Download the course booklet to find out more about Lancaster University, how we teach Creative Writing and what you'll study as a Creative Writing student.
Overview
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Lancaster's degree in Fine Art and Creative Writing is taught jointly by the Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts (LICA) and the Department of English and Creative Writing. This course is ideal for anyone with strong academic and creative abilities who wants to study fine art alongside creative writing.
Your Creative Writing courses are taught by a team of widely published authors through a combination of lectures, readings, practice and discussion in regular tutor-led workshops. Your degree includes an Introduction to Creative Writing in your first year, and in your second and third years of study you will choose additional genre-specific units such as Short Fiction, Poetry Writing or Creative Non-fiction.
Fine Art at Lancaster gives you the opportunity to integrate Art Practice with Art History/Theory at a high level. From the first through to the final year of your degree you will develop creative and technical skills in painting, drawing, sculpture, digital art and their hybrids. While we have no ‘house style’ the emphasis is on Fine Art practice and Fine Art ‘thinking’ rather than illustration. Our aim is for you to develop the practice and ideas that best reflect your aims and values as a young Fine Artist. Your tutors will be professional artists and publishing historians and the mix of academic and creative skills gained at Lancaster makes you highly attractive for postgraduate study and employers.
To prepare students for their work placement year, our Careers and Placements Team will provide advice and guidance on: the skills required to create effective CVs, cover letters and applications; tips and techniques on how to make an impact at interviews and assessment centres; how to create a relevant digital profile; and how to research employers and career sectors of interest. In addition, there is great emphasis placed upon developing self-awareness and on how to present yourself in a professional manner to employers. This optional provision will be delivered via a blend of traditional and digital methods including face-to-face workshops, online webinars, e-courses and 1:1 appointments.
The University will use all reasonable effort to support you to find a suitable placement for your studies. While a placement role may not be available in a field or organisation that is directly related to your academic studies or career aspirations, all placement roles offer valuable experience of working at a graduate level and gaining a range of professional skills. If you are unsuccessful in securing a suitable placement for your third year, you will be able to transfer to the equivalent non-placement degree scheme and continue with your studies at Lancaster, finishing your degree after your third year.
Your department
Careers
Fine Art and Creative Writing graduates from Lancaster University have developed careers as professionals for creative agencies, working in publishing, television or for museums and galleries, while some go on to be professional artists.
As well as teaching and arts administration, the multidisciplinary skills our graduates acquire during their degree open doors across the creative industries and in many employment sectors.
Lancaster graduates successfully progress onto PGCE, MA, MPhil and PhD courses, either with us or at other high quality national and international institutions, for example the Royal College of Art, London; Goldsmiths College, University of London; Ruskin School of Art, Oxford University and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Ghent.
Lancaster University offers lifelong Careers advice to students beyond graduation.
Lancaster University is dedicated to ensuring you not only gain a highly reputable degree, but that you also graduate with relevant life and work based skills. We are unique in that every student is eligible to participate in The Lancaster Award which offers you the opportunity to complete key activities such as work experience, employability/career development, campus community and social development. Visit our Employability section for full details.
Entry Requirements
Grade Requirements
A Level ABB
Required Subjects A level in one of the following subjects: Creative Writing, English language, English Literature or A level English Language and Literature.
IELTS 6.5 overall with at least 5.5 in each component. For other English language qualifications we accept, please see our English language requirements webpages.
Portfolio Applicants will typically be required to submit a portfolio before being made an offer. The department will contact applicants to request the portfolio. The portfolio should include imaginative, expressive and analytical work as well as objective drawing.
Other Qualifications
International Baccalaureate 32 points overall with 16 points from the best 3 Higher Level subjects including a HL Literature or HL Language and Literature subject
BTEC Distinction, Distinction, Merit considered alongside A level Creative Writing, English language, English Literature or A level English Language and Literature
Foundation Courses Art Foundation Courses are not an essential requirement for this degree. Please note Foundation Courses are considered but not accepted in lieu of our academic entry requirements. Level 3 Art Foundation courses are considered on a case-by-case basis alongside two A levels at grade B or above.
We welcome applications from students with a range of alternative UK and international qualifications, including combinations of qualification. Further guidance on admission to the University, including other qualifications that we accept, frequently asked questions and information on applying, can be found on our general admissions webpages.
