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Creative Writing

What university can offer me the best education in creative writing?
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Original post by BetsyC
What university can offer me the best education in creative writing?


Hi there, I hope this is still helpful but here are some of the universities that I like most, from my research. I don't know about "best" but Warwick and UEA are generally highly regarded, although Warwick is not on my list as I'm put off by its location, but you should definitely look into it if you're looking for a more prestigious university.


-> Sheffield Hallam University: Creative Writing (#90th for English) (3rd biggest uni in the UK)
Require AAB including A in English, the course focuses on actual writing and where works fit in globally.
1 in 10 people in Sheffield are students, it's 5th largest city and considered to be quite safe. It has lots of culture, entertainment, and shopping and it's friendly, modern, and cheap.
http://www.shu.ac.uk/prospectus/course/660/

-> Goldsmiths University: English with Creative Writing
Require ABB and sample writing.
There's not much to say about London, the area looks good. Naturally it will be more expensive.
http://www.gold.ac.uk/ug/ba-english-creative-writing/

-> Kent University: English and American Literature and Creative Writing
AAB including B in English.
Campus in Canterbury: 1 to 5 student ratio, 2nd safest city, medieval walled city, UNESCO site. Not very "metropolitan" but it has everything you need and the uni is a short bus ride away. Lots of green!
http://www.kent.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/132/english-and-american-literature-and-creative-writing#!overview

-> University of East Anglia: English Literature with Creative Writing
AAA including English Lit.
I find this has a very attractive course description. They promote their philosophy to help students “read as a writer and write as a reader", which says something about how they integrate both literature and writing.
The uni is 15 mins by bus to the centre of Norwich, which has everything you need and a “flourishing nightlife”. Students always joke about all the concrete on campus, and all over forums students seem very happy with their choice to go here.
http://www.uea.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/degree/detail/ba-english-literature-with-creative-writing#course-overview

-> Newcastle University: English Literature with Creative Writing (Russell Group uni)
Require AAA-AAB with A in English Literature.
3 in 20 in the city are students, Newcastle is known as a "shopper's paradise". The uni is in centre.
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/undergraduate/degrees/qw38/courseoverview/

-> Plymouth: English and Creative Writing (10th largest uni in the UK)
Require 300 UCAS tariff points with English grade B.
Modern uni, 1 in 10 in Plymouth are students. Waterfront, the city has a maritime heritage and is lively. The uni is in the city centre. Seems to have a somewhat creative community.
http://www1.plymouth.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/2806/Pages/CourseOverview.aspx

Because I don't live in the uk I also did a lot of research on location. If anyone knows more than I do I'd love to be corrected or to learn more.
Original post by BetsyC
What university can offer me the best education in creative writing?

Hey! I am in my final year of Writing and English Literature at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge.

If you do a 3 year undergraduate course with us, you can study creative writing in different ways: I do writing and English, whereas I know some students who do Writing and Film studies. These courses are split 50-50 right down the middle, with half your classes on literature or film studies to hone your skills in analytical writing, and the other half is creative writing!

In my 3 years at Anglia Ruskin, my friends and I have gone from shy Freshers to budding poets, screen writers, script writers, novelists, short story writers and journalists- some of us have even had work published and been given work experience at top publishing houses! In the first year you study Prose Fiction with a published author to start you off getting to grips with the structure of a novel and plotting, and a small introduction to poetry and plays by creating a handful of poems and a small scene from a play, followed by writing to Entertain where you start to explore journalism and review writing. Then in the second year you can choose to explore more creative writing and decide what avenues you want to explore- I did Writing Short Fiction where I wrote 2 short stories, one 2000 words and one 2500 words. Then I had to write a 10 minute excerpt from a play I'd come up with for my Writing for the Stage module. I also developed my Historical fiction writing, which I am also exploring for my final project. Some students choose News and Feature Writing, some explore screen writing more in depth, and I know Modern Science Fiction is also popular!

Hope this helps, just drop me a reply if you have any questions about writing life here at ARU!

Jen :smile:
Original post by BetsyC
What university can offer me the best education in creative writing?Hey there!


Hey there! I'm Megan, a second year Literature with Creative Writing student at the University of East Anglia (UEA).
So far I've been really happy with my degree. As a combined course I got to do two modules of Creative Writing in my first year which allowed me to cover a range of forms and covered multitudes of content to learn from. UEA encourages us to find out own voice in whichever form speaks to us the most. In second and third year you can specialise in what form you like the most for a whole semester, whilst also allowing you to learn a new one. For example I do Poetry, but I have the opportunity to learn Scriptwriting or Prose if I want to.
I think it's hard to say which university will give you the 'best education' for Creative Writing as it isn't necessarily an easy degree to teach in an academic sense, but at UEA you are encouraged to write as though you are writing to publish which really pushes us as writers (in a good way!). We write as a reader, and read as a writer in our seminars and workshops. The workshops allow us to know if our skills are working, whilst also helping out other classmates. This creates a community-feel in seminars and it is the skills that you learn in class that aid your writing. In seminars we are not looked at as students, we are writers and this in itself makes you confident in your writing meaning you are ready to share your work with others.
Hope this helps!

Megan

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