners at Kingston Business School to help you respond to emerging trends and opportunities to realise value in the creative economy.
The programme is designed for individuals who come from creative industries, or have graduated in another discipline, including engineering and humanities. You will need a strong motivation to look beyond the traditional boundaries of your discipline, a readiness to participate in a start-up, and a willingness to work in a multi-disciplinary and experiential environment. You will work with students from all over the world and from different creative sectors. This diversity challenges you to think differently and exposes you to differing perspectives on creativity and business.
The programme now has nine generations of graduates and an active alumni network. Our graduates work in a range of creative and leadership positions ranging from freelance work in the creative sector, through to business ownership and employment in large innovative companies in the creative economy.
The creative industries are outpacing traditional industries both in the UK and the rest of the world. In the UK, the creative industries represent 5.2 per cent of the UK economy and provide 1.9 million jobs (DCMS, 2016). With the growth of the creative industries, the creative economy has grown at a rate faster than the whole of the UK economy, and was worth £133.3billion in 2014, accounting for 8.2 per cent of the UK economy (DCMS, 2016).
An increasing number of countries has now placed the creative industries at the heart of their economic development. This creates opportunities for professionals who understand the critical success factors for commercialising creativity, and are equipped with the mix of creative and business knowledge and skills.
This unique business degree programme enables you to combine specific creative practice and skills with a rigorous business education customised for the creative industries. By the end of the programme, you will be equipped with an in-depth knowledge, understanding and skills required to successfully realise value in the creative economy context.
You will specialise and become closely involved in the practice of a specific creative industry through engagement with a real business in the creative sector. This will be the opportunity to experience practical work and realise value in a chosen creative industry:
-Advertising and marketing
-Architecture
-Crafts
-Product design, graphic design and fashion design
-Film, TV, video, radio and photography
-IT, software and computer services
-Publishing
-Museums, galleries and libraries
-Music, performing arts and visual arts
(Creative Industries Classification, Department for Culture, Media & Sport, 2015)
You will also explore the process of collaborative creativity and examine what it takes to successfully develop ideas into innovative products, service and processes. The core of the programme is a real-life business experience; working in a team, you will start and run your own creative industries business in the supportive and risk-free environment provided by Kingston Business School. Our entrepreneurship experts will guide you through the process of designing and running your own creative business, which will help you develop your creative, managerial and entrepreneurial skills.
Assessments are innovative and include a mix of individual and group project work and formal assessments, including essays, case studies, reports and presentations, role-play, games and simulations, plus the final Personal Research Project (maximum 15,000 words). You will study in a supportive environment where regular feedback is provided by both academics and professionals.
The course gives you the opportunity to gain a range of knowledge, skills and experiences:
-Develop your creative, entrepreneurial, managerial and leadership skills – participate in development of a start-up, pitch to real industry experts at our "Dragons' Den", and engage with a variety of professionals and entrepreneurial businesses.
-Experience practical work in a chosen creative industry by engaging with a real creative industries business to develop your CV and your understanding of the creative sector.
-Learn the fundamentals of business management theory and practice from the specific perspective of the creative industries, in the diverse and evolving context of the creative economy.
-Experience regular visits from industry experts and entrepreneurs, field trips to entrepreneurial businesses and events such as Frieze Art Fair that connect the creative industry to the local community and enable you to build a valuable network.
The Managing in the Creative Economy MA is designed for individuals who come from creative industries, or have graduated in another discipline, including engineering and humanities.
-Are you a creative practitioner? We will give you the opportunity to gain first-hand experience in creating a product or service and taking it to markets.
-Are you a manager in a creative business? We will help you understand the processes of managing creativity and innovation and enhance your skills as a creative leader with a good grasp of strategy and appropriate business and management skills.
-Have you got years of experience? If you have substantial experience, you could benefit from undertaking the personal research project that will help you to apply your new skills and expertise to your specialist sector and enable you to identify new opportunities in the creative economy.
Below are the core modules for this course:
Modules
-Mapping the Creative Economy
-Design Thinking for Start-ups
-Experiencing the Creative Industries - Professional Practice
-Conducting Collaborative Creativity
-Managing a Creative Business
-Personal Research Project/Gaining Insights
The MA in Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship should be attractive if you either wish to develop a business arising from an existing creative practice or to understand how to create the infrastructure and environment for new creative businesses.