Contact Admissions Team + 44 (0) 1524 592028 or via ugadmissions@lancaster.ac.uk
Course Structure
Lancaster University offers a range of programmes, some of which follow a structured study programme, and others which offer the chance for you to devise a more flexible programme to complement your main specialism. We divide academic study into two sections - Part 1 (Year 1) and Part 2 (Year 2, 3 and sometimes 4). For most programmes Part 1 requires you to study 120 credits spread over at least three modules which, depending upon your programme, will be drawn from one, two or three different academic subjects. A higher degree of specialisation then develops in subsequent years. For more information about our teaching methods at Lancaster please visit our Teaching and Learning section.
The following courses do not offer modules outside of the subject area due to the structured nature of the programmes: Architecture, Law, Physics, Engineering, Medicine, Sports and Exercise Science, Biochemistry, Biology, Biomedicine and Biomedical Science.
Information contained on the website with respect to modules is correct at the time of publication, and the University will make every reasonable effort to offer modules as advertised. In some cases changes may be necessary and may result in some combinations being unavailable, for example as a result of student feedback, timetabling, Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies' (PSRB) requirements, staff changes and new research.
Core
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Fine Art Practice
This module seeks to establish fundamental Fine Art practices and principles and initiate development of critical understanding of basic concepts, approaches, possibilities and ways of working. The module enables students to engage with the practical disciplines of painting, sculpture, digital art, drawing and inter-media practices that combine two or more disciplines. This creative work alongside academic work in LICA100 initiates training in thinking and making as a fine artist.
This practical course combines technical skills with different approaches to the disciplines as appropriate to developing individual interests as a practitioner of fine art. The teaching and learning systems for this course are designed to expose the student to ways of working and thinking as a practitioner; to thinking visually.
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Fundamentals: Art (part 1)
In this module, Fine Art ideas and movements are surveyed viewed through pairings of major exhibitions throughout modern history, from the birth of avant gardes in The Salon des Refuses (1863) and Manet and the Impressionists (1910), to major shows on Digital Culture, Neoliberalism and non-Western art in the 21st century. This module is designed to supplement, contextualise and enhance the essential knowledge and skills covered in the Studio Practice module, and develop study and writing skills that you will need as you progress through your degree.
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Fundamentals: Art (part 2)
Continuing the study of Fine Art ideas and movements through pairings of major exhibitions throughout modern history.
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Fundamentals: Contemporary Arts and Design
This module will introduce you to key methods, tools and critical concepts used by academics to understand a broad range of creative work, its discussion and practice historically and today.
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Introduction to Creative Writing
This course aims to develop theoretical understanding and practical application of skills necessary to the craft of Creative Writing, which includes reading like a writer and navigating reader critiques through workshopping. Students will be encouraged to experiment with various forms and genres, to explore new approaches in drafting and editing their own work, and to engage in critical discourse. Weekly lectures will introduce relevant texts and terminology and offer insight from experienced writers, with seminars/workshops allowing students to practice technique, mature their voice and nurture their writer’s instinct.
Seminar tutors will support students throughout the year with the development of their creative portfolio. Peer and tutor feedback will offer valuable awareness of the reader’s role in the writing process and help to guide the redrafting process through regular workshop submissions. Workshop participation is a required aspect of this course, and students will be required to submit work on a regular basis and to read and respond to the work of their peers.
Core
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Critical Reflections in Creative Arts
Critical Reflections explores a number of key interdisciplinary philosophical and cultural concepts which will enable you to analyse, engage with, and reflect upon artworks in your own discipline. It also allows you to establish a common set of concepts which can be shared by students from all LICA subjects. The structure of the module consists of six three-week blocks: (1) Aesthetics, Formalism and Beyond, (2) Phenomenology, (3) Semiotics, Structuralism and Deconstruction, (4) Class and Society, (5) Feminism, Queer Theory and Gender, and (6) On Difference.Weekly plenary lectures make connections across the arts, and are supplemented by weekly, two hour seminars/workshops which allow students to work in their subject groups (art, film, theatre, design) on ideas and examples specifically tailored towards these disciplines.
