Creative Writing PhD

University of Surrey

Our Creative Writing PhD will train you in critical and analytical skills, research methods, and knowledge that will equip you for your future career. It normally takes between three to four years to complete our full-time PhD. You’ll be assigned two supervisors who will meet with you regularly to read and discuss your work and make sure you’re on track. For us, writing is essential for understanding and developing new perspectives, so you’ll be submitting written work right from the start of your course. In your first year, you’ll refine your research proposal and plan the structure of your work with the support of your supervisors. As you go into your second and third year, you’ll work more independently, and your supervisors will guide you on how to present at conferences and get your work published. As a doctoral student in the School of Literatures and Languages, you’ll receive a structured training programme covering the practical aspects of being a researcher, including grant-writing, how to publish in journals, and how to applyfor academic jobs.
• We belong to the interdisciplinary School of Literature and Languages, which has research-active staff in English literature, film studies, translation studies, theoretical and applied linguistics, and literary and cultural studies as well as creative writing.
• Our research in modern and contemporary writing explores themes including the work of living writers, the tradition and future of innovative writing, environment and climate change, the nature of publishing as an innovative and radical political enterprise, and literature and the body.
• We are part of TECHNE, an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)-funded doctoral training partnership, which provides access to comprehensive academic and professional training programmes, as well as the possibility of funding for your studies.
• The Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 ranked the School of Literature and Languages 10th for research impact, with 75% of our case studies rated as having outstanding impacts, in terms of reach and significance (4). Our submission to REF included contributions from the Guildford School of Acting (GSA).