This programme offers a number of pathways:
It's an ideal Masters if you want to develop a business in one of these fields, or in new areas of the creative industries. All students bring a business idea to the programme to use as a live case study.
The Masters is taught in partnership by a number of departments within Goldsmiths and with key individuals and organisations in the creative and cultural industries sector.
Our collective approach is to integrate entrepreneurship within the development of creative practices and to take a ‘creative’ approach to the development of new businesses and the infrastructure that supports them.
This programme is designed to allow you to continue to innovate, but also to provide the requisite business/entrepreneurial skills and attributes to commercialise your creative and cultural practices and/or knowledge.
You’ll be able to build on a historical and theoretical understanding of cultural and creative industries and the development of a cultural economy to create your own creative initiatives, which might be research-based, policy-based, practice-based, or a combination of any or all of these. Through the programme you will develop techniques to move your creative and critical thinking to entrepreneurial thinking.
This programme has an exit route at Postgraduate Diploma level.
The programme contains four taught modules and a further dissertation/portfolio component.
You'll have a range of choices throughout the degree enabling you to design a pathway that is most relevant to your academic, business and career ambitions.
All students take modules I and III, and you can choose between options offered for your chosen pathway for modules II and IV.
Attendance is mandatory for all taught sections of the programme. To encourage collaborative learning we try to teach all students together wherever possible, irrespective of their particular pathway.
Module IV: Entrepreneurial Practices and Modes of Production
Either: Assigned pathway module
Delivered by the partner departments – these modules deal with creative sector issues and case studies within a specific discipline. Please see the relevant MA Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship pathway page on the website for more information on options given for this module.
OR Work Placement
You will undertake a work placement within an SME, Producing or Research Organisation within the cultural and creative industries. There will be initial taught/tutorial sessions on managing an internship and experiential learning and assessment would be by an analytical report on the ‘culture of management’ of the organisation. In some pathways this will be augmented by classes in specific skill areas (such as marketing) as you are likely to be working in skill-specific departments of organisations.
Module V: Dissertation or Project/Portfolio
The content and research imperatives of the dissertation/portfolio can be developed in tutorials with staff to address your individual needs. It could range from an entirely written document researching a particular area of the cultural and creative industries to a fully developed proposal for a new business.
You can expect to develop an independence and integrity in developing creative ideas. You will be able to apply entrepreneurial approaches to creative projects and demonstrate an understanding of different business models to establish a creative enterprise. You will also develop team-working and leadership skills, and effective business and communication skills.
The programme will enable those who have previously studied an area of creative study/practice, such as music, media, theatre and performance, design, or computer games, to start a career developing a business arising from an existing or new creative practice.
This may relate directly to a 'product' or 'process' arising from you own practice or to a form of 'expertise', 'consultancy' or 'knowledge'. The programme will also equip those who wish to work within organisations that develop the infrastructure and environment for new creative businesses with the capacity to flourish in a variety of contexts.
Find out more about employability at Goldsmiths.
The MSc in Creative Technologies enables you to explore the boundaries of creative technologies and gain a deeper understanding of these by researching into the technological and scientific capabilities of both hardware and software and the impact it has on the creation of industry-standard technology products. You will be expected to research the global issues related to the use of creative technologies and investigate current factors such as migration of content across different networks and platforms, emerging interactive technologies within Audio/Video (including VR) and the convergence of fields and disciplines within multiple creative industries.
Course work is based on establishing your own focused question and then developing a project that aims at challenging conventions in the use of creative technologies. This project should be a ‘live’ project negotiated with a tutor and industry practitioner that reflects real-life, audience facing, creative technology challenges. You will produce your own project plan, identifying how you wish to use creative technologies in developing your own practice, ultimately impacting your potential career in the creative industries.
The MSc in Creative Technologies will provide you with the opportunity to:
As a student on Confetti’s postgraduate courses, you’ll be based in the heart of Nottingham’s Creative Quarter. This will provide you with a unique learning experience where your studies will take place directly within a commercial, creative environment alongside professional creative businesses. This location will allow you to be immersed within the most beneficial environment to research your chosen area of focus in the field of Creative Technologies.
Your learning is then supported and evidenced in your ‘reflective journal’ for each module, which records, analyses and evaluates your ideas and considers ways in which your project might progress. This journal will allow you to link theory to your professional practice.