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Intermediate Creative Writing Workshop
CREW 203 is the entry point into Part II of your undergraduate degree and forms the core offering in Creative Writing. For Joint Honours students, specialist half-units are also available with their selective focus on specific literary forms. CREW 203 allows you to write in any adult literary genre, drawing on the accompanying half-units or exploring new areas of creative work. You will be a member of a workshop group of approximately 12 students. For students taking the course as a minor component in their degree, or as part of a joint honours degree, CREW 203 offers continuity from Part I study in the compilation of a portfolio of original writing. The course is supported by a virtual learning environment (Moodle) that enables the exchange of creative work and critiques, whilst also providing virtual meeting spaces and offering a range of dedicated bibliographic resources to support your creative and critical development.
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Studio Practice
This module develops your knowledge and skills in fine art thinking and making. The module prepares and encourages you to direct your own research and to develop a self-reliant and independent approach to studio practice. You will work in your own dedicated studio space with 24/7 access. You will be supported by specialist tutors who are practicing artists. You will belong to a tutor group led by dedicated tutors with expertise in your area of practice. To support your creative development you will engage in one-to-one tutorials, group tutorials, technical workshops, and peer-feedback. You will also be encouraged to visit exhibitions and attend our visiting artist programme of talks.
Optional
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Art and Writing
This module looks at the many ways in which artists engage with writing, texts, language, and books and to understand art writing's relation to and difference from art criticism, including art writing as art criticism and when art criticism becomes art. It traces the relation between the visual and the literary in poetry, and examines the deconstruction of language, writing and the book and 'conceptual writing'. There will be a focus on artists who use writing and language in the gallery including Jenny Holzer, Barbara Kruger, Ed Ruscha, Lawrence Wiener, John Latham, and Xu Bing, and the use of text, writing and language in computer and digital art, from early experiments in algorithmic mark-making to online artworks. Other areas to be studied include autofiction, fictioning and Glitch Poetics. The module also examines the future of art and writing, especially in the light of AI writing systems such as GPT-3.
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Art, Site & Interaction
This practical fine art focused module will introduce the skills and sensitivities needed to work outside the studio through interactions with people, places, and technologies. The module introduces you to the way that current fine art practitioners employ a wide range of strategies for such interaction. You will work through practical projects and critical reflection. The course will begin with an art historical grounding for this area of practice. You will then experiment and test out new ways of working in a variety of locations and situations such as: in the rural or urban landscape, in the virtual online world, or in a social space such as a cafe. We will explore a range of processes such as conversation, performance, video, movement and digital interaction.
Throughout the module you will build a range of skills and knowledge of technologies, for example: practical considerations in working ‘off-site’ (responding to and researching a place, collaborating with the public, gaining permission to work in specific sites); digital tools for working with networks and strategies and sensitivities for working with people (ethics, interviews, collaborations etc).
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Creative Non-Fiction: Memoir and Life Writing
This ten-week module will give you the opportunity to explore topics, techniques and methods involved in memoir and life writing. We will also pay particular attention to the risks and opportunities – technical, ethical and personal – inherent in this form.
Through a series of seminars and workshops tutor presentations we will explore set texts, do generative writing prompts, and give and receive feedback on works in progress. There you will work towards the creation of some memoir pieces of your own – either a short stand-alone work or works, or a chapter / section from a proposed longer work. You will also be supported in developing some independent research to set your own work in its context in your reflective essay.
At the end of term, each student will have a one-to-one personal tutorial to discuss the reflective essay and decide on the best approach to the portfolio submission.
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Documentary Drawing
This module will enable you to develop a range of graphic skills with the opportunity to approach and represent ideas, issues and experiences in a documentary manner. The module is designed to be relevant to creative practice in Fine Art, Theatre, Film and Design. You will have the opportunity to expand your knowledge and experience of observational and on-site drawing, and develop their learning and experience by engaging in further technical training and by introduction to drawing beyond the studio and 'in the field'. On completion of this module our aim is for you to have significantly developed their knowledge and awareness of drawing and the ability to engage in independent study and develop a substantial personal project for assessment.
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Expanded Painting Practice
The module provides training and experience in visual communication through painting in the broadest sense. Our aim is to provide students with an understanding of painting as an ‘expanded’ and interdisciplinary art form. Weekly workshops will introduce you to the scope of contemporary painting and some of its methods and approaches. You will develop skills through experimentation with a range of traditional and contemporary painting methods, approaches, ideas and equipment. Building on the teaching, you will develop an independent project that extends the language of painting beyond conventional bounds.
