English Literature with Creative Writing: can anyone help?

Hey, I'm graduating from English Literature with Creative Writing in June. You can't study purely creative writing at undergrad level at UEA. I think this is because they want you to have a good grounding in the literary world: major movements in writing (Realism and Modernism that kind of thing), as well as how they relate to historical moments.

I'd say the split in first year is about 75% English Lit. and 25% Creative Writing, but as you progress through years 2 and 3 you get more choice, so if you want to write a bunch of stories you can do that, equally if you love writing critical essays then you can do that instead.

Be prepared though, no matter what modules you choose to study you will be expected to read a shed load of books! It's an English Literature course after all. You can skip the reading of course, many people do, but personally I found that the course re-ignited a love of reading. I also wanted a decent degree!

I think first and foremost the course organisers are looking for people with passion. You don't have to reel off a whole bunch of authors, just try and think of maybe two or three, but really try to pull apart why you like them. Do they create memorable characters? Is their prose beautifully crafted or is their description very sparsely written? Perhaps you like a specific genre of books? What attracts you to it and why? I'd also say have a good think about the kinds of stories or poems you have created in the past. Is their a common theme running through them? Is there an issue you feel strongly about expressing? These are the kinds of things (in my experience) that my lectures have been looking for. They want to get a sense of who you are as a person. Don't give them generic! Don't be afraid of going a little deeper, exposing something a little raw; lecturers love that kind of ****! And the lecturers know that you aren't going to have read hundreds of obscure Russian authors so don't worry about that.

So to finally answer your question: what sort of writing will best demonstrate an applicant's skills? Any piece will so long as you have put your heart and soul into it! UEA don't push any particular style of writing on its students. Creative writing is and should be about anything and everything, not just serious 'literary' novels. Write what you're passionate about, no matter what the subject, or however trivial it seems. Nothing is more boring to read than a writer who is writing what they think they should be writing. Write what feels truthful to you. If you can demonstrate that you are an individual rather than a clone then you stand a good chance of getting on the course.

Good luck with it!

Hey, sorry I felt like I kinda waffled on a bit in previous post, but I'm glad it was helpful! I'm a mature student so my entry path into UEA wasn't really the normal route of A levels and predicted grades and all of that stuff. I got in through Open University. I was invited to an interview though, which was fairly informal, we had to analyse a poem, but it was mainly just a chat with one of the lecturers. It mostly revolved around what I had written in my personal statement. I was fortunate that I'd done some teaching in China so we talked about that for a bit. I think he also asked me about what poets I was into, as I vaguely remember rambling on about William Blake! A few days after that I was invited to submit a portfolio of work. I can't remember exactly how much they asked for now, but I think I gave them about 5 or 6 not very long poems, but you could also submit prose, or a combination of both. But just make sure that what you give them is the best it can possibly be. Read, re-read, edit, get other people to read it, edit some more. I seem to remember that they didn't give a lot of time to get the portfolio to them, maybe 3 or 4 days, so make sure you have stuff in reserve!

I don't think everyone gets called to an interview, especially if they're coming through the more conventional routes, but I think everyone has to submit a portfolio. UEA does seem to want to uphold its reputation as a premier creative writing institute, so yes they are looking for work that has potential. That's the key word. They're not looking for polished writers. They're looking for those who have put the effort in and who show a willingness to learn.

Sorry, more waffling. I've read too many books! Anyway, hope this helps! Let me know how it goes.