Through your work and engagement with peers and industry professionals from different cultures and backgrounds, you will gain first-hand experiences of diversity and build a sense of working in a community of industry professionals.
Creative Technology Research (60 Credit Points)
Creative Technology Development (60 Credit Points)
Creative Technology Production (60 Credit Points)
On this course, you'll study at our brand new £9.1 million Digital Media Hub and have access to:
Linking the three modules is Confetti’s annual Industry Week. Taking place in March each year, it will form the basis for you to present your work to date as part of this event and gather important feedback from industry specialists in order to inform future work and development.
Our heavyweights have included the likes of award-winning filmmakers Nick Broomfield, Shane Meadows, Aardman Animations – the Oscar winning creators of Shaun the Sheep, TV’s Stacey Dooley, Rockstar Games, Playstation, as well as some of the most respected names in the music industry – from Radio 1’s Andy Rogers and Mistajam to Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis and Professor Green.
he MSc Creative Technologies places emphasis on the setting and completion of personal learning aims through the creation and realisation of a research project which has been informed by considered research, critical understanding and reflective learning. Confetti promotes a multidisciplinary culture and working environment and students are encouraged to engage in collaboration and cross-fertilisation of ideas. Students on these courses will be from a BSc or BA route and both MSc and MA students will be taught together.
The course is supported by Confetti Media Group businesses and external industry partners and practitioners who will work with you to enhance your professional ambitions and learning experiences in areas including entrepreneurship, freelance working, funding, professional networking and collaboration.
As a postgraduate student you will be taught through seminars, group discussions, workshops and both group and individual tutorials with your supervisor and the wider course team. You will be taught by lecturers who are experts in the field of creative technologies and by guest industry practitioners.
The following teaching and learning methods are used within the course:
To apply for one of our taught courses, please go to the Applicant Portal on our partners’ Nottingham Trent University website.
The MFA (Master of Fine Arts) Creative Writing programme at the University of Surrey is a two-year, full-time course of study that offers you a unique opportunity to enhance your creative, critical and professional skills as a writer.
Teaching is research-led, so you will be mentored by passionate, dynamic writers and academics with multidisciplinary expertise, as well as our Distinguished Writer in Residence and Poet in Residence.
Our MFA Creative Writing programme will expose you to the practical skills and challenges involved in a specific branch of creative practice (such as poetry or screenwriting) and offers the option to gain hands-on experience in a creative industry relevant to your own practice, to better prepare you for a wide variety of careers, including writing, publishing, communications, marketing, advertising, journalism, teaching, or to undertake a PhD.
In your first year, you will study alongside students in the MA programmes in Creative Writing and English Literature, where you will hone your research skills to produce critically informed creative work and deepen your practice as a writer.
To prepare for your second year, an academic advisor will offer guidance on choosing an appropriate form of Situated Professional Practice and your summative creative portfolio proposal.
During your second year you will work on producing an extended creative portfolio and critical commentary, as well as complete the Situated Professional Practice of your choice.
This programme is studied full-time over two academic years. It consists of eight taught modules, a professional placement, a critical commentary module and a creative portfolio project.
Example module listing
The following modules are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Please note that not all modules described are compulsory and may be subject to teaching availability and/or student demand.
A Creative Writing MFA degree builds on the work of a traditional MA but distinguishes itself in a number of ways:
For students to achieve an optimum balance between theory, practice and critical reflection, MFAs traditionally last at least two academic years and this is common practice both in the UK and the USA.
The MFA in Creative Writing is designed to assist aspiring writers to:
These educational aims accord neatly with the defining principles of Creative Writing as set out by the QAA’s NAWE Creative Writing Subject Benchmark Statement.
As a student on the MFA Creative Writing, you will benefit from the expertise of a vibrant, multidisciplinary group of academics and published authors.
You will also have access to a number of conferences, seminars and workshops hosted throughout the year. These events cover a range of topics to broaden your thinking in the fields of literature, language and linguistics, cultural studies and creative writing. Writers to have recently visited the University of Surrey include the novelist Monica Ali and the poet and critic Rod Mengham.
Each year’s cultural activities begin with a poetry lecture on campus by a visiting speaker and feature readings by students at the Guildford School of Acting.
