Creative Writing 

We will encourage you to try new things: new genres, new narratives and new language. Perhaps most importantly of all, we will encourage you to write whether you feel like it or not, to stop waiting for a “muse” to inspire you but to instead take control of your own creative talent - to find your own voice.

Our MA in Creative Writing is taught by staff who are both published writers and practising academics thoroughly experienced in the challenges of university research.

Creative Writing staff comprise a team of leading scholars which includes award-winning poets and novelists. Creative writing staff at Bangor publish in the major forms of short fiction, the novel and poetry, their research spanning criticism and practice-based contributions to these areas.

A postgraduate qualification in in Creative Writing may lead to a career as a novelist, poet or playwright. Planning and developing a substantial writing project is a good preparation for future funded or commissioned writing, as well as for an academic career in practice-based research.

You will also acquire skills that can be applied in other contexts, for example editing, publishing, journalism or arts administration. The ability to use language fluently and persuasively is essential for success in almost any field, and the flexibility of working across genres in this course offers an excellent grounding in creative language use.

The expertise of Creative Writing staff lies in the craft of language and storytelling within the broad context of professional practice. Creative writing staff at Bangor publish in the major forms of short fiction, the novel and poetry, their research spanning criticism and practice-based contributions to these areas. 

Staff are internationally recognised experts in their chosen field, bringing knowledge and enthusiasm to their teaching.  The department has an active community of research students and offers research supervision in a range of specialist areas, including:  Poetry, Short story writing, Experimental writing, Ecopolitics.

English Literature & Creative Writing research interests are varied in period and approach. Ongoing and new areas of research in Creative Writing include adaptation, experimentation and translation and creative writing, approached from a range of perspectives and theoretical angles, informed by gender, social class, ideology, as well as the relationships between literature and the arts, literature and geography and literature and religion.