Course overview
Alongside studying topics such as romantic and Victorian literature, modernism, postmodernism and postcolonial writing, you have the opportunity to practise your creativity in a number of forms, contexts and genres. You gain a solid understanding of creative-critical approaches, and develop personal and professional skills which are greatly valued by employers.
This course includes a foundation year - ideal if you need additional preparation or if you don't have sufficient grades to join Year 1 of a degree.
Top reasons to study this course:
- Skills for the future: 94.7% of creative writing students agreed that their course has developed the knowledge and skills they think they will need for their future (National Student Survey 2024, tees.ac.uk/source).
- Graduate outcomes: We are ranked 4th for Graduate Prospects – On Track for English in the Complete University Guide 2025 (96 institutions were ranked, tees.ac.uk/source).
Course details
Course structure
Foundation year core modules
Discovering the Social Sciences, Humanities and Law
You are introduced to the historical and contemporary development of social science disciplines, exploring examples of theoretical challenges and ways in which research is practically applied in society. Gain an understanding of both similarities and differences between disciplines, and how interdisciplinary research is fostered through collaboration. Explore academic standards, ethical guidelines and research protocols, personal development, and both study and transferable skills relevant to your studies and career.
This is a 40-credit module.
Investigating Society and Culture: The Case of Crime
Taking a multidisciplinary approach, explore crime through history, politics, English and creative writing, criminology, sociology, psychology and education to investigate the problems within society and culture.
This is a 20-credit module.
Identify and explore an area of interest related to your area of study through small-scale research using secondary data or desk-based research. You analyse an appropriate area of focus for your project using academic support.
This is a 20-credit module.
Your Toolkit for University Success
You develop your personal and academic skills to help prepare you for searching and retrieving information, evaluating different types of evidence, critical thinking and reading skills, note-taking and summarising evidence, presentation skills, groupwork, digital literacy and employability.
This is a 40-credit module.
Year 1 core modules
Literature Now: Writing and Audience
Why do you write? Who are your readers? What do you need to consider in terms of voice? What purpose can literature serve in an era of Twitter threads, viral stories, post-truth and fake news? Do we need libraries when we have Google? How has the rise of the internet impacted on the physical book? Has the growth of social media and online lives replaced reading? Do all cultures access and read literature in the same way?
You explore and analyse professional writing including online articles, reviews, ‘how to’ guides, interpretative writing and live texts using augmented reality technologies. You work towards your final portfolio using the workshop space to experiment with different forms and approaches to professional writing.
This is a 20-credit module.
On and Off the Page: Critical and Creative Skills in Practice
Get an introduction to critical and creative skills and techniques to support you in developing your own reading and writing. Learn how to apply close reading techniques to a range of texts and voices, across different forms, genres and global perspectives. You deepen your understanding of writing and reading by analysing a range of critical approaches to novels, poetry and drama.
This is a 40-credit module.
Romantics to Victorians: Literature, Culture, and Society
Consider how romantic and Victorian literature is influenced by so many factors - the political revolution in Europe and beyond, a rising discussion of rights, the Woman Question, and industrial, economic and scientific transformations. You focus on the period between the French Revolution and Queen Victoria's death in 1901 to explore the dynamic relationship between their historical and cultural context.
Critically write about class, gender and race to explore the ideological assumptions covered in late 18th and 19th-century literature.
This is a 40-credit module.
Words Matter: Writing for Social Change
You investigate key writers, past and present, who have played or continue to play a role in social change. You address questions about why studying literature and creative writing matters.
You consider the opportunities available after graduation including becoming an educator, publisher, facilitator, communicator and creative. And you write your own manifesto, alongside a personal development plan, to achieve your goals after you graduate.
This is a 20-credit module.
Year 2 core modules
Colonial and Postcolonial Writing: Global Voices in Context
Examine colonial-era and postcolonial literary texts, including poetry, fiction, short fiction, drama, and life-writing. Consider different historical perspectives on, and legacies of, empire, from a range of country contexts including South Asia, Africa, Australasia, as well as America and Europe. Explore pressing concerns about how far such texts have questioned, and may continue to contest, dominant and often damaging perspectives on race, ethnicity, class and gender in changing colonial, postcolonial, neo-colonial and decolonising contexts.
This is a 40-credit module.
Future Directions: Research, Careers and Development in the Humanities
Develop graduate skills in preparation for further study, employment or lifelong learning, through engagement with our Student Futures team and humanities practitioners. Gain insight into career pathways and explore the opportunities available to humanities graduates, including as educators, policy-makers, publishers, facilitators, communicators, and creatives. Work on an individual project, either work focused or academic focused.