The annual Surrey New Writers’ Festival – affiliated with the Creative Writing graduate programs at the University of Surrey – aims to engage with writing and creativity in dynamic ways, and involves readings, book signings, performances, panel discussions and talks by writers, thinkers, editors and literary agents.
The year’s activities culminate in the annual Morag Morris Poetry Festival, held in Guildford, which combines readings and performances by prominent, innovative and up-and-coming poets with the opportunity for Creative Writing students to present their own work in public.
This event is organised and hosted by our poet-in-residence – a position that is held by a different poet each year. English at Surrey also has a close relationship with English PEN, the charity dedicated to promoting literature and human rights.
We often give our students the opportunity to acquire international experience during their degrees by taking advantage of our exchange agreements with overseas universities.
In addition to the hugely enjoyable and satisfying experience, time spent abroad adds a distinctive element to your CV.
At Reading, you can develop your creative practice with a rigorous introduction to business and entrepreneurship.
This innovative programme will take your practical and theoretical skills to a new level and develop a critical understanding of entrepreneurship and management for the fast-evolving creative industries. Whether you wish to set up a business, consider a career change, or advance into a managerial role, this is the course for you.
Module descriptions are correct for modules taught in the academic year 2017/18. Optional module listings are indicative, and may be subject to change.
Compulsory Modules
Optional Modules
In addition students must choose optional modules from the list below up to the value of 60 credits.
Students studying creative enterprise normally progress in entrepreneurial careers, either pursuing start-up opportunities on their own, or taking leading managerial roles in creative firms.
Many students come from backgrounds with considerable exposure to small or medium-sized enterprises within the creative sector. On completion of the programme, they use content from the course in the implementation of creative and commercial strategies for these firms.
This flexible Masters is an opportunity to investigate and combine strategies for developing creative work – an inclusive and forward-thinking composition degree that acknowledges many different definitions of the term.
You will devise a coherent yet bespoke programme of study from an extensive list of options, and have the opportunity to uniquely blend practices from popular music, sound art, contemporary composition, ethnography and multi-media work. These modules help you engage with a variety of rigorous intellectual, critical and technical skills that will inform your work and culminate in a substantial creative project.
Depending on your module choices, you have access to the Electronic Music Studios (which offer advanced facilities for electro-acoustic composition, multichannel work and live/interactive performance) and the new Goldsmiths Music Studios (which offers a HD Pro-tools recording system and large format analogue desk). You will have the opportunity to write for and collaborate with your fellow composers and performers, and in-house ensembles; and furthermore develop collaborative and interdisciplinary projects in conjunction with other departments.
The programme is exceptionally useful for students preparing for further postgraduate practice-as-research projects, or for those wishing to develop a distinctive portfolio of work for entry into the creative industries.
Core modules
You choose one of the following modules:
Option modules
You choose three modules from a selection that currently includes:
Creative Project
Visit our website for more information on fees, scholarships, postgraduate loans and other funding options to study Creative Writing (Extended) at Swansea University - 'Welsh University of the Year 2017' (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017).
The MA in Creative Writing is a unique programme that offers integrated training in the writing of literary and media text. The MA in Creative Writing is taught by prize-winning writers of fiction, poetry and drama who provide core training and individual pathways in the major genres of contemporary literary and media writing. Modules on the Creative Writing programme are taught through workshop sessions, group work and one-to-one mentoring between students and a tutor. Courses include the writing of prose fiction, poetry, drama, screenwriting and creative nonfiction. Writers and representatives from the arts world and the publishing industry are invited to address the MA Creative Writing group about creative work and publishing. We have strong links with Swansea’s Dylan Thomas Centre, which offers a lively programme of events throughout the year.
The Extended MA (EMA) in Creative Writing is a 240-credit postgraduate qualification that is equivalent to 120 ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) and is thus a recognised Masters qualification throughout the European Union. The EMA is a standard UK MA plus an additional 60 credits (30 ECTS) and this additional coursework is undertaken in one semester at a partner institution overseas. The EMA is therefore not only an EU recognised postgraduate qualification it also adds a study abroad experience thus enhancing the qualification’s employability credentials.
- The MA in Creative Writing is taught by experienced writers and offers a wide range of writing genres including fiction, short story, poetry, drama, screenwriting and creative non-fiction.
