Programm - Creative and Critical Writing

The MA in Creative and Critical Writing explores the dynamic relationship between the creative writing of poems, prose and drama, and the other forms of writing that all creative writers both draw on and use in their own practice. It is impossible to write science fiction or romance without an awareness of the conventions of genre, to attempt parody without a critical understanding of originals, or to compose sonnets (or even limericks) without a knowledge of verse form. The MA not only places all creative writing in its critical and literary-historical context, but also recognises the fertile exchange between creative and critical practice. Just as critical writing, at its best, is always also creative, so creative writing always belongs, culturally, to a critical context. Whilst never neglecting the pleasure of writing as an end in itself, the MA recognises the full range of varieties of professional writing. There is no practising professional poet who writes only poetry. Poets are also reviewers, literary critics, commentators, biographers, lecturers, guest speakers, readers, script-writers, interviewers, interviewees, and writers of factual prose. Any professional career in writing requires a range of skills which combines the critical with the creative.