English: Creative and Professional Writing BA (Hons)

Overview

This course blends the best of a traditional English degree with innovative teaching and exciting connections to the creative industries both regionally and nationally to help budding writers, creatives and creators make your mark. This is not a ‘traditional’ creative writing degree but one that prepares you for writing both creatively and professionally.

Course Structure

In year 1, you'll receive a grounding in Language, Literature and Creative and Professional Writing via core modules. In years 2 and 3 you'll develop your skills, knowledge and independent learning, with the opportunity to undertake an Major Project in the final year.

You'll be taught via lectures and seminars, with access to our online teaching environment (VLE). Our teaching is designed to help you become an active, independent, and reflective learner. Lectures are used to communicate the core content of modules, while seminars and workshops provide you with the opportunity to develop your knowledge and skills through a range of tutor-guided activities, including creative writing practice, peer review groups, and redrafting, as well as more academic skills such as close textual analysis, and the guided reading of primary and secondary material. We'll encourage you to work in pairs and in small groups, as well as individually.

You'll be assessed via portfolios of creative work, essays, through innovative measures such as pitches, group projects and presentations. There'll also be the chance to take up an industry placement.

You'll also be supported through one-to-ones with academic staff during office hours or online depending on teaching conditions.

Course Modules

Year 1 (national level 4):

• The Fundamentals of English Language Study (20 credits)
  • Gain an introduction to the study of language, with a focus on contemporary English. Establish what human language is and explore the history of English and how it varies according to geographical and social contexts. Develop skills in in the systematic analysis of English, focusing on morphology, lexis, syntax and phonology as you gain an understanding of the influence of time and space on the English language. Build upon your analytical skills to help consolidate your knowledge.
• Regional Writing: Language (20 credits)
  • Develop your knowledge of regional writing through close study of regional and working-class dialect and text. Focus on how language informs the identity of character and class in creative writing. Get assessed via a 1,250-word linguistic analysis and 1,500-word piece of creative writing that may be submitted to an internal or external market, such as Sunderland University’s Spark Radio.
• Writing Poetry and Prose (20 credits)
  • Learn about the two main genres of writing – poetry and prose – by studying the form and structure of the work of traditional writers and paying close attention to technique. Gain an introduction to the writing of flash-fiction and short stories. Write form and free form poetry. Analyse writing for technique and intention, exploring or adapting these mechanisms in your own creative practice. Gain experience and skills in critiquing your own work and that of others, developing analytical skills and self-awareness in order to further your own writing.
• Reading and Literature (20 credits)
  • Examine the different ways of reading prose fiction, poetry and drama. Deepen your understanding of the terms and techniques associated with literary analysis and develop a familiarity with the different methods of reading (‘ordinary’ reading, slow reading, speed reading and critical reading). Study of some of the most widely acclaimed novels, short stories, poems and plays by British and American writers, including: Thomas Hardy, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sylvia Plath, William Blake and Shakespeare. Demonstrate your reading skills and explore short stories, poems and plays.
• The Business of Writing: Editing and Publishing (20 credits)
  • Gain an insight into the contemporary landscape of UK literature and publishing to see how writing careers are made and supported. Explore through lectures and seminars the skills needed by people working in different roles in the industry, such as editing, proofreading and building creative industries brands (including your own). Examine the developing technologies involved in creative and professional writing careers and businesses, as well as learn about working in different genres, from fiction to cookery books, from travel writing to ghost-writing, from literacy to writing for wellbeing. Prepares for your work placement in Year 2 where you will put this learning into action.
• Mini Project (20 credits)
  • Undertake a short group project on any of the aspects explored in your first semester. Pitch an idea for your mini project in the first part of the module, be given feedback on the practicality of their idea and allocated a suitable internal supervisor. Prepare for The Business of Writing module in Year 2, in which you’ll undertake a work placement, and the Major Project in Year 3.