- Drama writing is a particular strength, including the relatively new and unexplored field of Dramaturgy.
- Regular play readings and students' dramatic writing is often performed by professional actors in the Rough Diamonds mini-festival in the summer.
- Creative Writers have a close relationship with National Theatre Wales and also open-mic poetry events at local venues such as the Dylan Thomas Centre and Howl.
- There is scope for work experience with local publishers.
- The writing programme has an online journal, The Swansea Review, and students write for The Siren, a student-run online journal, and The Waterfront student newspaper.
- Creative Writing students have free membership of Literature Wales, the national literature promotion agency.
- Students are involved in the annual Writers’ Day at the Dylan Thomas Centre, where they meet editors, agents, publishers and writers to discuss the ins and outs of publication and the craft of writing.
- Students are part of a vibrant community of writers and artists – Swansea, the birthplace of Dylan Thomas, having a fair claim to being Wales’s city of culture.
- The programme has connection with and experience of the unique literary culture of Wales, home to possibly the oldest (but still vibrant) bardic tradition in Europe.
Modules on the MA in Creative Writing typically include:
• Writing Fiction
• Writing Poetry
• Genre: Writing for Stage
• Creative Non-Fiction and Travel Writing
• Nature Writing
• Screenwriting
• Writing Radio Drama
• The Art of Short Story
• Writing the Self
• International Dramaturgy
Students or Professionals interested in Creative and Professional Writing. Students interested in preparation for postgraduate research, MPhil or PhD.
- To offer students the chance to belong to a warmly supportive community of writers, passionate about their art.
- To give students the opportunity to discuss literary matters with agents, editors and publishers.
- To provide active participation in Swansea’s burgeoning literary scene and have students’ dramatic writing performed by professional actors at the Dylan Thomas Literature Centre.
- To offer research seminars presented by eminent creative writers and academics.
- To develop study and research skills in Creative Writing research and practice methodologies.
Career expectations are excellent for Creative Writing graduates. MA degree holders enter careers in professional and creative writing, publishing, education, global marketing and advertising, media, business, heritage and tourism, and performing arts. Some graduates go on to pursue further postgraduate study leading to a PhD and a career in Academia.
"Since graduating with an MA with Distinction in Creative Writing from Swansea University, I have published three collections of poetry, founded Grievous Jones Press, and begun lecturing in Creative Writing. In the near future I will finish my PhD in Creative Writing and have books forthcoming with Blackheath Books and Seren Books. The training, experience, and rigour of the Swansea MA in Creative Writing was invaluable for launching my career as a writer and publisher. Without the inspiration, guidance, and critique of the excellent faculty and peers, my own writing would not have grown and my flame for creation might have faltered."
David Oprava, Creative Writing, MA
The MA in Creative Technologies course is designed to give you the opportunity to research and develop the commercial, technical and conceptual skills needed to succeed as a professional in your chosen area of expertise within the global creative industries.
As a result, the course will further your knowledge while at the same time pushing the boundaries of the possibilities in creating products to an industry standard. You are encouraged to be innovative and imaginative in the use of technology when generating creative solutions. The course promotes a multidisciplinary culture and working environment and students are encouraged to look at collaboration and cross-fertilisation of ideas.
Course work is based on establishing your own focused question and then developing a project that aims at challenging conventions in the use of creative technologies. This project should be a ‘live’ project negotiated with a tutor and industry practitioner that reflects real-life, audience facing, creative technology challenges. You will produce your own project plan, identifying how you wish to use creative technologies in developing your own practice, ultimately impacting your potential career in the creative industries.
Creative Technology Research (60 Credit Points)
Creative Technology Production (60 Credit Points)
Creative Technology Realisation (60 Credit Points)
On this course, you'll study at our brand new £9.1 million Digital Media Hub and have access to:
Linking the three modules is Confetti’s annual Industry Week. Taking place in March each year, it will form the basis for you to present your work to date as part of this event and gather important feedback from industry specialists in order to inform future work and development.
Our heavyweights have included the likes of award-winning filmmakers Nick Broomfield, Shane Meadows, Aardman Animations – the Oscar winning creators of Shaun the Sheep, TV’s Stacey Dooley, Rockstar Games, Playstation, as well as some of the most respected names in the music industry – from Radio 1’s Andy Rogers and Mistajam to Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis and Professor Green.
