English with Creative Writing BA(Hons)

Why study BA(Hons) English with Creative Writing at University College Falmouth?

BA(Hons) English with Creative Writing course leaflet (1.62 MB)

Falmouth's English with Creative Writing course will encourage you to explore the relationship between English literature and creative writing, offering you a unique opportunity to develop both your creativity and your critical eye.

Whatever you're interested in - from fantasy novels to film scripts - you'll be given the freedom to focus on the areas of literature, creative writing and media that bring out the best in you, enabling you to underpin your writing with a set of well-honed transferable skills ready for professional application.

"The course challenged my perceptions, re-invigorated my passion and writing and pushed me to think deeply, theoretically and creatively." Dan Prisk, BA(Hons) English with Creative Writing graduate

Tell me more about the BA(Hons) English with Creative Writing course

"I have found the lectures and seminars, although sometimes overwhelming in terms of the amount of information, very educational and above all else enjoyable. I can honestly say that every member of staff that I have had contact with has been friendly, knowledgeable and passionate about the topics that have been covered. I look forward to what is to come." James Millar, BA(Hons) English with Creative Writing student

Imagination, communication and critical awareness are central to English with Creative Writing at Falmouth. At the heart of the course - ranked among the best English courses in the UK by The Guardian's University Guide - is the notion that you can perfect your creative and critical skills through a flexible, progressive learning schedule.

With a strong emphasis on cultural studies, you'll engage with theory and work from idea, concept and research to style, tone and structure. Your writing will become more informed; sharpened and ready to apply to a wide range of career opportunities from journalism to publishing.

Through lectures, seminars and tutorials, our experienced staff - both academics and writers across a range of disciplines - will guide you through the development of a text, from the initial idea to how it's received by an audience. You'll examine both the practical, creative and academic aspects, which are crucial to the craft of writing, as well as developing the essential creative, analytical and communication skills, and technical and theoretical knowledge to fuel your creative writing.

As the course develops you'll understand exactly what your writing is doing and why, and will be able to demonstrate this understanding through project work, essays, seminar presentations and two dissertations in your final year.

At Falmouth we want you to feel inspired, and we want you to question, analyse, and deconstruct your own work. Put simply, we're sure you won't find another course quite like this.

"The course is run by a team of highly dedicated lecturers, whose passion for the course has really inspired me. My tutors have always taken time to help me with any problems I've had, which I've always been thankful for. The units taught on the course are stimulating and highly interesting and I feel that they've pushed me to my full potential." Theo Krekis, BA(Hons) English with Creative Writing student

Course publications

At University College Falmouth, we believe all good writing is creative and that it underpins and informs all the subject areas on offer to our students, just as literary and media theory underpin and inform creative writing. So whether studying topics such as Creative Writing and Cultural Criticism, Science and Literature, The Gothic and Grotesque, Creative Non-Fiction, or genrebased units such as Writing Fiction, Writing for Radio or Poetry & Form, our students’ work is rooted in writing and reading, discussion and debate, close reading, contextualisation and creative response.

WiTH magazine came out of a growing excitement among our students body about what they had written, and a desire to share and showcase it with others in the university. In the last two years five issues of the magazine have been produced, but the paperback volume, WiTH6, is our formal launch issue and includes some highlights of previous issues along with much previously unpublished work.

WiTH6 (456.97 KB)

WiTH8

"What really struck me about the course at Falmouth is that it allows such a wide variety of writing - whether it's theatre, novels or articles that you want to write - the course encourages it all." Dominic Knutton, Theatre Director

New books by BA(Hons) English with Creative Writing lecturer

From Hepworth's Garden Out
Poems about painters and St. Ives
Rupert Loydell (Ed.)

From Rupert Loydell's first visit to this small Cornish harbour town, he, along with many others, has been fascinated by the combination of sea, light, people and painting that constitute St. Ives.

These themes, along with tourism & trade, myth and the nature of creativity itself, are the subject of this anthology. From Hepworth's Garden Out has at its heart the sculptor Barbara Hepworth's garden and studio, now run by the Tate as a small museum. It is a secluded and magical place, however full of visitors, and it is from this small green oasis and its stone and metal inhabitants that this book starts its winding journey.

Troubles Swapped for Something Fresh
Manifestos and Unmanifestos
Rupert Loydell (Ed.)

Edited by Rupert Loydell, Troubles Swapped for Something Fresh is an eclectic and exciting gathering of poetry and prose-poems that try to understand what poetry is and who or what it might be for. It is also about what writers might want or demand from poetry, in either a general or personal way.

