Creative Writing: Contemporary Practice - ENG00170I
- Department: English and Related Literature
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: I
- Academic year of delivery: 2025-26
Module summary
The premise of this module is that to understand how literature is created, there is no substitute for making some yourself. This is your chance to work with texts from a creative angle – learning to read like a writer, engaging with formal and genre conventions from a practitioner's perspective, closely examining the craft of leading contemporary writers, and developing a portfolio of your own creative work.
Each fortnight we will take a different genre as our focus - such as Prose Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, and Poetry - before looking beyond and questioning these categories in our final weeks. Each week, in a tutor-led masterclass, we will examine a published ‘prompt’ text with an eye to the writer’s craft, developing our understanding of technical themes such as Ideas & Process, Form & Structure, Character & Dialogue, and Imagery & Figurative Language. Following each masterclass, you will compose a creative piece responding or connecting to the ‘prompt’ text, and experimenting with the week’s genre and technical themes. At the module’s heart are a series of interactive weekly workshops where you will receive constructive feedback on your weekly creative writing, learn to provide it to your peers, and develop useful tools and ideas for effective revision of your work.
This module is a chance to explore the relationship between critical and creative practice, approaching the study of contemporary literature from a practical perspective, while also developing a body of original creative writing that responds to the demands of genre, form, and audience.
Elective Pre-Requisites
These pre-requisites only apply to students taking this module as an elective.
A in English literature A-level or equivalent qualifications
Module will run
Occurrence | Teaching period |
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A | Semester 1 2025-26 |
Module aims
The aim of this module is to introduce you to the habits, challenges and opportunities of creative writing, and to nurture reflective and informed awareness of your own practice and craft techniques. You will be supported to develop a critical awareness of the context in which writing is produced, and to understand how your individual practice relates to that of predecessors and contemporaries, peers and established practitioners. The ultimate aim is to relate your own creative practice to a critical understanding of contexts and debates in the field of literary production.
Module learning outcomes
On successfully completing this module, you will be able to:
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Demonstrate an informed understanding of and engagement with key conventions in chosen literary genres.
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Demonstrate an informed understanding of and engagement with key techniques in creative writing, including form, structure, voice, imagery, and presentation.
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Examine key debates and critical contexts in the field of creative writing and engage with them through the production of a body of creative work.
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Develop oral arguments and written work which demonstrate a proficiency in creative and critical thinking and research skills.
Indicative assessment
Task | % of module mark |
---|---|
Essay/coursework | 70.0 |
Oral presentation/seminar/exam | 30.0 |
Special assessment rules
None
Indicative reassessment
Task | % of module mark |
---|---|
Essay/coursework | 70.0 |
Oral presentation/seminar/exam | 30.0 |
Module feedback
- You will receive feedback on all assessed work within the University deadline, and will often receive it more quickly. The purpose of feedback is to inform your future work; it is designed to help you to improve your work, and the Department also offers you help in learning from your feedback. If you do not understand your feedback or want to talk about your ideas further you can discuss it with your tutor or your supervisor, during their Feedback & Consultation Hours.
- For more information about the feedback you will receive for your work, see the department's Guide to Assessment.
Indicative reading
Texts may include the following.
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Carmen Maria Machado, Her Body and Other Parties (Graywolf Press, 2017)
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Helen Oyeyemi, Mr Fox (Picador, 2011)
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Hilary Mantel, Mantel Pieces (Harper Collins, 2021)
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Adam Farrer, Cold Fish Soup (Saraband, 2022)
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Kei Miller, The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion (Carcanet, 2014)
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Solmaz Sharif, Look (Graywolf, 2016)
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Mary Ruefle, Madness, Rack and Honey (Wave, 2012)
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Jericho Brown (ed.) How We Do It: Black Writers on Craft, Practice, and Skill (Amistad, 2023)
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Alexander Chee, How to Write an Autobiographical Novel (Bloomsbury, 2018)
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Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (Hodder & Stoughton, 2012).
- Ian Humphreys, ed., Why I Write Poetry (Nine Arches Press, 2021).