MA Modern and Contemporary Fiction

Applicants require a minimum of a good second-class honours degree, or the equivalent, in an appropriate discipline. Admission is subject to written application, references, and evidence of written work. Applicants may be invited for interview.

https://www1.chester.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/postgraduate-finance/current-postgraduate-fees

Students of the MA will already be successful degree-level graduates of English or related disciplines and may well be taking time out of employment to develop their careers. It is expected that a number of students will go on to register for MPhils and PhDs with an eye to a career in HE. Studying for the MA also develops the transferable skills so much sought after by employers in a wide range of other fields.

Programme Structure

The MA comprises six modules:

• Shorter Fiction – this module typically focuses on flash fiction (or ‘the short-short story’), the short story, and the novella. As well as considering works by major short-story writers and the development of the genre of the short story, the module explores its relation to the shorter and longer forms of flash fiction and the novella.
   
• Novel Histories: Past, Present, Future – focuses on fiction in which the representation of the past, present, and/or future is central. It typically includes historical fiction, contemporary ‘political’ fiction, and ‘future histories’ (including utopian/dystopian fiction).
   
• Popular Fictions – focuses on some of the best examples of various ‘genre fictions’, typically including crime/detective fiction, science fiction, neo-Victorian fiction, and the campus novel.
   
• Special Author(s)/Topic(s) – focuses in depth on a specific author or topic, or on an illuminating combination of author(s) and/or topic(s).
   
• Research Methods – designed to prepare students for the Dissertation, this module provides training in research methodologies, typically including the use of bibliographies, periodicals, and archives. There will also be workshops in which students present and discuss the initial research findings they will subsequently develop in the Dissertation.
   
• Dissertation – allows students to pursue their own particular interest in modern and contemporary fiction. Students will devise their Dissertation proposal during the Research Methods module, and then work under the guidance of a supervisor, who will provide advice and support in one-to-one tutorials.