A decade of English at Falmouth

In 2008, graduates celebrated the tenth anniversary of BA(Hons) English with Media Studies at Falmouth. Over the last decade, the course has grown from a small part time course to one of the largest undergraduate departments at the institution, with over 200 full time students currently studying either English with Media Studies or English with Creative Writing.

The reunion event included a small showcase of work from 2008 graduates and the official launch of our student anthology: ‘WiTH' magazine. A jazz band then welcomed alumni into the beautiful Italian Garden of Tremough House for drinks, a barbeque and party.

Photographs from the event can be viewed here

Facilities

Our Learning Resource Centre and IT facilities boast:

• 140,000 books
• A comprehensive electronic and journal resource base
• Newspaper and slide archives
• Over 17,000 titles in our DVD & video library

Course outline

Level 1

• Introduction to Literary Studies
• Introduction to Media Studies
• The Craft of Writing
• The Knowing Self: Literature and Culture (1540 - 1688)
• Critical Practices
• Creative Writing Strategies

Level 2

• Freedom and Experiment: Literature and Culture (1688 - 1832)
• Cultural Theory and the Politics of the Popular
• Making Nations: Literature and Culture (1832 - 1914)
• The Politics of Subjectivity and Identity

Plus one option from each study block:

• Writing Short Stories
• Writing Lyrics
• Poetry and Form
• Writing for Radio

• Writing a Novel
• Screen Writing
• The Long Poem and Poem Sequence
• Different Engines: Science Fiction

Level 3

• Dissertation
• Literature and Culture (1914 - 1968)
• Literature and Culture (1968 - Present)

Plus one option from each study block:

• Writing for Theatre
• Alt Dot Writing
• Travel Writing: Literary Histories and Practice
• Bodies, Gender and Language

• Creative Non-Fiction
• Poetry for Publication and Performance
• Writing for Children
• Mass Market Fictions

Guest lectures

Below is a list of speakers from the BA(Hons) English with Creative Writing guest lecture series:

Dr Bryony Randall, University of Glasgow, a leading national expert on Virginia Woolf

Dr Clarissa Smith - on her recent book

Dr Shamira Meghani, University of Sussex - on Sexuality, Nationalism and Bollywood film

Jean McNeil, novelist - on her experience as writer in residence for a scientific exploration of the Arctic

Phil Terry, poet - on the Oulipo writing project

Andy Brown, poet, novelist - on ecopoetics

Tony Lopez - on WS Graham and St Ives artists

Nicholas Royle, novelist - Craft of Writing 1

Peter Blegvad, singersongwriter, lecturer - Writing Lyrics

David Grubb, poet, novelist - Craft of Writing 1 and 2

Martin Stannard, poet - Poetry & Form

Phil Bowen, poet, comedian - Poetry & Form + open performance

Luke Kennard, poet, playwright - Poetry & Form + open performance

Tony Lopez, poet, critic, lecturer - Craft of Writing 2

Penelope Shuttle, poet, novelist - Craft of Writing 2

Allen Fisher, poet, critic, lecturer - Craft of Writing

Sam Richards, ethnomusicologist, lecturer - Writing Lyrics

Answers and advice about the course

If you have any queries about the course please visit our HelpMe Forum

HelpMe Forum

Career opportunities

The undergraduate English with Creative Writing course equips you with skills in creative and critical thinking, project management and group work, and in communication through a variety of media and genres. It offers grounding for the kinds of ability and skill required in publishing, teaching and training, and in most media based careers, such as journalism and broadcasting, or people-oriented careers, such as librarianship.

• Writer
• Journalist
• Advertising
• PR
• Marketing
• Publishing
• Arts adminstration

Course entry requirements

UCAS Tariff 220 points, mainly from the A2 level, or the equivalent qualifications/experience, which we’re happy to discuss with you at interview.

For further information about BA(Hons) English with Creative Writing at University College Falmouth, please email admissions@falmouth.ac.uk or telephone Admissions on 01326 214358.

Interview dates and selection process

Interviews will commence in late February.

The interview will include small group interviews followed by individual interviews and a tour of the campus. Applicants are not expected to bring samples of their writing to interview but will be asked to discuss their knowledge of, commitment to and enthusiasm for the subject.

Location: Tremough Campus

Related courses

• English with Media Studies BA(Hons)
• Journalism BA(Hons)
• Writing BA(Hons)
• Public Relations BA(Hons)
• Theatre: Writing BA(Hons)