The MA Creative Technologies places emphasis on the setting and completion of personal learning aims through the creation and realisation of a research project which has been informed by considered research, critical understanding and reflective learning. Confetti promotes a multidisciplinary culture and working environment and students are encouraged to engage in collaboration and cross fertilisation of ideas. Students on these courses will be from a BSc or BA route and both MSc and MA students will be taught together.
The course is supported by Confetti Media Group businesses and external industry partners and practitioners who will work with you to enhance your professional ambitions and learning experiences in areas including entrepreneurship, freelance working, funding, professional networking and collaboration.
As a postgraduate student you will be taught through seminars, group discussions, workshops and both group and individual tutorials with your supervisor and the wider course team. You will be taught by lecturers who are experts in the field of creative technologies and by guest industry practitioners.
The following teaching and learning methods are used within the course:
To apply for one of our taught courses, please go to the Applicant Portal on our partners’ Nottingham Trent University website.
Visit our website for more information on fees, scholarships, postgraduate loans and other funding options to study Creative Writing at Swansea University - 'Welsh University of the Year 2017' (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017).
The MA in Creative Writing is a unique programme that offers integrated training in the writing of literary and media text. The MA in Creative Writing is taught by prize-winning writers of fiction, poetry and drama who provide core training and individual pathways in the major genres of contemporary literary and media writing. Modules on the Creative Writing programme are taught through workshop sessions, group work and one-to-one mentoring between students and a tutor. Courses include the writing of prose fiction, poetry, drama, screenwriting and creative nonfiction. Writers and representatives from the arts world and the publishing industry are invited to address the MA Creative Writing group about creative work and publishing. We have strong links with Swansea’s Dylan Thomas Centre, which offers a lively programme of events throughout the year.
- The MA in Creative Writing is taught by experienced writers and offers a wide range of writing genres including fiction, short story, poetry, drama, screenwriting and creative non-fiction.
- Drama writing is a particular strength, including the relatively new and unexplored field of Dramaturgy.
- Regular play readings and students' dramatic writing is often performed by professional actors in the Rough Diamonds mini-festival in the summer.
- Creative Writers have a close relationship with National Theatre Wales and also open-mic poetry events at local venues such as the Dylan Thomas Centre and Howl.
- There is scope for work experience with local publishers.
- The writing programme has an online journal, The Swansea Review, and students write for The Siren, a student-run online journal, and The Waterfront student newspaper.
- Creative Writing students have free membership of Literature Wales, the national literature promotion agency.
- Students are involved in the annual Writers’ Day at the Dylan Thomas Centre, where they meet editors, agents, publishers and writers to discuss the ins and outs of publication and the craft of writing.
- Students are part of a vibrant community of writers and artists – Swansea, the birthplace of Dylan Thomas, having a fair claim to being Wales’s city of culture.
- The programme has connection with and experience of the unique literary culture of Wales, home to possibly the oldest (but still vibrant) bardic tradition in Europe.
Modules on the MA in Creative Writing typically include:
• Writing Fiction
• Writing Poetry
• Genre: Writing for Stage
• Creative Non-Fiction and Travel Writing
• Nature Writing
• Screenwriting
• Writing Radio Drama
• The Art of Short Story
• Writing the Self
• International Dramaturgy
Students or Professionals interested in Creative and Professional Writing. Students interested in preparation for postgraduate research, MPhil or PhD.
- To offer students the chance to belong to a warmly supportive community of writers, passionate about their art.
- To give students the opportunity to discuss literary matters with agents, editors and publishers.
- To provide active participation in Swansea’s burgeoning literary scene and have students’ dramatic writing performed by professional actors at the Dylan Thomas Literature Centre.
- To offer research seminars presented by eminent creative writers and academics.
- To develop study and research skills in Creative Writing research and practice methodologies.
Career expectations are excellent for Creative Writing graduates. MA degree holders enter careers in professional and creative writing, publishing, education, global marketing and advertising, media, business, heritage and tourism, and performing arts. Some graduates go on to pursue further postgraduate study leading to a PhD and a career in Academia.
