Creative Writing and Publishing MA

Program Overview

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This MA program in Creative Writing and Publishing equips students with writing skills and industry knowledge. Through workshops, students hone their craft in various genres. The program also covers the business of publishing, marketing, and content development, preparing graduates for careers in writing, publishing, and related fields.

Program Outline

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Objectives:

• Develop a creative writing portfolio.
• Study current trends in the publishing industry.
• Master the craft of writing through workshop-led instruction.
• Gain expertise in marketing-led commercial and trade publishing.
• Understand the structure and core skills of the publishing industry.
• Optionally pursue a dissertation or practical publishing project.

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Outline:

The MA program is a full-time, one-year program (or two years with a professional placement) or a part-time, two-year program.

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Course Schedule:

• Full-time, one-year option: Begins in September 2024
• Full-time, two-year option with professional placement: Begins in September 2024
• Part-time, two-year option: Begins in September 2024
Students take two 30-credit modules from Publishing and two 30-credit modules from Creative Writing.

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Core Module:

• Create: The Business of Publishing (30 Credits):
• Focuses on research, critical thinking, and entrepreneurial skill development.
• Examines the structure and operation of successful publishing companies, stakeholders, tools, processes, and various business models.
• Emphasizes building robust arguments to support theoretical assertions and practical publishing concepts.

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Optional Modules:

• Share: Strategic Marketing and Sales (30 Credits):
• Explores the various individuals and communities involved in content delivery.
• Make: Content Development and Production (30 Credits):
• Involves teamwork to produce a live published product.
• Covers project management, budgeting, costing, briefing, editing, design and layout, proofreading, and delivery.
• Provides hands-on practice with industry-standard tools such as HTML, InDesign, and Photoshop.
• Writers' Workshop (30 Credits):
• Includes practical criticism and discussion of genre scope and constraints.
• Focuses on transferable writing skills, language use, narrative pace, dialogue, expression, characterization, and mood.
• Ten Critical Challenges for Creative Writers (30 Credits):
• Introduces students to critical and literary theory.
• Raises awareness of how writing impacts literary, cultural, political, and philosophical issues.
• Explores debates about literature and creative writing through readings of relevant essays and texts.
• Encourages creative and conceptual thinking, supporting creative work with critical and analytical skills.
• Writing the Contemporary (30 Credits):
• Teaches students to apply literary techniques and strategies from contemporary fiction, life writing, and poetry to their work.
• Includes submission of reflective reading journals and creative pieces in chosen genres.
• Special Study: Workshop in Popular Genre Writing (30 Credits):
• Provides intensive review of writing in genres like poetry, crime writing, prose fiction, biography, drama, scriptwriting, or children's writing.
• Improves analytical and implementation skills, relevant to dissertations and other tasks.
• Publishing Dissertation (60 Credits):
• Allows students to conduct independent research within the publishing industry.
• Involves conceiving, exploring, investigating, and delivering a significant study.
• Offers flexibility in theoretical underpinning based on research questions chosen.
• Requires engagement with industry and related field professionals.
• Provides individual supervision and mentorship throughout the process.
• Practical Publishing Project (60 Credits):
• Enables students to develop, plan, manage, and deliver a substantial publishing-related project.
• Examples include producing and publishing a book, app, or magazine; researching and presenting a business plan; or conducting market research.
• Requires defining a specific audience, stakeholders, personal development goals, and project objectives.
• Includes developing a project plan and post-project critical evaluation.
• Creative Writing Dissertation (60 Credits):
• Focuses on individual creative writing and research in a chosen form or genre.
• Involves one-to-one tutorials with a supervisor.
• Requires producing two pieces:
• A creative dissertation (up to 15,000 words)
• A critical essay (approximately 3,000 words) analyzing the relationship between the student's work and the literary contexts or theories informing their chosen genre.

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Optional Placement Year:

• The program offers a 12-month work placement opportunity.
• Students are responsible for finding their own placements.
• Placements are assessed and covered by a Student Route visa.

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Assessment:

Assessment methods include essays, reports, presentations, briefs, research projects, and portfolios.

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Teaching:

• Teaching methods include lectures, seminars, workshops, and individual tutorials.
• The course benefits from the expertise of industry professionals who deliver masterclasses and guest lectures.
• The program emphasizes collaborative learning and peer feedback.

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Careers:

• Graduates develop skills sought by employers in various fields, including communication, self-management, editing and presentation, self-reflection, responding to criticism, writing for specific purposes, and collaborative work.
• Potential career paths include:
• Writer
• Translator
• Publisher
• Journalist
• Advertising and marketing professional
• Film, television, or radio professional
• Arts management
• New media professional
• Business professional
• Teacher
• Therapist

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Other:

• The program boasts strong links with industry and organizations including:
• Writers' Centre Kingston
• Rose Theatre in Kingston
• Professional Writers in Residence
• Publishers, agents, literary festival organizers, and authors
• Weekly guest lectures are delivered by leading journalists.
• Regular philosophy lunchtime lectures focus on major figures in Western philosophy.
• Students edit the literary magazine Persist, providing a platform for publication and hands-on publishing experience.
• Research in creative writing at Kingston University covers a range of areas including:
• 19th and 20th century British and American fiction
• Fictions of globalization
• Modernism
• Gothic writing
• Travel writing
• Narratives of slavery
• Women's writing
• New Woman and fin de siècle fictions
• Shakespeare
• English women's religious poetry during the seventeenth century
• Postcolonial studies
• Kingston University actively engages in research and professional practice in publishing, with lecturers publishing academic research, industry-leading textbooks, and writing for national and trade press.

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Home 2025/26 MA full time £10,300 MA part time £5,665 International 2025/26 MA full time £17,600 MA part time £9,680 Home 2024/25 MA full time £9,900 MA part time £5,445 International 2024/25 MA full time £16,900 MA part time £9,295 If you start your second year straight after Year 1, you will pay the same fee for both years. If you take a break before starting your second year, or if you repeat modules from Year 1 in Year 2, the fee for your second year may increase.

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Scholarships and bursaries

Kingston University offers a range of postgraduate scholarships, including: Alumni discount Progression Scholarship