Creative Writing BA (Hons)

University of Lincoln

Welcome to BA (Hons) Creative Writing

Live the Writing Life at the University of Lincoln. If you love to read and write and want to explore the boundaries of your own creativity, Creative Writing at Lincoln can provide you with a new appreciation of literature.

Students can develop their own distinctive voice as an author and philosophy of composition, as well as explore the theory and practice of building a diverse portfolio of work across forms and styles. As a Creative Writing student at the University of Lincoln, you have the opportunity to work with, and become part of, an international community of writers who will aim to help you develop your skills in genres as diverse as prose fiction, psychological thrillers, scriptwriting, poetry, creative non-fiction, and the graphic novel. Our aim is to help you to develop your writing in innovative and exciting ways, becoming the best writer you can be.

The course has a strong focus on employability and aims to prepare you for a professional writing or publishing career. You may be taught by an enthusiastic team of professional writers whose work has been widely published, broadcast, and staged. They are led by six internationally known writers: award-winning science fiction writer Chris Dows; award-winning poet and literary translator Daniele Pantano; award-winning novelists Sarah Stovell, Guy Mankowski, and Amy Lilwall; and award-winning playwright Sue Healy.

You may also have opportunities to take part in readings, workshops, masterclasses, and events; to serve as editors for 'The Lincoln Review' (an international literary journal edited exclusively by undergraduate and postgraduate students; and to benefit from the experience of a range of writers, editors, dramaturges, producers, and directors who come to the University of Lincoln as visiting lecturers, such as Ann Cleeves, Andrew Graham-Dixon, Chris Packham, and the former Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, who became a Visiting Artist at the University in 2015 and regularly visits Lincoln to engage with students and read a selection of her works.

How You Study

The BA (Hons) Creative Writing programme concentrates on the practice and theory of developing a portfolio of work across a diverse array of forms and styles.

As well as discovering your own voice, you will have the opportunity to explore a range of techniques and practices which come from a wide range of historical and contemporary literature, both popular and classic, across poetry, prose, and scriptwriting.

Teaching and learning is centred on the writer's workshop, where there is a strong emphasis on participation. You will have the opportunity to learn the habits of a professional writer, including keeping a writers journal, research and observation, redrafting and editing and presenting work to a high standard.

Delivery is predominately via seminars where tutor feedback and peer review is actively encouraged. Second and third year modules feature lecture programmes on which workshops aimed at practising the creative, technical, and academic topics explored in the lectures are based. While some modules include presentations, there are no examinations on this course at any level.

Throughout the three years, you can build up your portfolio and discover the commercial and social contexts of publishing in the 21st Century.

Student should note that the drafting process of creative texts and development of critical analyses will require a significant self-study commitment for the work to fulfil its potential.