Overview
Our PhD research programmes will allow you to explore your own interests in creative writing, supported by the expertise of our staff.
You’ll be allocated two supervisors, with additional staff members available if necessary. Our supervisors are experienced in most areas of creative writing, with a focus on the short story; engagement with science and technology (all genres); experimental poetry; and screenwriting.
You’ll develop your writing in a collaborative research environment with strong links to local research and creative networks, including Cambridge Literary Festival, Menagerie Theatre, Writers' Centre Norwich, CB1 Poetry, Women's Word at Lucy Cavendish College, and University of Cambridge’s Faculty of English and Department of History and Philosophy of Science.
We host many informal workshops and discussions for staff and postgraduate students in creative writing, as well as regular research seminars, allowing you to present your creative practice as research in a safe and supportive setting. These events, along with our online environment, will help you connect with other research students from a range of creative disciplines.
You could also benefit from financial support. We allocate a substantial sum every year towards postgraduate travel and conference expenses, as well as some bursaries.
All your subject-specific studies will be enhanced and supported by our University-wide training sessions, where you’ll gain important research expertise in areas like ethics, presentations, intellectual property and digital scholarship.
Supervision and Support
Our permanent supervisory staff include published creative writers working in fiction, poetry, screenwriting and writing for performance, as well as colleagues from English Literature, Film Studies and Media Studies and Drama. Our expertise includes:
Dr Tiffani Angus, MA, PhD (Senior Lecturer): Publishing (editing, history, design and production); Creative writing (novels and short stories); Genre fiction (fantasy, science fiction, horror, historical fiction, etc.). Author of Threading the Labyrinth (Unsung Stories, 2020), shortlisted for the British Science Fiction Association Best Novel Award.
Dr Colette Paul, MA, MLitt, PhD (Senior Lecturer): short story theory and practice; contemporary fiction, particularly Canadian literature; narratology. Author of Whoever You Choose to Love (Weidenfeld & Nicolson/Phoenix, 2004), shortlisted for the Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Writers Award.
Laura Dietz, BA, MA: science and literature; evolutionary and cognitive approaches to literature; reputation and legitimacy in post-print publishing environments; the novel, especially innovative forms. Author of In the Tenth House (Crown, Random House, 2007).
Your department and faculty
Using our creative expertise and industry connections in Cambridge and beyond, we create experiences that entertain, educate, inspire and improve lives.
At Cambridge School of Creative Industries, we believe in the importance of experimentation and risk-taking to create experiences that entertain, educate, inspire and improve lives.
Whether writing bestselling fiction, creating challenging documentaries or sharing a piano with people on the autism spectrum, the expertise of our staff goes far beyond teaching. Their research produces significant funding success, leading to important publications and international conferences.
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