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Poetry: Genre and Practice
Course Aims and Objectives: The emphasis in this module is on reading as well as writing poetry; it will also explore how our lived experience translates into poetry through language; and poetry crystallizes or transforms experience through language and form. We will look at the base structures of poetry – from the line-ending to more complex forms like sonnets and sestinas. Students will be encouraged to seek out new reading as a result of seminar discussion. The writing of poetry is largely dependent on your abilities as a reader and interpreter of poems – and of experience. You are expected to keep a journal of your poems and thoughts throughout the course, the contents of which will be used to create the reflective essay for your portfolio.
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Short Fiction: Genre and Practice
Course Aims and Objectives:
The aims of this course are to provide an opportunity for second year students to develop a knowledge of the short story form, and to develop their experience of writing the form., as well as a knowledge of how the form has developed in the past 100 years. They will gain experience in reading, writing, workshopping and reflecting on short fiction, and will develop a knowledge of the history and development of the form, current theoretical approaches to reading and practice in this form, and an awareness of their own literary context. The course will offer students the opportunity to develop their oral and written communication skills, enhance awareness of their approach to the creative process, and enhance their skills in the critical analysis of texts. This course is then developed by the third year specialization in short fiction.
This module will explore the writing of short stories in a workshop environment through the development of the student’s own work, combined with the directed reading of selected texts. Over the course of ten weeks, you are expected to read and discuss each key text, respond to writing and generative prompts in relation to the workshop themes, and submit your own work for workshopping in two workshops. Students are also expected to explore some of the books and essays listed as ‘supplementary’ reading: the books are selected to offer different perspectives on the key issues raised. The course should be considered as having a cumulative effect, in that books discussed early on may be drawn upon in later weeks to illustrate different aspects of writing. During the course, you are also expected to keep a journal, in which you reflect upon your writing and reading. The journal will form the basis of the reflective element of your final portfolio.
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What Is The Contemporary?
This module aims to give students a grounding in “the contemporary” as a key critical concept used in artistic discourses, and provide a number of ways that students can explore and articulate their own contemporaneity. In conversation with cutting edge ideas from art, science, technology and popular culture, the module will enable participants to discuss and identify what they are contemporaries of, how they relate to their own time as artists, citizens and critical writers and what this necessitates in their own practices.
Students will engage in critical discussion of key terms used to define the current moment, such as Anthropocene, Singularity, Post-Truth, and Globalisation, as well as understanding how particular technologies and phenomena, such as distributed and decentralised networks, virtual reality, artificial intelligence and genetic engineering are reshaping the contexts in which the arts are made. These topics are explored through lectures and seminar discussions in which students are encouraged to produce and define their own position and modes for articulating what makes them contemporary.
The module is designed for creative students who wish to use writing and material practice to explore their own relationship to the ecologies, politics, trends, technologies, and aesthetics that typify our experience of the world today.
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Writing for the stage
The module aims to enable you to write for the theatre and develop your awareness of the processes by which a written script makes its way to performance. You will be taught through weekly seminars/creative writing workshops in which you will explore the effects that different staging approaches and performance strategies have on your scripts. Subject to timetabling and logistics, there will be a performance showcase in which you will be actively involved; the showcase will allow you to reflect upon your work in the light of audience feedback. Over the module of the module, you will develop your own writing styles and gain an awareness of the professional requirements of playwriting.
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Writing place and landscape
This module is designed for those students interested in writing imaginatively about places and/or landscapes, providing a grounding for writers of poetry, prose fiction and non-fiction in the broad field of nature, environmental and place writing (which has been undergoing something of a renaissance in recent years). You will study key texts that engage with different kinds of place and landscape – from fields and forests to rivers and urban edgelands – and explore your own emergent interests in place writing. You will be encouraged to consider your own work as part of a larger, ongoing literary conversation about place, and to explore those places and landscapes that interest and excite you. The module also contains an element of fieldwork, linking the act of physically walking through a landscape to the practice of reading and writing about it.
Core
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Advanced Creative Writing Workshop
CREW 303 is the continuation of Part II of your undergraduate degree and forms the core offering in Creative Writing. For Joint Honours students, specialist half-units are also available with their selective focus on specific literary forms. CREW 303 allows you to write in any adult literary genre, drawing on the accompanying half-units or exploring new areas of creative work. You will be a member of a workshop group of approximately 12 students. For students taking the course as a minor component in their degree, or as part of a joint honours degree, CREW 303 offers continuity from CREW 203 in the compilation of a portfolio of original writing. The course is supported by a virtual learning environment (Moodle) that enables the exchange of creative work and critiques, whilst also providing virtual meeting spaces and offering a range of dedicated bibliographic resources to support your creative and critical development.
