Introduction:

• 73% of NTU’s research in English Language and Literature was assessed to be world-leading or internationally excellent - REF2021.
• Our close links to the publishing and editing industries provide you with networking opportunities and the chance to meet publishers, editors and agents.
• Get published with our student Anthology. Every year our students produce and publish their own high-quality anthology of original creative writing. This gives you invaluable insight into the editorial and publishing industry, as well as introduces your work to the wider public.
• Study Creative Writing in a UNESCO City of Literature. Nottingham is a place of discovery, exchange, ideas and learning for everyone who loves words and stories. Our vision as a UNESCO City of Literature is for a city where everyone is reading and writing their way to a better life.

• Taught by professional authors, poets and researchers.
• Develop your writing in a variety of genres including fiction, poetry, children's and young adult fiction, writing for radio, stage and screen, and creative non-fiction.
• Full-time and part-time study available.

What you’ll study

The course invites you to develop your writing strengths by providing a framework within which you can discuss your own and each other’s work. At the heart of the course are small group workshops in your chosen specialisms, and a series of workshop-lectures given by staff, visiting writers, agents, and other industry professionals. Guest speakers have included Gwendoline Riley, Carol Leeming, Michael Schmidt, David Almond, Alan Hollinghurst, Kathleen Jamie, Jackie Kay, Alan Jenkins, Alison Moore, Carrie Etter, and Michèle Roberts. Establishing important links with the publishing and editing industries, you will work closely with tutors, all experienced and current writers with excellent publication and production records, to develop your work to an excellent standard.

Careers and employability

Career development

The unique flexibility of the course enables students to work in a variety of genres including fiction, poetry, children's and young adult fiction, writing for radio, stage and screen, and creative non-fiction. Advice on getting published and lectures on the writing industry are incorporated into the structure of the course, and there are opportunities to meet publishers, editors and agents. Students are encouraged to build strong links with Nottingham's thriving literature community and are invited to participate in local events, readings and festivals.

Every year our students produce and publish their own high-quality anthology of original creative writing. This gives students invaluable insight into the editorial and publishing industry, as well as introduces their work to a wider public.

Graduates from this course have included many highly successful published authors across a wide range of genres, such as Kim Slater, Hilary Spiers, Stephan Collishaw, Maria Allen, Di Slaney, and Nicola Monaghan.

Although this course does not offer a formal placement, it is vocationally focused and many recent graduates have acquired agents and publishing deals.

The course also has strong professional links to the Times Literary Supplement, Nottingham Playhouse, and other institutions. This course will help you to develop a broad spectrum of skills transferable to many job roles. Our recent graduates have pursued a range of careers within and beyond the writing industries or progressed on to doctoral or postdoctoral research.

1. Writing: Research Methods, Theory and Practice
2. Dissertation

* Scholarships available for international students.