Year 2 (national level 5):

• Language and Society (20 credits)
  • Explore interactions between language and the contexts in which it is embedded. Discover the relationship between language and society, gaining an understanding of how social variables such as social status, geographical location, and the social networks people belong to influence linguistic variation and change, as well as the role of language attitudes and ideologies. Acquire the skills to carry out your own small-scale piece of sociolinguistic research.
• Regional Writing: Literature (20 credits)
  • Build on the study of regional and working-class writers and writing from Year 1. Draw on landmark texts from the national and regional landscape, past and present. Study and analyse literary texts in the first half of the module, before moving onto workshops in the second half that encourage both critical and creative writing in response to this initial foundation. Get assessed via poster presentation and a piece of creative writing that should be submitted to an internal or external market.
• Submitting Poetry and Prose (20 credits)
  • Take advantage of opportunities to explore contemporary writing in both prose and poetry, as well as more experimental writing. Gain knowledge of current prose and poetry publishers, as well as the skills to submit work to markets. Develop your writing in both forms and demonstrate a strong critical awareness of your work.
• Texts and Contexts (20 credits)
  • Gain an introduction to the main periods of literary history from the Classical to the Victorian and the characteristic genres thereof. Examine key ideas and exemplary sub-genres across all three primary genres (poetry, prose and drama), using extracts from key writers, and learn to consider the importance of historical, social and cultural contexts, and the diverse shaping influences of these contexts. Consider the interplay between literary/historical backgrounds, literary texts, their production and reception and generic adaptations.
• Business of Writing: Pitching, Funding and Placement (20 credits)
  • Gain an understanding of the obstacles that writers face in creating successful careers, as well as the tools and knowledge to overcome them. Develop your abilities to build a writer’s profile and to seek out opportunities available for writers such as residencies, commissions, teaching, pitches, and funding. Gain practical experience in identifying and writing pitches for funding and commissioning opportunities, contributing to your development as writers. Spend approximately 30 hours on a placement, which will enable you to bring the skills and knowledge you have developed so far in your degree into the workplace and provide you with the chance to draw on these achievements to enhance your understanding of their application beyond the university context.

Year 3 (national level 6):

• Major Project (40 credits)
  • Explore your burgeoning specialism or passion and develop your connections. Develop a major project in your preferred focus. Take any approach experienced from the course, e.g., a professional writing project, a creative writing project, performance, or project that combines approaches or other specialism drawn from optional modules you may have taken during the course.
• Writing Identities (20 credits)
  • Gain an understanding of gender, sexuality and other stereotypes, and how you can unpack these issues of identity in your writing. Develop an understanding of the debates relating to gender and sexuality in contemporary society, using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). Trace the various approaches to gender, sexuality, and other identities since the 1970s and how these have come to influence our understanding of identity today. Get the opportunity to creatively respond to these ideas and histories, through workshops full of writing exercises, writing-focused reading, and peer critique.
• Reading as Writers (20 credits)
  • Consolidate your knowledge and understanding of what it means to be a ‘reader’ in a ‘professions-facing career-focused’ (PFCF) context. Professional writers, and those who work in the creative industries with writers, do not read like ‘ordinary’ readers. Find out how to read like a professional so you can apply this knowledge to your own professional practice.
• Writing Dynamic Content (20 credits)
  • Explore examples of digital writing from a range of genres, including fiction, non-fiction, essay, gaming and audio such as podcasts, working towards an assessed portfolio of work. Examine digital terminology, social media content such as BookTok and Instagram.

Entry Requirements

Our typical offer is:

• Qualification | Minimum grade
  • Irish Leaving Certificate | 112 UCAS points – Students must have H1-H7 or O1-O4 in Maths & English.
  • QQI/FETAC 5| Pass profile overall. For entry we also require H1-H7 or O1-O4 in Maths and English from Irish Leaving Certificate

If your qualification is not listed above, please contact the Student Administration team at [insert email] for further advice.

We also consider those coming from a non-traditional entry route and would like to see a sample of your creative or professional writing from your previous experience.

