• • Home
  • Undergraduate Study
• • Postgrad English
  • Postgrad Creative Writing
• • Research
  • Staff
• • News & Events
  • Contact Us
• • Resources for Current Students

Postgraduate Creative Writing Menu

MA Creative Writing: Campus

The Programme

Full-time campus MA students follow an academic programme spanning three 10-week terms from October to July. You can expect to be a member of a group of 8-12 students. Two three-hour long seminars are held for on average six weeks each term. At the last week of each term personal tutorials replace seminars. A record of these tutorials is maintained in your Writing Journal and reviewed by a tutor to monitor progress. All academic staff are involved in teaching on the MA, providing expertise in a wide range of literary genres.

Part-time campus MA students follow exactly the same programme, but meet only once per week as part of a mixed seminar group. Seminars take place over a period of two years, spanning six academic terms.

The Workshop

The workshop programme at Lancaster is entirely student-centred and seminars involve the close critiquing of student work. No formal programme of teaching to specific objectives is initiated; instead we aim to respond to individual needs and the needs of each seminar group as they emerge.

The course is designed to develop the individual writer’s creative potential within a rigorous critical framework and with reference to the publishing industry. Peer support is a vital aspect of the course and our requirement is that all work submitted to a seminar is read closely and responded to by all participants. This preparation usually takes one-and-a-half to two hours per seminar.

Special Guests and Reading Events

From time to time, tutors may run specialized workshops in response to the ideas developing within a seminar group. Writers, Literary agents and publishers are invited to the course to discuss professional aspects of writing and publishing. Recent guests have included: Helen Walsh, Jacob Polley, Ian McMillan and Susan Fletcher.

The MA students participate in an annual Showcase event where they have the opportunity to read from their works in progress to an audience from within the university and beyond. This year, the Campus MA showcase will be held in the Duke's theatre, Lancaster on the 25th June and all are warmly invited to attend: we especially welcome prospective students to this event.

For images from the 2012 MA Showcase event, please click here.