Online Creative Writing Degree :: Accredited Universities

The Master of Creative Writing is designed to develop the expertise of writers who wish to take their creative work to a more advanced level.

The MCW is a specialist programme for writers who wish to follow their creative instincts while engaging in relevant research. The MCW is a one year (full time) distance learning programme consisting of a 120-credit thesis for students who have completed papers in creative writing at undergraduate and honours level.

All students must attend the Compulsory Writer’s Residential Course held in June/July in the first year of study.

Entry Requirements

Applicants require a Bachelor of Arts with Honours, Postgraduate Diploma in Arts or equivalent in Creative Writing, Expressive Arts, English or another approved subject.

Enrolment is by Selected Entry based on a portfolio of creative writing and on the project you propose for your thesis.

Applications close 31 October prior to year of academic study. You should first enquire with the relevant Postgraduate Programme Coordinator before applying to enrol.

Other Fees

Enrolment Fee - $51.40 (NZD)

Student Services Levy - $237.50 (NZD)

Massey Foundation Fee -$22.40 (NZD)

Distance Learning overseas venue fee - $214.20 (NZD)

Textbooks

Incidental Unit Fees

Notes

All students must attend the Compulsory Writer’s Residential Course held in June/July in the first year of study.

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The PhD in Creative Writing within the English Department aims to support you in the development of a long-form piece of creative writing (for example, a novel or a script), or a sequence of related works (poems and short stories). You will be working in an environment which supports and encourages the development of craft and participation within a community of writers and scholars.

Entry Requirements

English language requirements for international students
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Students can satisfy our English language requirements in two ways:

by holding an English language qualification to the right level
by taking and successfully completing one of our English courses for international students

Other Fees

Domestic tuition fee for part-time - £1,998

Notes

Duration of part-time course - 72 months

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This Masters is for those talented and aspiring writers looking to develop the skills and creative habits required to have a career in writing and related fields such as editorial, bookselling and publishing.

The aims of the programme are:

to allow you to experiment with a range of voices, techniques and genres alongside a consideration of major creative and editorial engagements from the modern through the contemporary period

to develop a critical understanding of diverse creative, theoretic and critical texts

to provide a space in which an extended portfolio of creative and editorial work may be undertaken

to familiarize you with the writing context (audience, publishing in all its forms, the legal framework, modes of transmission)

and, most importantly, to subject students to the discipline of regular writing by providing a stimulating workshop and tutorial environment in which writing skills can be acquired, discussed and honed.

Entry Requirements

The primary basis for admission is the appraisal of a portfolio of applicant's creative work.

Applicants submit a portfolio of original work (poetry, fiction, life-writing or other prose, drama, and in some instances a portfolio of work in or of translation). A maximum of 30 pages (one side only, double spaced throughout) per submission will be considered, and the portfolio can contain prose, verse, script, or a combination of these.

We also require at least one letter of reference. Applicants referees should include an academic and a creative referee where possible. Where this is not possible, they can provide referees from other areas who can vouch that applicants are who they say they are and that their work and achievements are own. It is particularly helpful if these referees are familiar with their writing and can provide references on that basis.

Other Fees

Notes

Distance learning students will have the opportunity to participate in sessions with campus-based students.

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Our distance learning MA is an international programme linking students in the UK and overseas through virtual learning.
The programme is mediated almost entirely by online tutorials and conferences. You will be a member of a cohort of 18–20 students, exchanging writing in a range of literary forms and critiquing it from different social and cultural perspectives. You will each be allocated a personal tutor (an expert in your chosen genre), and our course site provides research training modules and a cybercafé where you can meet and communicate informally.

At the end of the Summer Term of your first year, a five day Summer School is held on campus, consisting of workshops, personal progress reviews, reading and visits by agents, publishers and writers.

Entry Requirements

Portfolio of original writing and undergraduate degree.

Assessment: Portfolio of creative work plus a piece of self-critical reflective writing.

IELTS: 6.5 or equivalent

Other Fees

Tuition varies for year 2

Domestic : £3,525

International : £6,760

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A doctoral award is the highest award that the UK Higher Education system can confer. It is usually seen as a pre-requisite to an academic career and should be anticipated as an extremely challenging and demanding programme of study. Students accepted onto the programme need a strong creative and academic track record, usually including published work; supervisors will be widely published, experienced academics, and regarded as experts in their field.

The PhD in Creative Writing is still relatively new to the academy and brings with it special challenges since it privileges creative output over critical reflection, whilst combining the two. Research in Creative Writing is achieved through praxis as well as through more formal or traditional critical strategies. Critical reflection may also be approached through aspects of creative writing practice in the most adventurous doctoral theses.

Students should expect to have all their ideas and pre-conceptions challenged during doctoral study and to embark upon a relationship with their supervisor that is intensely demanding, both intellectually and emotionally. This is especially true of the Creative Writing PhD where there is an inevitably close emotional connection to the creative work being critiqued. It is important that a strong structure exists for such a relationship and that both supervisors and students have a clear understanding of what to expect from the process.

Other Fees

Tuition fee for part time study per annul and for two years

Domestic - £1,998

International - £6,470

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