Creative Writing BA (Hons)

Good writers are good readers first and foremost. This module will introduce you to theories, debates and practices in narrative, enhancing your understanding of narrative as it functions both within literature and culture generally. You will examine some of the codes and conventions that govern the production, structure, reception and interpretation of narrative, exploring films, novels, poetry and plays, from Ovid’s Metamorphoses to Hitchcock’s Vertigo. By engaging with these varied narrative forms you will consider the relationship between narrative and culture and think critically about the historical development of those forms.

This module introduces you to core skills in creative writing, including creating setting, poetic form, working with dialogue and characterisation. You will also develop skills in workshopping and collaborating on creative work, familiarising yourself with the workshop environment that will be central to your learning on this course. You will have the opportunity to experiment with a range of forms and ideas in group writing activities and will become more confident in sharing your work with others.

This module will introduce you to the variety of professional contexts you could work in as a creative writer. You will start to develop the professional skills needed to work as a writer, working to deadlines and writing to briefs. You will engage with many different forms of writing – from memoirs to scripts, graphic novels to blogs. As part of this module you will have the chance to meet a variety of inspiring visiting writers, who can share their expertise with you.

This module will emphasise the role of research in the production of creative work. We will introduce you to a range of research techniques to help stimulate creative projects, and to help contextualise your writing. You will use different types of research materials to generate your own work, as well as studying texts that have been produced using different research methods. You will have the opportunity to take part in creative projects based on archival work.

This module will help you to become more confident in working with literature at degree level. You will engage with a range of texts written before the 19th century. This includes prose, drama, poetry, speeches, letters and articles. Through this you will start to think about how literature and history can be brought together, and why the study of English Literature remains a popular and important subject.

On this module we will examine some well known classic texts alongside more unusual selections. These texts will help you to question the social, political, cultural and historical values through which we approach literature. This includes an exciting range of texts across different media and forms, from 19th century poetry to early cinema and 1930s nonfiction. Along the way we will consider questions of gender, class, war, empire, form, genre and much more.

This work related module will develop your understanding of the relationship between creative writing practices and employability in the creative industries. It is an opportunity for you to explore the methods and means of literary publishing, production and performance, developing transferable and employable skills through project work. You will combine a broad exploration of industry aims and ethics with first hand experience of specific editorial, commercial, and practical processes.

This module is an opportunity to read and produce a range of fictional forms, from flash fictions to novellas, short stories to novels. You will develop an understanding of:

• Characterisation
• Voice
• Plot
• Narration
• Dialogue
• Point of view

By the end of the module, you will have written your own fiction portfolio.

This module will give you the opportunity to explore a range of creative nonfiction texts including:

• Memoir
• Biography
• The Creative Essay
• Hybrid Forms
• Nature Writing

You will develop your understanding of voice, structure and audience in relation to these forms and consider the blurred lines between fact and fiction in nonfiction writing. By viewing, reading a range of nonfictional texts we will ask you to make to produce your own creative nonfiction texts.

From the sonnet to the prose poem, on this module you will learn about the formal qualities of poetry and discover how to produce dazzling imagery and perfect rhythm; manipulating voice and pace. You will study a range of contemporary poets, supplemented by visits and readings from some of them. You will produce your own portfolio of work by the end of the module.

This module addresses the essential elements of scriptwriting. This includes writing convincing dialogue, creating interesting characters and constructing coherent stories. We will also introduce you to the cultural, theoretical and industrial contexts of scriptwriting. You will develop your expressive and technical skills in writing scripts for 1 or more of the following disciplines:

• Radio
• Television
• Stage and film

You will then create your own original script.

On this module we will explore the different ways books and films tell stories, and what happens to literature and literary characters when they are translated onto the screen. We will introduce you to the theory, methods and conventions behind the process of adaptation. In addition to examining specific examples of film adaptation, you can choose to experiment creatively on an adaptation project of your own, using what you have learnt.