"Since graduating with an MA with Distinction in Creative Writing from Swansea University, I have published three collections of poetry, founded Grievous Jones Press, and begun lecturing in Creative Writing. In the near future I will finish my PhD in Creative Writing and have books forthcoming with Blackheath Books and Seren Books. The training, experience, and rigour of the Swansea MA in Creative Writing was invaluable for launching my career as a writer and publisher. Without the inspiration, guidance, and critique of the excellent faculty and peers, my own writing would not have grown and my flame for creation might have faltered."
David Oprava, Creative Writing, MA
Our programme will build your confidence and technical ability in composing creative prose and/or poetry, while deepening your critical awareness of the cultural, literary and theoretical history of text production.
Teaching is research-led, so you benefit from the individual expertise and passion of a vibrant, multidisciplinary group of published authors and academics, including our Poet in Residence and Distinguished Writer in Residence.
The MA Creative Writing programme will hone your research and writing skills to produce critically informed prose or poetry, and creative criticism. We will help you to locate your work in its literary and cultural context, and you will have the chance to reflect on your creative process and the finished work.
You will have access to a yearly calendar of events hosted at the University created to broaden your thinking, and develop your writing skills such as the Morag Morris Poetry Lecture, the annual Surrey New Writers’ Festival and the Surrey Poetry Festival.
The MA in Creative Writing provides a strong foundation to embark upon a career in writing, communications, publishing, marketing, advertising, journalism or teaching, or to undertake a PhD.
This programme is studied full-time over one academic year and part-time over two academic years. It consists of eight taught modules and an extended portfolio.
Example module listing
The following modules are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Please note that not all modules described are compulsory and may be subject to teaching availability and/or student demand.
The MA Programme in Creative Writing will prepare graduates to undertake a PhD programme in the relevant field.
It will also provide students with the transferable skills of creative writing, critical thinking, textual analysis and communication that are attractive to a wide range of employers, from the cultural industries to marketing and advertising to tourism and leisure to the civil service and public/private partnerships.
It is designed to build confidence and technical ability in a variety of modes of imaginative writing, and to provide students with a clear-eyed grounding in contemporary and historical contexts of text production and circulation, including practical advice on the workings of the publishing industry.
Devoted to assisting students to understand and meet the challenges of producing high quality creative writing in poetry and prose, the programme also provides advanced understanding of the contexts, theoretical paradigms, methodologies and modes of interpretation that are vital in a full understanding of literary production.
The main aims are to:
As a Master’s level programme, it also aims to instil in students the capacity for carrying out independent research.
As a student on this Masters, you will benefit from the expertise of a vibrant, multidisciplinary group of published academics and authors.
You will have access to a number of conferences, seminars and workshops hosted throughout the year. These events cover a range of topics to broaden your thinking in the fields of literature, language and linguistics, cultural studies and creative writing.
Writers to have recently visited the University of Surrey include:
Novelists
Poets
Critics
Each year’s cultural activities begin with the Morag Morris Poetry Lecture on campus by a visiting speaker and feature readings by students at the Guildford School of Acting.
The annual Surrey New Writers’ Festival and Surrey Poetry Festival – both affiliated with the Creative Writing programmes at the University of Surrey – aim to engage with writing and creativity in dynamic ways, and involve readings, book signings, performances, panel discussions and more.
This graduate program is delivered by the University's Creative Writing team, all of whom are published authors and poets:
We often give our students the opportunity to acquire international experience during their degrees by taking advantage of our exchange agreements with overseas universities.
In addition to the hugely enjoyable and satisfying experience, time spent abroad adds a distinctive element to your CV.
This programme allows you to develop the business/entrepreneurial skills and attributes to commercialise on your creative and cultural practices and/or knowledge.
The Computing (games and entertainment) Pathway of the MA in Creative & Cultural Entrepreneurship allows you to build on a historical and theoretical understanding of cultural and creative industries and the development of a cultural economy to create your own creative initiatives, which might be research-based, policy-based, practice-based, or a combination of any or all of these.
The MA will be taught in partnership by a number of departments within Goldsmiths and with key individuals and organisations in the creative and cultural industries sector.
Our collective approach is to integrate entrepreneurship within the development of creative practices and to take a ‘creative’ approach to the development of new businesses and the infrastructure that supports them.
In all pathways, this Masters programme contains four taught modules and a further dissertation/portfolio component.
All students take modules I and III, and Computing Pathway students choose options in Computing for modules II and IV. Attendance is mandatory for all taught sections of the programme.