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Advanced Studio Practice
This module supports you to develop your own distinctive voice as an artist. Our aim is for you to take increasing responsibility for the creative and conceptual direction of your artwork. You will work in your own dedicated studio space with 24/7 access and be supported by specialist tutors who are practicing artists. You will belong to a tutor group led by dedicated tutors with expertise in your area of practice. Teaching is delivered through one-to-one tutorials, group work and peer feedback. You will also be encouraged to visit exhibitions and attend our visiting artist programme of talks. The module culminates in a final end of year public exhibition.
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Dissertation
This core module is directed towards completion of an independent research project on a topic of your choice, presented in the form of a dissertation. The course is taught through lectures focused on research skills and one-to-one supervision. Students of Film can choose to make a short film as part of their project, and students of Design are encouraged to do a practical design project.
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Work Based Learning Reflection
In your final year you’ll return to Lancaster to complete your degree. Feedback from previous students is that their final year studies were enhanced by the real-world experience they were able to draw on.
Whatever your career path, having the skills to critically evaluate your own learning and development will considerably enhance your effectiveness in the workplace. During your final year, you will be asked to reflect on your experience of work based learning. Did you take part in any formal training during your placement? How did this benefit your work? What kinds of informal learning opportunities arose? What did you learn about your own preferences for professional development? How do your experiences compare to those of other placement students?
You will be asked to consider your future career aims and identify areas for further development.
This is an assessed module that provides 10 credits towards the 30 credits which successful completion of your placement year provides. These 30 credits are on top of the 360 credits of a standard degree, meaning that you will graduate with 390 credits; 30 more than if you took the same degree without a placement year. The additional credits recognise and reward the additional skills and experience that you have developed during your placement year.
Optional
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Advanced Short Story: Form and Practice
Course Aims and Objectives
This unit will provide an opportunity for students to develop their knowledge and skills of the short story form, history and practice with a more advanced course, which develops from the second year course, Crew 204. Each week you will have the opportunity to discuss, in detail, one or two specimen short stories and workshop your own creative work. Students are also expected to explore some of the books and essays listed as ‘supplementary’ reading: the books are selected to offer different perspectives on the key issues raised. The course should be considered as having a cumulative effect, in that books discussed early on may be drawn upon in later weeks to illustrate different aspects of writing. During the course, you are also expected to keep a journal, in which you reflect upon your writing and reading. The journal will form the basis of the reflective element of your final portfolio. Topics covered will include:
- plot, misdirection, and the reveal
- flash and sudden fiction;
- genre (the ghost story);
- rewriting fairytales
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Contemporary Dance and the Visual Arts
The module has two aims. Firstly, it aims to explore methods of improvising or choreographing movement from the practice and study of drawing, and, reciprocally, approaches to drawing that emerge from the experience of movement and the analysis of motion. This is assessed through either a staff-supervised, student-led group choreographic project with documentation or, alternatively, a portfolio of drawings presented at the end of the module. Secondly, the module examines twentieth and twenty-first century works in which choreographers have collaborated with visual artists. This part of the module is assessed through an essay. Teaching is through lecture, seminar and practical compositional exercises in movement and drawing.
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Creative Non-Fiction II
This module will explore the writing of Creative Non-Fiction through the development, in a workshop environment, of the student’s own work, combined with the directed reading of a selection of contemporary work and secondary texts. CREW 305 will concentrate on reviews, essays, and cultural reflection. Over the ten-week course you will be expected to read and discuss each key text, and to submit your own work for workshopping on a regular basis. Students are also expected to familiarise themselves with the texts listed as ‘supplementary’ reading below and ‘background’ reading (available on MOODLE): the texts are selected to offer different perspectives on the key issues raised. The course should be considered to have a cumulative effect, in that the texts discussed earlier in the term may be drawn upon in later weeks to illustrate different aspects of writing. During the course you are also expected to keep a journal, in which you reflect upon your writing and reading. This journal will form the basis of the reflective element of your final portfolio. This journal will be discussed in an end-of-term personal tutorial with your tutor.
