Creative Writing (Specialist Pathway) at University of Roehampton at Main

In addition to the generalist MA in Creative Writing, the University of Roehampton offers two MA programmes that allows students to focus on either fiction or fiction for young readers.

Pathway 1: MA Creative Writing Fiction

Students will be taught how to write fiction of the highest professional calibre by examining two primary forms, the short story and the novel, building a portfolio of fiction. The emphasis is on craft, technique and practical guidance, and students will engage with a variety of storytelling tools and models. Students will be introduced to a wide range of approaches in short and long form fiction enabling them to develop their writing practice as well as thinking about their own social and cultural experiences and identities.

Pathway 2: MA Creative Writing for Young Readers

Students will focus on the practice and theory of writing fiction for children, engaging with both visual narratives and young adult narratives. Students will explore the historical and theoretical debates in Children’s Literature, and the working methodologies of established practicing writers, enabling them to contextualise their own creative practice. Students will be taught through seminars, one to one tutorials and workshops, where they will draft, develop and critique their own and their peers’ work.

These two discipline-specific programmes allow students to focus on their chosen writing area and benefit from all the same opportunities offered on the MA Creative Writing. Students will simply take fewer optional modules and undertake a longer dissertation.

Taught by published, working writers including internationally acclaimed novelists and editors, students will be supported to develop their personal writing style. Students will discover how to make their writing more effective, how to break bad habits and how to assess their work professionally. Students will graduate with the skills needed for professional writing practice, and with an understanding of the professional context in which these skills are marketed.

Students will undertake independent and extended research and practice in a specialised area of Creative Writing and over the course of the programme. they will secure the skills and knowledge required for a career in professional publishing, the creative industries, or to continue in academia. Whether they choose to specialise in fiction or fiction for young readers,students will take a core module that explores theoretical and research-based issues faced by creative writers, as well as an extended creative dissertation.

The University of Roehampton will prepare students for their career after they graduate, whether it is as a published writer, a career working in the professional arts sector, or continuing with their academic studies. The University of Roehampton regularly invites writers, who have previously included Emma Donoghue and Kazuo Ishiguru, to give guest lectures and workshops, as well as speakers from different sectors of the creative industries. Students will be encouraged to make the most of the University of Roehampton’s connections with the literary world and make professional contacts with publishers and agents.

The department has thriving partnerships with Wimbledon Bookfest and Barnes Children’s Literature Festival, as well as with local schools, providing students with the chance to volunteer or undertake paid work experience during their time at the University of Roehampton. The University of Roehampton's in-house publishing imprint, Fincham Press, means students could see their work published or be involved in publishing the work of their peers.