Faculty of Arts, Cultures and Education
MA in English (Creative Writing and English Literature)
Postgraduate - Taught MA
Open for admission in 2021/22
Start in September
MA 1 year 2 years
Literature is a dynamic force for change. Hull English postgraduates gain insight into society, culture and politics by developing an understanding of the power of language. This MA provides students with a thorough grounding in research methods and practices.
Our MA in English can be tailor made to your interests in either Creative Writing or English Literature, or both. In this fully flexible MA programme, you choose to focus on the writers, or forms of writing, that most interest you. Our MA English programme comes highly recommended, receiving 100% overall satisfaction from our MA students in the national 2018/19 Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES), with 100% agreeing that they would recommend the university as a place to study.
There are designated literature pathways allowing students to focus their studies on either Medieval and Renaissance Literature and Culture, Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture, Modern and Contemporary Literature and Culture, or a combination of all three. Creative Writing modules allow students to focus their interests on both fiction and non-fiction prose forms, as well as poetry and scriptwriting.
The MA programme culminates in a summer research project – either a dissertation or creative writing portfolio, depending on your interests: you choose the project, and then work on it over the summer months with dedicated support from a subject specialist from the Department of English, Creative Writing, and American Studies.
All our students undertake a core training module in advanced level literary studies and creative writing – Research, Creativity, and Engagement – in trimester 1. This culminates in a one-day postgraduate conference, student-led and supported by the module tutors and convenor.
All students choose three further options across trimesters 1 and 2, from the indicative list of modules below. There is a final dissertation or creative portfolio worth 60 credits, and taught modules are worth 120 credits in total (30 credits each module).
Teaching methods will include three-hour seminars, creative writing workshops, student presentations and small group exercises.
Research, Creativity and Engagement
You'll be trained in research and practice-based methods in literary studies, creative writing or both. You'll work with the University-based Journal of Gender Studies to develop your reviewing skills or preparing your work for publication skills. You'll then present aspects of your research at a conference day.
You will make an original contribution to research by designing, carrying out and writing up your own project on a topic you choose, supported by your dissertation supervisor.
Creative Writing Portfolio
Bram Stoker: Literature, Theatre and the Gothic
This is an intensive, research-led module focusing on an underexplored area of Bram Stoker's 'unknown' writings, as well as Dracula. You will comprehensively examine Stoker's work and the influence of the theatre on his fiction.
Gender in Popular Culture
This module analyses masculinity and femininity in genres central to contemporary popular fiction and film, such as crime fiction, chick and lad lit, war fiction, true crime and the gangster movie. You'll analyse these novels and films using the theoretical perspectives of Bakhtin, Foucault, Butler, Bourdieu and Fiske.
Guided Independent Research Essay
This module offers you the opportunity to conceive of, plan, and critically contextualise your own independent and original piece of research in relation to an identified field of study, possibly at the forefront of the academic discipline.
Medieval and Renaissance Intertextualities
You will be introduced to classical and humanist theories of imitation and modern theories of intertextuality as a starting point for considering how English (and European) Medieval and Renaissance texts can be understood as 'intertexts' in relation to both classical precursors and contemporary works of fiction and art.
Modern Children's Literature
You will explore key categories and developments in modern and contemporary children's fiction, such as the Gothic, Young Adult, Holocaust literature and fantasy writing.
Modern City Fictions
Engage with ideas of the city and urban living in a range of fictions, including novels and other creative prose from the end of the 20th century to the present. You'll produce either a creative writing piece or a critical essay.
Ruin and Reformation in English Renaissance Writing
You will explore writerly responses to the violence and vandalism of religious reformation in early modern England and see surviving evidence of iconoclasm at heritage sites in and around Hull. Writers studied include Shakespeare, Milton, and the Hull poet, Andrew Marvell.
Writing from Life
Through the likes of travel writing, true crime, narrative history, and biography, learn how to take readers with you as you explore your world. You will mine creative non-fiction writers to see how they conjure effects, learn how to investigate archives and conduct field trips and interviews, and expand your writing's horizons.
Students will produce a portfolio of non-fiction and reflective pieces that address themes and situations that fit with the remit of "Incarceration".
Develop your understanding of the short story form by critically engaging with and examining a range of examples. You'll then build on this understanding by writing your own stories.
How does an opening chapter make the rest of a novel inevitable? Through reading, workshops, and studies of character, plot and structure, you'll kick-start your own novel.
Come to an open day Grab a prospectus
The location below may not be the exact location of all modules on your timetable. The buildings you'll be taught in can vary each year and depend on the modules you study.
Hull Campus
Click to view directions on Google Maps
Dr Richard Meek
Admissions +44 (0)1482 466850 International Enquiries
English postgraduate research degrees
MA Creative Writing online course
MSc in Digital Transformation online course
MSc in People Analytics online course
MA Incarceration Studies course
Dr Anna Fitzer
Dr Ann Kaegi
Dr Bethan Jones
Dr Catherine Wynne
Dr Christopher Westoby
Dr Edmund Hurst
Dr Jason Lawrence
Ms. Kathleen McKay
Mr. Ray French
Dr Sabine Vanacker
Dr Sam Perry
Dr Sarah Jane Dickenson
Dr Stewart Mottram
Professor Valerie Sanders
Home: £7,850
Home (part-time):
£870 (20 credits), £2,615 (60 credits), £3,925 (90 credits)
UK students can take out a Master's Loan to help with tuition fees and living costs. For 2020 entry, they provide up to £11,222 for full-time and part-time taught and research Masters courses in all subject areas, increasing to £11,570 for entry in the 2021/22 academic year. Find out more about Postgraduate Loans.
EU/International: £7,850
International applicants may need to pay a tuition fee deposit before the start of the course. Visit our tuition fee deposit page for more information.
Graduate PGT Scholarship
The University of Hull is pleased to offer graduates progressing from undergraduate to postgraduate taught study a £1,000 scholarship towards the cost of their tuition fees.
Find out if you're eligible by visiting the University of Hull Graduate PGT Scholarship page.
International Scholarships and Bursaries
For a list of all scholarships and bursaries for international students, please visit the International Scholarships and Bursaries page.
We also offer an International Studentship Scheme Discount of up to £3,500.
UK and EU Scholarships and Bursaries
The University offers a range of scholarships to help you with your studies.
For more information, please visit the UK and EU Scholarships and Bursaries page.
Study English in the city described as the most poetic in England, where Philip Larkin wrote most of his best work.
English postgraduates at Hull gain insight into society, culture and politics by developing an understanding of the power of language.
Superb facilities include the Brynmor Jones Library which is open 24/7 and boasts cutting edge technology and more than a million books.
Our staff have expertise in wide-ranging areas from Chaucer to the 21st century.
You will need a minimum of 2.2 BA Hons degree or international equivalent. With your application, you must submit a satisfactory 2000 to 3000 sample of your written work, consisting of either literary criticism or creative writing, on a subject of your choice. You can use written work that you have previously produced for your coursework.
This course requires academic IELTS 6.0 overall, with no less than 5.5 in each skill. See other English language proficiency qualifications accepted by this University.
You will leave Hull with enhanced communication, research and creative skills.
Career options include writing and editing jobs, in fields such as journalism, marketing or promotions. Many students opt to pursue further research or a career in academia or teaching.