Study of Creative Non-Fiction in year 3 will concentrate on the essay and review forms. “Essays and reviews” will be interpreted in the wider sense in this course. It will study the essay as a form that has evolved over the last four hundred years as a commentary on human existence, at both the deepest and most trivial level. It will treat the review as a form which, at its best, sets its subject in a cultural and personal context as well as dealing with issues of inherent quality and value, and is (often) only concerned in passing with what the writer likes or dislikes.
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Expanded Drawing
The module will be taught through workshops which examine the methods, process and approaches in drawing that are at the cutting edge of contemporary fine art drawing practice and at the boundaries of other disciplines. The workshops provide knowledge, skills, and opportunities to test and try approaches. This learning will be developed through independently researched work. This independent work is documented in a sketchbook and extended at the end of the syllabus to provide a final major project.
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Longer Fiction: Skills and Techniques for Approaching a Novel
During this module you will examine, through set reading and writing prompts and tasks, the unique features of long fiction. Through tutor presentations and discussion of set texts, the workshopping of creative writing in progress and the writing of synopses and other planning documents, you will develop competence in approaching a long fiction project. This includes: strategies for planning and structuring, choosing point of view and tense, developing plot, working with setting, addressing theme and characterisation, experimenting with form and considering an ending. Tutor presentations may be provided as online lectures. You will receive regular feedback, according to a schedule that will be circulated in the first week. You will be expected to give written and oral feedback to your peers each week.
Note: this is a course for the development of long fiction projects for adults – work meant for children or young adults is not suitable for this course. You may work in any genre you wish, but we will focus on literary, historical, science fiction, speculative and crime genres during this course.
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Narrative and New Media
This module will provide the space for you to work on a creative project that utilises opportunities afforded by new media. New media narratives (please see the list of set ‘texts’ for examples) are often interactive, participatory, immersive and cross-platform and you will be encouraged to design and provide writing samples from a project that engages with these features. During the module you will examine a variety of new media narratives, compare them to non-linear ‘old media’ narratives (books!) and you will work towards placing your own creative work in a literary and critical context.
The topics we will cover will respond to your own project ideas and interests, but may include:
- Interactivity and immersion,
- Space, place, mapping and journeying,
- The problem of character,
- Who is the author? Collaboration and crowd-sourced fictions.
Note: while we will talk about the ways these narratives can resemble games, this is not a module where you will be designing a computer game. You do not need to have any special computer skills – only an interest in the opportunities afforded to writers by new media forms.
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Poetry and Experiment
Course Outline:
This course aims to challenge the received structures of language in the students' own poetry through a close reading of poets who opened up new frontiers of 20th/21st century literature through their approaches to language. Every seminar will be split in two halves; the first section will be devoted to a close reading of work by a published poet, from Alice Oswald to Ezra Pound, looking at how they stretch or break the lyric formula; the second hour will be a workshop based on critiquing the students' own poetic experiments. In week two, students will receive a basic introduction to Wittgenstein's theory of language games, with each subsequent poet examined in the light of how they try to break the rules of the game. The students' own experiments are encouraged as either continuations of the radical departures first implemented by the poets in question, or the students' own attempts to break from comfortable notions of confessional or lyric poetry.
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Writing Adaptations for Stage and Radio
Course Outline: The module will be taught through a combination of seminars and workshops. Earlier weeks will be focussed on introducing students to the key elements of adapting for radio and theatre; there will be specific tasks relating to the weekly subject. As the term progresses, students will develop their own longer pieces for assessment. Specific adaptations will be analysed in script form, in broadcast form and (where possible) through viewing live recording archives. Topics covered will include:
- ‘Faithful’ versus ‘unfaithful’ adaptations
- Finding soundscapes and stage images in the source materials
- Beginnings and endings
- Locating characters and character voices
- Working within and changing existing story structures
- Script format (and software resources)
- Juggling forms: novels, short fiction, poems and non-fiction in to script; moving between film, theatre and radio.
The module aims to enable students to write script adaptations for the stage and radio. Students will explore the effects of choice when it comes to source text (prose fiction, poetry or non-fiction) and the medium for adaptation (radio or theatre). They will experience the editorial demands of the adaptation process, and will engage with both the overlapping and different strategies for realising work in theatre and radio.