Fees and Finance

The annual, full-time fee is:

• £9,535 if you are from the UK/Europe
• £16,500 if you are an international student

Career Ready

This course blends the best of a traditional English degree with innovative teaching and exciting connections to the creative industries both regionally and nationally to help budding writers, creatives and creators make your mark. This is not a ‘traditional’ creative writing degree but one that prepares you for writing both creatively and professionally.

Creative and Professional Writing Careers

Whether you want to succeed as a poet or novelist, social content editor or games narrative designer, or want to learn about what’s needed to be a book publicist or copywriter, this degree puts the creative and writing professions within your reach. The course introduces you to the skills necessary for the kinds of careers you will find across the creative industries in the 21st century, and helps you get in and get on in the career you want.

You'll be well placed to enter many areas within the creative industries, such as literary agencies, publishing houses, galleries, museums, theatres, and writing development organisations, as well as across the journalism, media, marketing, communications and PR industries. Potential jobs include: freelance writer, novelist, poet, games designer (narrative), publicist, publishing assistant, marketing, PR/communications, copywriter, advertising executive, digital writer, editor, content writer, content editor, proofreader, researcher, translator, journalist, reporter, scriptwriter, screenwriter, radio writer. Many of our graduates work as editors, journalists, writers, teachers and within publishing.

Facilities

You'll be based at David Puttnam Media Centre, situated on the award-winning Sir Tom Cowie Campus at St Peter's riverside campus. The location benefits from dedicated library services and has superb transport links with the city centre and City Campus. You'll benefit from modern teaching rooms, presentation technologies, virtual learning environments such as Canvas and Microsoft Teams.

IT Provision

You can access free Wi-Fi throughout the University campus, so you can work from anywhere. If you don't want to carry a laptop around, just use one of the University’s PCs or Macs. We have hundreds of computers for you to use in the Murray Library, St Peter's Library, and the David Goldman Informatics Centre. If you ever have any technical problems, just ask the friendly helpdesk team.

Library Services

The library is your gateway to information resources and services both on and off campus, all through a single search box. We have digital resources and support tailored for your course including: The MLA International Bibliography a database literature, language, linguistics and folklore; Project Gutenberg over 50,000 free ebooks; and Voice of the Shuttle, online English literature. See the English key resources for more information.

Access 1400 study places, including quiet and silent zones, 300+ PCs, group work hubs, online module reading lists and study skills support, all in our quality learning environments. You’ll have full use of two libraries, both with extensive opening hours. And ‘Live Chat’ enables you to access library support and help, from anywhere, 24/7.

We’re much more than a library, the University Library and Study Skills team are on hand to guide you throughout your studies on and off campus from embedded skills sessions, digital skills support to one-to-one and drop-in advice on research and academic skills.

Media Facilities

We have four journalism suites, each with Apple Mac workstations with industry-standard software including NewsCutter, Burli and ENPS.

Our mediaHUB, a bustling newsroom and home to a team of BBC Newcastle journalists, is responsible for our suite of websites and provides a variety of experiences. Tyne & Wear TV are just downstairs, offering placements to students and jobs to several of our graduates.

Learn in our 203-seat cinema and 7.1 surround sound facility. Access two broadcast-quality production studios complete with green room and changing facilities and equipment such as Steadicam rigs, track and mini crane.

Go on-air in one of five radio studios, including a larger radio drama studio and a transmission suite for Spark, our award winning student-run community radio station.

View our AccessAble accessibility guide for the David Puttnam Media Centre.

Meet the Team

• Stephanie Farnsworth
  • Lecturer in Media and Communications
• Shelby Penman
  • Lecturer in English: Creative and Professional Writing

View all staff for BA (Hons) English: Creative and Professional Writing

Related Courses

• BA (Hons) English: Creative and Professional Writing with Integrated Foundation Year
• BA (Hons) Media, Culture and Communication

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Program Overview

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Objectives:

• The program aims to equip students with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed as professional writers in a range of industries, including publishing, the literary arts, media, script and screen writing, marketing, communications, and related fields.
• The program emphasizes the development of students' creative talents, critical thinking, and writing abilities in both fictional and non-fictional forms.
• The program provides students with opportunities to gain real-world experience through industry placements and collaborations with established organizations.

