Programme summary for MA Writing: Imaginative Practice
“The business of art is to live in the actual present, that is the complete actual present, and to express that complete actual present.“Gertrude Stein / Lectures In America
Welcome
The MA in Writing is an innovative, eclectic, and unique full-time or part-time programme for writers who are looking to expand and deepen their writing practice. We will ask you to think about writing as fluid, changing discourse between writers and readers, interpreters of the world and the world itself. We will encourage you to think critically, delve deeply, write creatively, and to produce work that has authenticity and relevance. Programme tutors are engaged in practice in a variety of disciplines and forms, and we will encourage you to work with all of us to give voice to your own creative practice, whether through experimenting with new ideas or exploring the limits traditions and well-trodden paths. We’ll introduce you to ways of looking at writing via themes that cross all forms: experience, adaptation, and genre. You will get experience in a variety of forms before choosing an area of concentration for your practice-based dissertation. This MA asks you to be critically engaged, enthusiastic, and, above all, open.
This MA offers an exciting, mixed-genre approach to writing, allowing you to hone your writing through critical creative practice. The programme provides an emphasis on producing work for publication, performance and/or production that expresses contemporary writing and the cosmopolitan and international flavour of UEL. You are encouraged to explore the areas of realisms, genre, and adaptation, leading to preparation for a practice-based dissertation.
About the programme
This programme offers an exciting, mixed-genre approach to writing, allowing you to hone your writing through critical creative practice. The programme offers fertile ground for experimentation and the possibility to break from old forms and traditional restrictions. There is a focus on new writing, allowing you to expand personal frontiers and create hybrid form. The programme also places an emphasis on producing work for publication, performance and/or production that expresses contemporary writing and a cosmopolitan, international flavour.
Programme structure
The programme runs over three semesters. Semester A and B run for 12 weeks each. Three hour classes will be held in the evenings to accommodate part-time students and those who are employed during the day. There are one to one tutorials throughout the year.
Full-time students:
Semester A: Experience; Genre
Semester B: Adaptation; Research Methods in Media Practice
Semester C (Summer): Practice-based Dissertation Supervision
Part-time students:
Year 1:
Semester A : Experience
Semester B: Adaptation
Year 2:
Semester A: Genre
Semester B: Research Methods in Media Practice
Semester C (Summer): Practice-based Dissertation Supervision
Career opportunities
While the programme provides the groundwork for future novelists and writers working in poetic forms (whether that be in the printed word, music, or art installation), there will also be, among the graduates, emerging dramaturges with skills in script development and an engagement in critical approaches to performance writing. These skills can lead to careers in the performing arts and the film and television industry as script readers and editors, as well as providing a firm foundation for those interested in becoming future theatre directors, playwrights, and screenwriters.
Support
- Support from dissertation supervisor (personal tutor) and programme leader
- Individual feedback on your writing
- Individual tutorials from module leaders and seminar tutors
- Research as practice training, skills support, including IT and learning resources
- University-wide support network, including residential, student finance advice, careers advice, and help from the student support office.
- Access to Royal Literary Fund Fellow in Writing Centre
Admission
Normally, we require a related first degree (2.1), in addition to an interview and submission of a writing sample. Mature applicants with a degree or equivalent experience, who may not meet the entrance criteria above, but who can demonstrate their potential as writers and a strong desire to participate in the programme, are encouraged to apply. This programme requires an excellent standard of English. If English is not your first language, we require that you demonstrate your English language skills by achieving an overall IELTS score of 7.0, including a minimum of 7.0 for the written element or an overall TOEFL score of 2627/63, with a minimum score of 5.0 TWE.
Key facts
You can start many programmes in either September or February and applications are simple to make. Click below to:
Apply online Writing: Imaginative Practice (MA)
View full specification Writing: Imaginative Practice (MA)
Tuition Fees - 2013/14
Home/EU Fees
- Module fee: N/A
- Full time fee: N/A
International Fees
- Module fee: N/A
- Full time fee: N/A
Fees based on 30 credit modules (unless otherwise indicated) For further information regarding postgraduate fees please refer to www.uel.ac.uk/fees/