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Writing Fiction for Young People
The module will introduce students to the constraints and opportunities of writing for children and young adults (YA). By reading, analysing and responding creatively to the set texts, students will become more familiar with: contemporary practitioners of writing for young people; the expectations of the audience, and the opportunities for innovation.
The module develops chronologically, beginning with picture books and concluding with young adult novels. From the constraints of paper engineering to the opportunities of a multi-modal narrative in picture books; from the constraints of coming-of-age tropes to the opportunities for fresh, inventive language in YA fiction, students will come to appreciate the complexities of writing fiction for young people.
As each week passes, students will engage in a close reading of the set texts and will respond creatively to them. Students will be encouraged to revise their responses for their portfolio. This format will allow students to improve as writers themselves, while also gaining a better critical understanding of the field. They will also form part of a creative community with their peers, encouraging and supporting each other’s learning.
Students will have the opportunity to discuss contemporary children’s reading experiences and expectations. As these readers will grow to become the adult readers of tomorrow, students will consider how childhood reading contributes to the wider ecosystems of literature.
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Writing/Reading Poetry
Course Outline:
‘No art without the resistance of the medium’, Raymond Chandler once said. This module will build on CREW 205 (Writing Poetry), deepening student engagement with both the writing and the reading process. Poetic form will be explored through a wide-ranging selection of poems (all of which can be found in the set text for the course: The Making of a Poem (ed. Boland and Strand) and Poetry By Heart’s online anthology. We will consider form as historical poetic model and a tradition that has been questioned, adapted, subverted, upcycled, reaffirmed—rather than the binaries of free/formal verse, open/closed form, etc—and there will be particular emphasis on those forms regularly employed or reimagined in a twentieth century and a more recent contemporary context.
A portion of each seminar will be spent discussing the set poems. Students will submit their own poems on a fortnightly basis. The dual assessment (a portfolio of students’ own poems plus a close reading of two of the syllabus poems) reflects the course emphasis on the inter-relationship between reading and writing.
Fees and Funding
We set our fees on an annual basis and the 2023/24 entry fees have not yet been set.
As a guide, our fees in 2022/23 were:
UK | International |
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£9,250 | £20,930 |
Scholarships and bursaries
At Lancaster, we believe that funding concerns should not stop any student with the talent to thrive.
We offer a range of scholarships and bursaries to help cover the cost of tuition fees and/or living expenses.
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Additional costs
Additional costs for this course
You will need to buy some art materials during your course. Materials and equipment are available to use during some classes, and the departmental art shop sells materials to students at cost price. We will send you information about materials and equipment before you arrive so that you know what to bring with you and what you might need to buy during your course. You will be able to borrow many books free of charge from the university library, however most students prefer to buy their own copies of at least some of the texts. Costs vary depending on whether these are bought new or second hand.
There may be extra costs related to your course for items such as books, stationery, printing, photocopying, binding and general subsistence on trips and visits. Following graduation, you may need to pay a subscription to a professional body for some chosen careers.
Specific additional costs for studying at Lancaster are listed below.
College fees
Lancaster is proud to be one of only a handful of UK universities to have a collegiate system. Every student belongs to a college, and all students pay a small college membership fee which supports the running of college events and activities.
For students starting in 2022, the fee is £40 for undergraduates and research students and £15 for students on one-year courses. Fees for students starting in 2023 have not yet been set.
Computer equipment and internet access
To support your studies, you will also require access to a computer, along with reliable internet access. You will be able to access a range of software and services from a Windows, Mac, Chromebook or Linux device. For certain degree programmes, you may need a specific device, or we may provide you with a laptop and appropriate software - details of which will be available on relevant programme pages. A dedicated IT support helpdesk is available in the event of any problems.
The University provides limited financial support to assist students who do not have the required IT equipment or broadband support in place.
Study abroad courses
In addition to travel and accommodation costs, while you are studying abroad, you will need to have a passport and, depending on the country, there may be other costs such as travel documents (e.g. VISA or work permit) and any tests and vaccines that are required at the time of travel. Some countries may require proof of funds.
Placement and industry year courses
In addition to possible commuting costs during your placement, you may need to buy clothing that is suitable for your workplace and you may have accommodation costs. Depending on the employer and your job, you may have other costs such as copies of personal documents required by your employer for example.