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Program Description:

• This is a 3-year (6-year part-time) BA (Hons) degree program delivered by the University of Sunderland's Faculty of Arts and Creative Industries.
• The program combines traditional English literature studies with innovative teaching, exciting industry connections, and practical experience opportunities.
• The program focuses on developing students' creative and professional writing skills in a variety of genres, including poetry, prose, scriptwriting, and media writing.
• The program curriculum includes modules on literary analysis, creative writing, language study, the business of writing, and professional development.
• Students have the opportunity to specialize in a chosen area of interest in their final year through a major project.
• The program offers regular guest lectures and workshops led by established writers and professionals in the creative industries.
• Students have access to a dedicated team of academic staff and writing mentors who provide individual support and guidance.
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• Outline

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Program Content:

• Language study
• Literature
• Creative writing
• Professional writing
• Business of writing
• Media writing
• Scriptwriting
• Major project
• Optional modules

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Structure:

• The program is divided into three levels: Level 4, Level 5, and Level 6.
• Each level comprises four modules, with two modules per semester.
• Students complete a major project in their final year.
• The program offers a variety of optional modules across different areas of writing and related fields.

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Course Schedule:

• The program typically follows a two-semester academic year.
• Modules are typically taught in a combination of lectures, seminars, workshops, and independent study.
• Students are expected to attend all scheduled classes and actively participate in discussions and activities.

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Individual Modules:

• The Fundamentals of English Language Study: Introduces students to the study of language, with a focus on contemporary English.
• Regional Writing: Language: Develops students' knowledge of regional writing and dialect through close study of texts and linguistic analysis.
• Writing Poetry and Prose: Focuses on the study of poetic and prose forms, their structures, and writing techniques.
• Reading and Literature: Explores different approaches to reading prose, poetry, and drama.
• The Business of Writing: Editing and Publishing: Examines the contemporary publishing landscape and the skills required for careers in the field.
• Mini Project: Provides students with the opportunity to complete a short group project related to program themes.
• Language and Society: Explores the interaction between language and social contexts.
• Regional Writing: Literature: Builds on the study of regional and working-class writers and literature.
• Submitting Poetry and Prose: Provides students with opportunities to explore contemporary writing and build their skills in submitting work for publication.
• Texts and Contexts: Introduces students to key periods in literary history and different genres.
• Business of Writing: Pitching, Funding, and Placement: Develops students' professional skills and prepares them for seeking opportunities in the writing industry.
• Optional Modules: Students can choose from a range of optional modules depending on their interests and career goals.
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• Assessment

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Assessment Methods:

• Essays
• Creative writing portfolio
• Critical analysis
• Pitching and presentation
• Industry placement report
• Major project

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Assessment Criteria:

• Critical thinking
• Research skills
• Writing ability
• Creativity
• Professionalism
• Original ideas
• Ability to meet deadlines

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Feedback:

• Students receive regular feedback on their work throughout the program.
• Feedback is provided by academic staff and peers.
• Feedback is designed to help students improve their work and develop their skills.
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• Teaching

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Teaching Methods:

• Lectures
• Seminars
• Workshops
• Independent study
• Individual feedback
• Guest lectures
• Industry placements

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Faculty:

• The program is taught by a team of experienced academics and professional writers.
• Staff have expertise in a wide range of areas, including creative writing, literature, language, media, and publishing.
• Staff are committed to providing students with a high-quality learning experience and individual support.

