Course Structure

Students may enrol on a full-time (1 year) or part-time (3 years) basis. Part-time students typically complete one or two modules per semester. Full-time students typically complete three modules per semester.

The MA is awarded to students who successfully complete six taught modules (120 CATS points) and a 13,000-13,500 word prose or script dissertation (60 CATS points).

Exit qualifications are available: students may exit with a Postgraduate Diploma by successfully completing 120 CATS points from taught modules or a Postgraduate Certificate by successfully completing 60 CATS points from taught modules.

Compulsory Modules

Semester 1
(1) Craft and Technique (ENG7093)
(20 CATS; compulsory)

This module is about learning to read as a writer; reading in an interrogative way and exploring a wide range of set texts in order to broaden skills and learn new methods. The set texts will include novels, plays and screenplays, chosen to illustrate aspects of craft and for their usefulness to your writing. Taught in a weekly two-hour seminar and through Canvas, the module deals with a range of key issues in creative writing, including aspects of craft, the development of technique, the demands of structure, and approaches to characterisation.

The final assessment is by a creative piece of 2,500 words and a 1,000-word commentary essay, written in response to one or more of the module’s set texts and topics. By the end of the module, all students will have honed their analytical skills in evaluating prose and drama and will have practised applying new skills in their own creative work.

(2) Creative Writing Workshop 1: Drama (ENG7097)
(20 CATS; compulsory)

In this weekly two-hour workshop you and your fellow students have the opportunity to share your scripts and discuss them with the group. The workshop is a forum to share work-in-progress in an atmosphere of friendly rigour. At least two students per week present their evolving texts and we examine them in detail with a view to providing a set of notes for the basis of the next draft. The module’s fundamental aim is to induct students into the discipline of rewriting, thus provoking writing of real value. The module is assessed through the submission of a script of 3,500 words.

(3) Creative Writing Workshop 1: Prose (ENG7292)
(20 CATS; compulsory)

As in the drama workshop, in the weekly two-hour workshop you have the chance to discuss your work in progress with the group. At least two students per week will share their material and receive feedback. We will also read and discuss set texts to help us explore the fundamentals of prose writing: narrative voice, character, narrative, plot, dialogue, setting. The module is assessed through the submission of a work of prose (a short story or extract from a fully-synopsized longer piece) of 3,500 words.

Semester 2
(1) Creative Writing Workshop 2 (ENG7196)
(40 CATS; compulsory)

This weekly two-hour workshop runs in two separate strands for prose and drama. Various craft topics will be discussed, building on the discussions of the first semester. You will have chosen a specialism in either scriptwriting or prose fiction by this stage, and you will attend the relevant workshop, but those who wish to can also audit the other workshop, space permitting.

Assignments are in Prose Fiction (6,500 words) or Drama (6,500 words) for 40 CATS points.

Professionalising the MA (ENG7988)
(20 CATS; compulsory)

This module introduces students to the various marketplaces in which creative writers may operate. You will learn to write professional documents relating to a new piece of creative work, including the agent letter, the publisher letter, the logline, the short pitch, the outline, the synopsis and the treatment – amounting to around 3,500 words. Classes include visits from industry gatekeepers (editors, agents, producers, etc).

Dissertation

Creative Writing Dissertation (ENG7099)
(60 CATS; compulsory)

Students will be assigned a supervisor under whom they will complete a major creative work. (Prose or drama 13,000-13,500 words.) The dissertation is primarily a student-led individual research project, during which students will put into practice the skills and craft honed during the two taught semesters. It is worth 60 CAT points, or one third of the overall Masters programme.

Contact Teaching Hours

Small Group Teaching/Personal Tutorial

6 (hours maximum)
6 hours of workshops/seminars per week.

Teaching Times

Teaching typically takes place on weekday mornings and afternoons. Occasional optional seminars may take place on Saturdays.

Learning and Teaching

-

• -

  You’ll be part of a small, informal and chatty class. You’ll get to know your classmates and your lecturers well during workshops. You are expected to become an integral part of the Seamus Heaney Centre and are invited to attend and take part in the centre's regular events and readings.

Assessment

Assessments associated with the course are outlined below:

• Portfolios of creative work.

Modules

• Year 1

  Core Modules

  Dissertation Creative Writing (60 credits)

  ×

  Dissertation Creative Writing

  Overview

  Supervised dissertation of 13,000 - 13,500 words (compulsory)

  Learning Outcomes

  To bring creative writing worked on during academic year, and new material, to final completion.

  Skills

  Further development of creative skills plus additional skills of revision, editing, presentation.

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Credits

  60

  Module Code

  ENG7099

  Teaching Period

  Summer

  Duration

  12 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Core

  Optional Modules

  Professionalising the MA (20 credits)

  ×

  Professionalising the MA

  Overview

  Students will create original work expressed in summary form and learn to present this work, with attractive and impactful brevity, to the industry professionals who are the gatekeepers of their future careers. This will include learning to write treatments, outlines, synopses, pitch documents, agent packages and publisher packages. