Creative Writing and History

Program Overview

This Creative Writing and History program at Aberystwyth University combines creative expression with historical inquiry. Students develop their writing skills while exploring the intersection of literature, media, and culture across different eras. The program emphasizes both critical analysis and creative production, preparing graduates for careers in creative industries and beyond.

Program Outline

The program emphasizes the development of both creative writing skills and critical analytical skills, preparing students for a variety of careers in creative industries. Students will learn the craft of writing poetry, fiction, non-fiction, screenplays, and more, under the guidance of award-winning writers. Upon completion, students will possess a portfolio of exceptional creative work, along with the skills and attributes to thrive in workplaces that value creativity and written communication.

Outline:

The program is structured across three years, with a combination of core and optional modules.

Year 1:

• Core Modules:
• Beginning Creative Writing Part 1 (WR11020) - 20 credits
• Beginning Creative Writing Part 2 (WR11120) - 20 credits
• Introduction to History (HY12120) - 20 credits
• Optional Modules:
• Academic Writing: Planning, Process and Product (IC17720) - 20 credits
• American Literature 1819-1925 (EN11220) - 20 credits
• Ancestral Voices (EN10220) - 20 credits
• Contemporary Writing (EN10520) - 20 credits
• Critical Practice (EN11320) - 20 credits
• Europe and the World, 1000-2000 (HY12420) - 20 credits
• Greek and Roman Epic and Drama (CL10120) - 20 credits
• Introduction to Poetry (WL10420) - 20 credits
• Language Awareness for TESOL (IC13420) - 20 credits
• Literature And The Sea (WL11420) - 20 credits
• Medieval and Early Modern Britain and Europe, 1000-1800 (HY11420) - 20 credits
• Peering into Possibility: Speculative Fiction and the Now (WL11920) - 20 credits
• People, Power and Identity: Wales 1200-1999 (WH11720) - 20 credits
• Re-imagining Nineteenth-Century Literature (WL10120) - 20 credits
• The Modern World, 1789 to the present (HY11820) - 20 credits
• 'Hands on' History: Sources and their Historians (HY10420) - 20 credits

Year 2:

• Core Modules:
• Beginning the Novel (WR20220) - 20 credits
• Making History (HY20120) - 20 credits
• Optional Modules:
• A Century in Crisis: 1790s to 1890s (WL20720) - 20 credits
• Adventures with Poetry (WR22120) - 20 credits
• African-American History, 1808 to the Present (HY28320) - 20 credits
• Between Revolution and Reform: China since 1800 (HY28520) - 20 credits
• Classical Drama and Myth (CL20320) - 20 credits
• Contemporary Queer Fiction (EN21620) - 20 credits
• Contemporary Writing and Climate Crisis (EN21120) - 20 credits
• Crime, Riot and Morality in Wales 1750-1850 (WH23420) - 20 credits
• Culture, Society and the Victorians (HY29320) - 20 credits
• Effective Academic and Professional Communication 1 (IC27720) - 20 credits
• Environmental History of the Neotropics (Latin America and the Caribbean) in the Capitalocene (HY29120) - 20 credits
• Famine in Medieval England (HY25520) - 20 credits
• From Poor Law to Welfare State: Poverty and Welfare in Modern Britain, 1815-1948 (HY29220) - 20 credits
• Germany since 1945 (HY29620) - 20 credits
• In the Olde Dayes: Medieval Texts and Their World (EN23120) - 20 credits
• Literary Geographies (EN21020) - 20 credits
• Literary Modernisms (EN20920) - 20 credits
• Literary Theory: Debates and Dialogues (EN20120) - 20 credits
• Literature and Climate in the Nineteenth Century (EN21220) - 20 credits
• Literature since the '60s (EN22920) - 20 credits
• Magic in the Middle Ages: From Antiquity to the Eve of the Witch Craze (HY25920) - 20 credits
• Media and Society in Twentieth Century Britain (HY27520) - 20 credits
• Medieval England and Germany, c. 1050-1250 (HY25620) - 20 credits
• Place and Self (EN22120) - 20 credits
• Roads to Modernity: Germany and Japan in the Age of Empires, 1860s-1930s (HY28920) - 20 credits
• Science, Religion and Magic (HY28620) - 20 credits
• Shaping Plots (WR21720) - 20 credits
• Short stories: Grit and Candour (WL20320) - 20 credits
• Southeast Asia at the crossroads (c. 1400 to the present) (HY29920) - 20 credits
• TESOL Approaches, Methods and Teaching Techniques (IC23420) - 20 credits
• Telling True Stories: ways of Writing Creative Non-Fiction (WR21120) - 20 credits
• The Atlantic World, 1492-1825 (HY29720) - 20 credits
• The British Isles in the Long Eighteenth Century (HY22020) - 20 credits
• The European Reformation (HY26520) - 20 credits
• The Making of Europe: Christendom and beyond, c. 1000-1300 (HY25720) - 20 credits
• The Nazi Dictatorship: Regime and Society in Germany 1933-1945 (HY29420) - 20 credits
• The Tudors: A European Dynasty?
(HY20920) - 20 credits
• Wales and the Kings of Britain: Conflict, Power and Identities in the British Isles 1039-1417 (WH20120) - 20 credits
• Wales under the Tudors (WH23520) - 20 credits
• War, Politics and People: England in Context in the Fourteenth Century (HY26720) - 20 credits
• Writing Selves (WR20620) - 20 credits
• Writing Women for the Public Stage, 1670-1780 (EN28720) - 20 credits
• History as myth-Making: the 'Myth of the Blitz' (HY23420) - 20 credits
• Interdisciplinary and decolonial history (HY24320) - 20 credits
• Memory, Myth and History: Investigating Medieval Chronicles, c. 1000-1250 (HY24120) - 20 credits
• Reading a Building (HY23120) - 20 credits
• Recounting Racism: Oral History and Modern American Race Relations.
(HY25020) - 20 credits
• Seals in Their Context in Medieval England and Wales (HY24420) - 20 credits
• Victorian Visions: Exploring Nineteenth-Century Exhibitions (HY24620) - 20 credits

