Bath Spa University

BA (Hons) in Creative Writing and Philosophy and Ethics

Year one (Level 4) modules

• The Writer’s Workshop 1
• Explorations in Prose Fiction
• The Writer’s Workshop 2
• Introduction to Poetry
• Introduction to Scriptwriting
• Publishing and Editing for Writers

Year two (Level 5) modules

• Creative Enterprise 1
• Creative Enterprise 2
• Form and Listening in Poetry
• Genre Fiction
• Lifewriting
• Writing for Theatre
• Writing Graphic Novels and Comics
• Short Fiction
• Scripting for Screen
• Performance Poetry and Spoken Word
• Writing For Young People: Reading as Writers
• The Independent Magazine
• Professional Placement Year

Year three (Level 6) modules

• Professional Practice
• Extended Prose Fiction 1
• The Poetry Collection 1
• Advanced Script Project 1
• Advanced Nonfiction Project 1
• Planning and Writing a Novel for Young People 1
• Teaching Writing
• Extended Prose Fiction 2
• The Poetry Collection 2
• Advanced Script Project 2
• Advanced Nonfiction Project 2
• Planning and Writing a Novel for Young People 2
• Teaching Practice
• Live Literature
• Publishing Industry Project
• Writing Now - prizes, popularity, and politics

What you'll learn

Overview

Contemporary creative writing is diverse. It’s digital and on the page; social and singular. Our comprehensive program includes prose fiction, YA, flash fiction, poetry, scriptwriting for live performance and screen, life writing, and memoir.

Whatever you want to write, you’ll find an opportunity to explore it with us. We have modules on graphic novels and comics alongside modules in live literature, creative enterprise, and professional practice to support your career development. You'll have the opportunity to collaborate on creative projects with other students both within and outside Creative Writing.

You’ll be able to work on magazines, local literary festivals, and podcasts while collaborating with fellow students through our creative writing, publishing, and journalism student-run societies.

Course structure

Year one

The course is carefully designed to enable you to explore and experiment with your writing and understand the foundations of writing craft. In the Writer’s Workshop modules, you’ll be introduced to an array of different writing forms and genres and you’ll be experimenting with them each week. You’ll have your first experience of the BSU writing workshop where you’ll learn how to work with other writers, giving and receiving feedback. You’ll have additional modules in poetry, fiction, and script writing alongside a module where you’ll learn about the publishing industry and editing. You’ll also attend lectures from visiting writers and members of staff who will talk to you about their writing lives and experiences in the industry.

Year two

In the second year of the course, you have access to a range of modules that will enable you to specialize in a particular form or genre of writing. You’ll take a mixture of core and optional modules from a list that includes, for example, genre fiction, life writing, short stories, form and listening in poetry, and writing for the screen. You will also take the project module, Professional Portfolio. This is an opportunity for you to develop your creative project, designed to help you develop the skills you need as a professional writer. You will be assigned a member of staff to be your project supervisor. They will help guide and advise you as you develop your idea. If a collaborative project suits you, you can take a Publishing module where you work with a small team of fellow students to create your independent magazine.

Year three

The final year of the program is designed to consolidate your writing practice and support your progression into a writing-related career. You will take a dissertation-equivalent module in at least one of fiction, poetry, nonfiction, scriptwriting, or writing for young people. These modules run through the year. Alongside that, you have a choice of career-focused modules which include Live Literature and Professional Practice which offer you the opportunity to develop your industry-facing creative projects. We also offer an extended project module, Creative Enterprise, over two semesters. This module helps you focus on developing a creative project into a commercial opportunity.

How will I be assessed?

Assessment is based on 100% coursework (no exams). Most modules will require you to submit a portfolio of creative writing along with a reflective or contextual essay in which you describe what you have learned in class, and what you have learned from the set texts, and work on your writing.

Current graduate careers include:

• Novelist
• Science magazine editor
• Children’s author
• Playwright
• Digital Marketing Executive
• Social media writer
• Commercial copywriter for brands or charities
• Regional editor for an online magazine
• University lecturer
• Editor (Random House)
• Poet.

Many of our students go on to study one of our specialist MA programs in either Creative Writing, Writing for Young People, Screenwriting, Travel, and Nature, or Children’s Publishing.

How will I be taught?

Creative Writing at Bath Spa University is taught through a mixture of workshops, lectures, presentations, and tutorials. Workshops offer you the opportunity to read and discuss each other's work in a supportive, informal, and informative atmosphere. Lectures are used to introduce techniques and themes in detail. Tutorials provide you with the opportunity to discuss your work with your tutor on a one-to-one basis.

We believe that for you to achieve your maximum potential you have to take yourself and your writing seriously and that the best way to do this is to develop a professional approach. Therefore, wherever appropriate, our modules run to industry standards and adopt industry practices.

Course length

Three years full-time, or four years full-time with a professional placement year. Part-time available.