Study Details: 1 Year Full-time 2 Years Part-time
• Are you committed to imaginative writing?
• Do you want to develop your creative practice and professional skills as an author or scriptwriter?
• Do you want to be part of the vibrant creative community of the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queen’s University, Belfast?
If so, the PGDip in English (Creative Writing) may be the right course for you.
The programme offers the chance to develop your creative practice in Scriptwriting (screen, stage and audio) and Prose Writing (fiction and non-fiction): you will have the chance to explore both pathways before choosing a specialism. At the same time, the programme will guide you in reading extensively, enriching your own work through engagement with the wide world of literary and dramatic traditions and techniques.
This programme invites you to challenge yourself as a writer, to seek the unexpected, the complex and the ambitious in your work, to resist clichés and received ideas, and to work towards originality of voice and theme.
You will learn to explore many different types of writing, to entertain new ideas, to read adventurously and to respond with rigour and generosity to the work of your fellow writers. You will develop your practice as an independent writer and a self-reflective lifelong learner, and build your understanding of the marketplace for literature and drama.
Studying in the state-of-the-art learning environment of the Seamus Heaney Centre, you will be taught by acclaimed novelists, playwrights and screenwriters, learn from visiting authors, publishers, editors and agents, and contribute to the rich tradition of literary creativity at Queen's University, Belfast.
Normally a strong 2.2 Honours degree or equivalent qualification acceptable to the University in any discipline.
Exceptions may be made in the case of applicants with a strong track record of publication, production, prize-winning or relevant professional experience.
Applicants must submit a sample of original written work which will be assessed to determine if an offer of admission can be made.
See our website for fees
• Graduates from the MA and PGDip in Creative Writing have gone on to work in a wide range of professions including publishing, journalism, public relations, teaching, advertising, the Civil Service, business, industry and the media.
• Many graduates have established an ongoing creative practice. Prize-winning authors Louise Kennedy, author of Trespasses, and Michael Magee, author of Close to Home, were both Creative Writing students at the Seamus Heaney Centre.
• Some students choose to continue their studies to PhD level on a chosen, specialised topic in Creative Writing.
See our website for modules
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