Year 3:

• Core Modules:
• Optional Modules:
• African-American History, 1808 to the Present (HY38820) - 20 credits
• Between Revolution and Reform: China since 1800 (HY38520) - 20 credits
• Crime, Riot and Morality in Wales 1750-1850 (WH33420) - 20 credits
• Culture, Society and the Victorians (HY39320) - 20 credits
• Environmental History of the Neotropics (Latin America and the Caribbean) in the Capitalocene (HY39120) - 20 credits
• Famine in Medieval England (HY35520) - 20 credits
• From Poor Law to Welfare State: Poverty and Welfare in Modern Britain, 1815-1948 (HY39220) - 20 credits
• Germany since 1945 (HY39620) - 20 credits
• Magic in the Middle Ages: From Antiquity to the Eve of the Witch Craze (HY35920) - 20 credits
• Media and Society in Twentieth Century Britain (HY37520) - 20 credits
• Medieval England and Germany, c. 1050-1250 (HY35620) - 20 credits
• Roads to Modernity: Germany and Japan in the Age of Empires, 1860s-1930s (HY38920) - 20 credits
• Science, Religion and Magic (HY38620) - 20 credits
• Southeast Asia at the crossroads (c. 1400 to the present) (HY39920) - 20 credits
• The Atlantic World, 1492-1825 (HY39720) - 20 credits
• The British Isles in the Long Eighteenth Century (HY30120) - 20 credits
• The European Reformation (HY36520) - 20 credits
• The Making of Europe: Christendom and beyond, c. 1000-1300 (HY35720) - 20 credits
• The Nazi Dictatorship: Regime and Society in Germany 1933-1945 (HY39420) - 20 credits
• The Tudors: A European Dynasty?
(HY30920) - 20 credits
• Wales and the Kings of Britain: Conflict, Power and Identities in the British Isles 1039-1417 (WH30120) - 20 credits
• Wales under the Tudors (WH33520) - 20 credits
• War, Politics and People: England in Context in the Fourteenth Century (HY36720) - 20 credits
• Ali Smith and 21st Century fiction(s) (EN33620) - 20 credits
• Big Ideas: Writing Popular Science (WR32720) - 20 credits
• Crisis Writing (WR31820) - 20 credits
• Effective Academic and Professional Communication 2 (IC37820) - 20 credits
• Haunting Texts (EN30820) - 20 credits
• Humour and Conflict in Contemporary Writing (WR32820) - 20 credits
• Literatures of Surveillance (WL35320) - 20 credits
• Poetry for today (WR31220) - 20 credits
• Reading Theory / Reading Text (EN30120) - 20 credits
• Remix: Chaucer In The Then and Now (WL30620) - 20 credits
• Romantic Eroticism (EN30520) - 20 credits
• TESOL Materials Development and Application of Technologies (IC33420) - 20 credits
• The Mark of the Beast: Animals in Literature from the 1780s to the 1920s (EN31320) - 20 credits
• The Writing Project (WR30040) - 40 credits
• Victorian Childhoods (EN30320) - 20 credits
• Writing Crime Fiction (WR32420) - 20 credits
• Writing Horror (WR31920) - 20 credits
• Writing Music (WR32620) - 20 credits
• Writing and Place (WR32120) - 20 credits
• Writing in the Margins: Twentieth-Century Welsh Poetry in English (EN30420) - 20 credits

Assessment:

The program utilizes a variety of assessment methods, including:

• Portfolio submissions
• Essays
• Traditional examinations
• Presentations

Teaching:

The program employs a blend of traditional and non-traditional teaching methods, with a strong emphasis on workshops and discursive seminars. Lectures are used sparingly, primarily to convey specific knowledge-centered material. One-to-one tutorials are also a regular feature, particularly towards the end of the program.

Careers:

The program prepares students for a range of careers in creative industries, including:

• Fiction writing
• Non-fiction writing
• Poetry writing
• Screenwriting
• Radio writing
• Theatre writing
Graduates may also pursue careers in:
• Publishing
• Editing
• Journalism
• Marketing and Communications
• Teaching

Other:

• The program includes a writing retreat during the third year, held at a country house in mid Wales.
This retreat provides students with an opportunity to hone their writing skills, develop their abilities further, and grow as creative writers with their peers.
• The National Library of Wales, located next to Penglais Campus, is a vital resource for the program, housing every book published in the United Kingdom.
• The Aberystwyth Arts Centre plays a significant role in the program, providing opportunities for students to showcase their work, engage with others, and develop lifelong skills valuable to employers in the creative industries and beyond.