Science Fiction has a history of encouraging readers and viewers to reflect on their post industrial choices, and consider how they have affected the wellbeing of the planet and its inhabitants. On this module we will draw on a range of critical perspectives around utopianism to approach landmark texts in the history of science fiction. You will have the opportunity to get involved with our ongoing science fiction writing project Terra Two: An Ark for Off-World Survival (https://yorkstjohnterratwo.com/).

This extended project will see you independently research, plan and write a substantial piece of creative writing. This allows you to develop technical mastery in your chosen forms and genres, as well as developing professional presentation skills. The creative work is accompanied by a Contextual Reflection which will demonstrate your analytical and research skills. You will be guided by a supervisor with expertise in the area you focus on. You also have the option to take part in a weekend residential writing retreat as part of your dissertation project.

On this module we will encourage you to consider the historical, theoretical, cultural and political dimensions of genre, as well as exploring the conventions which are attributed to specific genres. You will also be given the opportunity to critically explore differentiations between high and low culture and investigate genres such as tragedy, satire and gothic, romance, horror, and noir. The module will help you to develop an awareness of literary and generic concepts between and across different forms. Through this you will develop skills in original composition, drafting and editing.

This module is an opportunity to explore and participate in contemporary literature. You will start to develop the relationship between your creative practice and the theory, philosophy, and politics that uniform and inspire contemporary work. You will engage with writing that challenges the traditional boundaries of literature and is fresh, exciting and innovative. You will also consider a broad range of materials and techniques that will help you to develop your own innovative creative practices.

We will introduce you to a range of very contemporary publishing and literary cultures, with a view to helping you position your own work in the contemporary literary landscape. You will be encouraged to think critically about literary culture, and develop a sense of how your own work might contribute to or challenge contemporary modes of writing. The module also has a practical focus and will help you to develop a professional portfolio you can use as a springboard into your career.

On this module you will investigate how the novel form was developed, challenged, and experimented with in the Victorian period. You will consider how the novel engages with and represents social issues in the period, but also how the novel form itself adapted and transformed as a vehicle of expression. You will discover how novels transformed from realist texts which set out to depict believable and probable events and characters to varied and experimental genres, including:

• Science fiction
• The sensation novel
• Romance
• Mystery and adventure

This module examines the origins of Gothic literature and conventions, exploring how the Gothic persists and adapts to different historical and cultural contexts. We will be reading poetry and prose, drama and non-fiction throughout the module, as well as considering other media such as art, film, and sound and critical theories of the Gothic.

On this module you will investigate the theatrical experimentation that took place over the last century, and consider its impact on the contemporary stage. You will consider the major movements and perspectives of the period against the background of wider intellectual, cultural and aesthetic debates. Through this we will explore the creative dynamics between:

• Tradition and innovation
• Word and image
• Writing and performance
• Reading and spectatorship

This module will examine a selection of texts from 20th century American literature, and relate these works to their cultural, social and political backgrounds. We will focus on texts that demonstrate formal innovation and experimentation, and the selection will reflect the variety of twentieth century American experience. You will read Native American, African American and Chinese-American texts alongside literature produced in the wake of radical social change such as Beat writing, Vietnam narratives, and responses to 9/11.

On this module we will examine texts from the English speaking and Creole Caribbean, a region that has produced 2 Nobel Prize winners in Literature. We will introduce you to a range of writing from and about the Caribbean, allowing you to appreciate the longstanding global impact of this writing and how it is currently being marked and remembered. We will particularly focus on the close connections of the past and present between Britain and the Caribbean.

On this module we will explore issues surrounding gender and sexuality. We will debate whether various elements of gender are natural or cultural, as well as how different genders and sexualities are presented in film and literature. We will investigate how do different cultural groups use popular culture and literature to reinforce, challenge, transgress or disrupt traditional gender expectations. This module challenges you to draw on all of the skills, theories and approaches encountered throughout your degree to interrogate the representation of gender roles and sexuality in popular culture.