To encourage collaborative learning we try to teach all students together wherever possible, irrespective of their particular pathway.
Module IV: Entrepreneurial Practices and Modes of Production within one creative industry sector
Either: Business of Design 30 Credits
OR Work Placement 30 Credits
You will undertake a work placement within an SME, Producing or Research Organisation within the cultural and creative industries. There will be initial taught/tutorial sessions on managing an internship and experiential learning and assessment would be by an analytical report on the ‘culture of management’ of the organisation. In some pathways this will be augmented by classes in specific skill areas (such as marketing) as you are likely to be working in skill-specific departments of organisations.
Module V: Dissertation or Project/Portfolio
The content and research imperatives of the dissertation/portfolio can be developed in tutorials with staff to address your individual needs. It could range from an entirely written document researching a particular area of the cultural and creative industries to a fully developed proposal for a new business.
You can expect to develop an independence and integrity in developing creative ideas. You'll be able to apply entrepreneurial approaches to creative projects and demonstrate an understanding of different business models to establish a creative enterprise. You'll also develop team-working and leadership skills, and effective business and communication skills.
The programme will enable those who have previously studied an area of creative study/practice to start a career developing a business arising from an existing or new creative practice. This may relate directly to a 'product' or 'process' arising from you own practice or to a form of 'expertise', 'consultancy' or 'knowledge'.
The programme will also equip those who wish to work within organisations that develop the infrastructure and environment for new creative businesses with the capacity to flourish in a variety of contexts.
Find out more about employability at Goldsmiths.
The MA in Creative Writing and Education has been designed for writers of poetry, fiction and life-writing who are interested in education and learning. If you are keen to publish your own writing or you're looking to use your creative writing to help people learn or just developing your skills and knowledge then this programme could be right for you.
The MA in Creative Writing and Education offers you the chance to:
You may be given the opportunity to contribute to:
Who is the programme aimed at?
You might be a teacher who writes; a writer who works in education; a poet, a novelist, a short story writer or an author of autobiography who wants to learn more about the connections between creative writing and education.
The Spoken Word Education Training Programme is led by Jacob Sam-La Rose (Artistic Director). All Spoken Word Educators need to first apply to the MA in Creative Writing and Education programme and, if they are accepted, they will then be interviewed for the Spoken Word Education Training programme.
Full-time: you will complete 4 modules in one year plus a dissertation, amounting 180 credits – full details of the modules are in the Overview section below. This can mean committing yourself to attending evening seminars and lectures twice a week in the autumn and spring terms for 10 weeks, and a number of one-to-one tutorials for your dissertation.
Part-time: you can spread your modules for the course over two years. This could mean attending seminars/lectures once a week during the autumn and spring terms for the two years, and then spacing your dissertation tutorials over two terms.
Overview
You'll have the opportunity to develop your own creative writing practices and explore a range of educational approaches towards creative writing.
You'll work with practising and published creative writing lecturers and education lecturers in collaboration with professionals working in local cultural institutions.
You'll participate in creative and life writing workshops and research creative writing pedagogies in classrooms and educational settings.
You have to complete 180 credits points, made up from:
Practitioners who already have existing M-level credits may transfer these on to the MA.
Assessment
Assessment for the Workshop in Creative and Life Writing module is by the submission of a piece or pieces of creative or life-writing of 5,000 words plus a critical account of how you have structured and developed your work.
Assessment for the Educational Studies modules is by the submission of assignments.
You'll also be assessed on a project-based dissertation.
The programme will enable you to develop creative writing skills to a potentially publishable level, participate in local cultural events as writers, and develop advanced theoretical and critical skills in creative writing pedagogy.
The programme provides and enhances continuing professional development in creative writing for educators and teachers, opening up opportunities to work with local cultural institutions and schools, and enriching current professional practice.
Previous students have helped their careers by doing this MA, going on to work in business, arts organisations, theatre, Spoken Word and diverse educational settings. Previous students include Niall Bourke who won the 2015 Costa Short Story Award, Joshua Seighal shortlisted for the National Literacy Trust Award 2015 and a number of students have published their academic research in prestigious scholarly journals.
Feedback from the students is overwhelmingly positive, with many saying doing the MA has been a life-changing experience.
Find out more about employability at Goldsmiths.
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