This is a 20-credit module.
Make it New: Experimental Writing
Explore modernism as one of the most innovative and artistic movements of the 20th century, whilst examining your own experimental writing practices.
You examine the diverse ways of writing in the early 20th century by experimenting with new methods of writing whilst reflecting on your own style. You investigate literature and other forms of cultural expression such as visual art, music and film to understand the relationship between modernism and modernity. You also learn how past artists and writers responded to historical and cultural change. And you analyse if current writers continue to innovate new styles in the same way.
This is a 40-credit module.
Representation and Cultural Identity: Student Conference
It is believed that our sense of who we are and how we perceive others is tied to the way identities are constructed through cultural representation. How does the way our perception is constructed tend to privilege some groups over others? Examine key theoretical perspectives on the representation of identity in relation to a range of concepts – such as class, gender, race, sexuality and disability – as constructed in and represented by contemporary culture. Investigate these ideas in relation to a contemporary cultural text of your choosing and present your research as a paper at a student conference.
This is a 20-credit module.
Final-year core modules
Contemporary Debates in Creative Writing
What does it mean to facilitate or be part of a writing group? How do you find an agent, or publish your writing? What are the links between writing and well-being? What are some of the central debates in creative writing and publishing today? Gain the tools and skills that help you to understand issues and ethics in a variety of professional settings for writers. You produce a seminar report that reflects on one of the issues or debates introduced during the module, and a professional project plan that you can go on to implement after the course.
This is a 20-credit module.
Through a major piece of creative writing, you explore a specific type of writing in depth and reflect on the process involved in its production. You develop your skills in working both autonomously and in small groups, with guidance from your supervisor. Address the real topics and issues faced by professional writers to enhance your transferable skills such as gathering, researching and organising your ideas, editing, redrafting, incorporating feedback and contextualising your writing.
This is a 40-credit module.
Doing Research: Developing Your Specialism
Gain the skills and knowledge to devise, develop and execute an extended independent research project in an area of critical or creative practice. Develop advanced research skills including reflective practice, critical research, creative practice-based research, self-management, and research project management, preparing you for your dissertation and creative writing project. Explore the work of researchers in English and creative writing through research specialism workshops, which showcase recent and active research projects, providing insights into the wide-ranging research practices underpinning this work.
This is a 40-credit module.
You address what is meant by genre writing and how this can be used to engage readers. Consider writers’ approaches to a range of genres, forms and modes of writing across fiction, non-fiction and poetry. You explore how writers borrow and develop speech and conventions including speculative writing, writing about popular culture, memoir, horror writing and young adult writing. Develop your understanding of different kinds of audiences, and explore developments in style and genre.
You practise and develop skills to produce, craft and edit a final submission of creative work. And you reflect on the process within a framework drawn from the topics discussed from your own independent reflection and research.
This is a 20-credit module.
Modules offered may vary.
How you learn
At Teesside University you learn in a range of settings from discussion-based seminars to independent research, small group work, one-to-one meetings and workshops. Reading groups and peer support play an important part in your learning too. You’ll work with lecturers who are experts in teaching and learning as well as being scholars, researchers and writers.
How you are assessed
With no formal examinations, you are assessed through creative-critical projects, essays, portfolios, reports, presentations, manifestos and a major final-year writing project, all of which develop advanced skills in creative, academic and professional writing, as well as high-level presentation and communication skills.
Our Disability Services team provide an inclusive and empowering learning environment and have specialist staff to support disabled students access any additional tailored resources needed. If you have a specific learning difficulty, mental health condition, autism, sensory impairment, chronic health condition or any other disability please contact a Disability Services as early as possible.
Find out more about our disability services
Find out more about financial support
Find out more about our course related costs
Entry requirements
Entry requirements
Call us on 01642 738400 about our entry requirements
For general information please see our overview of entry requirements
International applicants can find out what qualifications they need by visiting Your Country
You can gain considerable knowledge from work, volunteering and life. Under recognition of prior learning (RPL) you may be awarded credit for this which can be credited towards the course you want to study.
Find out more about RPL
Employability
Career opportunities
Graduates are well prepared to work as editors and writers in publishing houses or freelance writers for the creative industries. Other potential career paths include journalism, media and communication, retail management, arts administration, civil service, education, performing arts and the law.
For those interested in extending their studies, we offer four MA degrees: in English literature, creative writing, creative writing (online) and creative writing and wellbeing (online).
Information for international applicants
Qualifications
International applicants - find out what qualifications you need by selecting your country below.
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Useful information
Visit our international pages for useful information for non-UK students and applicants.