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Unique Approaches:

• The program emphasizes the integration of creative and professional writing skills.
• Students have the opportunity to gain real-world experience through industry placements and collaborations with established organizations.
• The program offers a dedicated space for creative practice and writing workshops.
• Students have access to a dedicated team of academic staff and writing mentors who provide feedback and guidance.
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• Careers

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Potential Career Paths:

• Novelist
• Poet
• Journalist
• Copywriter
• Editor
• Content writer
• Social media manager
• Games narrative designer
• Scriptwriter
• Publicist
• Public relations specialist
• Communications specialist
• Marketing specialist

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Opportunities:

• The program prepares students for a wide range of careers in the creative industries and beyond.
• Graduates have secured positions in publishing houses, literary agencies, media companies, marketing firms, and communication agencies.
• Many graduates have successfully launched their own writing careers as writers, editors, and content creators.

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Outcomes:

• The program aims to produce graduates who are highly skilled and employable in the writing industry.
• Graduates are equipped with the critical thinking, creative writing, and professional skills they need to succeed in a variety of careers.
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• Other

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Industry Partnerships:

• The program has strong links with a range of local and national organizations in the creative industries.
• Students have the opportunity to network with industry professionals and gain valuable insights into the writing industry.

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Creative Writing Festival:

• Students have the opportunity to participate in the Sunderland Creative Writing Festival and the Sunderland Literature Festival.
• These events provide opportunities to engage with established writers, attend workshops, and showcase their work.

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MediaHUB:

• Students have access to the University's MediaHUB, a media center that provides opportunities for students to gain experience in journalism, content creation, and media production.

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Support Services:

• The University provides a range of support services to students, including academic advice, career guidance, and wellbeing support.
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• Conclusion
The BA (Hons) English: Creative and Professional Writing program at the University of Sunderland is a comprehensive and innovative program designed to prepare students for successful careers in the writing industry. The program combines rigorous academic study with practical experience and industry connections, providing students with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed as creative and professional writers.

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The annual, full-time fee for this course is: £9,250 if you are from the UK/Europe £16,000 if you are an international student (EU nationals will receive a £5,750 scholarship to reduce their fee to £10,250) Tuition fees for part-time students are £6,935 per 120 credits. Please note that part-time courses are not available to international students who require a Student visa to study in the UK.

• The discounted fee will be reflected in your offer letter.
Learn more in our Help and Advice article.

University of Sunderland

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Overview:

The University of Sunderland is a public university located in Sunderland, England. It offers a diverse range of undergraduate and postgraduate programs across various disciplines. The university has a strong focus on providing a supportive and inclusive learning environment for its students.

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Services Offered:

The University of Sunderland provides a comprehensive range of services to its students, including:

Academic Support:

Access to libraries, learning resources, and academic advisors.

Student Support:

Counseling, mental health services, and disability support.

Accommodation:

On-campus and off-campus housing options.

Career Services:

Career guidance, job search assistance, and internship opportunities.

Student Life:

A vibrant student union, clubs, societies, and social events.

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Student Life and Campus Experience:

The university boasts a diverse and inclusive campus community where students can connect with people from different backgrounds and cultures. Students can participate in extracurricular activities, engage in personal and professional development opportunities, and enjoy a vibrant social scene.

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Key Reasons to Study There:

Top-Quality Facilities:

The university has modern facilities, including a state-of-the-art library, sports facilities, and dedicated learning spaces.

Inclusive Culture:

The university fosters a welcoming and inclusive environment for all students.

Vibrant City:

Sunderland is a dynamic city with a rich history and a low cost of living.

Strong Industry Links:

The university has strong connections with local businesses and industries, providing students with valuable career opportunities.

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Academic Programs:

The University of Sunderland offers a wide range of academic programs, including:

Arts and Design:

Fashion, Photography, Fine Art, and Graphic Design.

Sciences:

Pharmacy, Nursing, Medicine, and Biology.

Business and Law:

Business Management, Finance, Law, and Tourism.

Computing and Engineering:

Computer Science, Software Engineering, and Electrical Engineering.

Education and Social Sciences:

Education, Psychology, and Social Work.

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Other:

The university has campuses in Sunderland, London, and Hong Kong, offering students a global learning experience. It is also recognized for its commitment to sustainability and equality, diversity, and inclusion.