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Fees in subsequent years
Fees are set by the UK Government annually, and subsequent years' fees may be subject to increases. For international applicants starting in 2022, any annual increase will be capped at 4% of the previous year's fee.
Similar Courses
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English Literature/Creative Writing
- Chinese Studies and English Literature BA Hons : T1Q3
- English Language and Creative Writing BA Hons : Q3WV
- English Language and Creative Writing (Placement Year) BA Hons : Q4WV
- English Language and Creative Writing (Study Abroad) BA Hons : Q5WV
- English Language and Literature BA Hons : Q302
- English Language and Literature (Placement Year) BA Hons : Q303
- English Language and Literature (Study Abroad) BA Hons : Q306
- English Literature BA Hons : Q300
- English Literature (Placement Year) BA Hons : Q301
- English Literature (Study Abroad) BA Hons : Q307
- English Literature and Creative Writing BA Hons : QW38
- English Literature and Creative Writing (Placement Year) BA Hons : QW39
- English Literature and Creative Writing (Study Abroad) BA Hons : QW40
- English Literature and History BA Hons : QV31
- English Literature and History (Placement Year) BA Hons : QV32
- English Literature and Philosophy BA Hons : QV35
- English Literature and Philosophy (Placement Year) BA Hons : QV34
- English Literature with Creative Writing BA Hons : Q3W8
- English Literature with Creative Writing (Placement Year) BA Hons : Q3W9
- English Literature with Creative Writing (Study Abroad) BA Hons : Q3W7
- Film and Creative Writing BA Hons : PW38
- Film and Creative Writing (Placement Year) BA Hons : PW39
- Film and Creative Writing (Study Abroad) BA Hons : PW40
- Film and English Literature BA Hons : PQ33
- Film and English Literature (Placement Year) BA Hons : PQ34
- Film and English Literature (Study Abroad) BA Hons : PQ35
- Fine Art and Creative Writing BA Hons : WW18
- Fine Art and Creative Writing (Study Abroad) BA Hons : WW20
- French Studies and English Literature BA Hons : RQ13
- German Studies and English Literature BA Hons : RQ23
- Spanish Studies and English Literature BA Hons : RQ43
- Theatre and Creative Writing BA Hons : WW48
- Theatre and Creative Writing (Placement Year) BA Hons : WW49
- Theatre and Creative Writing (Study Abroad) BA Hons : WW50
- Theatre and English Literature BA Hons : WQ43
- Theatre and English Literature (Placement Year) BA Hons : WQ44
- Theatre and English Literature (Study Abroad) BA Hons : WQ45
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Fine Art
- Fine Art BA Hons : W100
- Fine Art (Placement Year) BA Hons : W101
- Fine Art (Study Abroad) BA Hons : W102
- Fine Art and Creative Writing BA Hons : WW18
- Fine Art and Creative Writing (Study Abroad) BA Hons : WW20
- Fine Art and Design BA Hons : W1W2
- Fine Art and Design (Placement Year) BA Hons : W1W3
- Fine Art and Design (Study Abroad) BA Hons : W1W4
- Fine Art and Film BA Hons : WP13
- Fine Art and Film (Placement Year) BA Hons : WP14
- Fine Art and Film (Study Abroad) BA Hons : WP15
- Fine Art and Theatre BA Hons : WW14
- Fine Art and Theatre (Placement Year) BA Hons : WW17
- Fine Art and Theatre (Study Abroad) BA Hons : WW13
Important information
The information on this site relates primarily to 2023/2024 entry to the University and every effort has been taken to ensure the information is correct at the time of publication.
The University will use all reasonable effort to deliver the courses as described, but the University reserves the right to make changes to advertised courses. In exceptional circumstances that are beyond the University’s reasonable control (Force Majeure Events), we may need to amend the programmes and provision advertised. In this event, the University will take reasonable steps to minimise the disruption to your studies. If a course is withdrawn or if there are any fundamental changes to your course, we will give you reasonable notice and you will be entitled to request that you are considered for an alternative course or withdraw your application. You are advised to revisit our website for up-to-date course information before you submit your application.
More information on limits to the University’s liability can be found in our legal information.
Our Students’ Charter
We believe in the importance of a strong and productive partnership between our students and staff. In order to ensure your time at Lancaster is a positive experience we have worked with the Students’ Union to articulate this relationship and the standards to which the University and its students aspire. View our Charter and other policies.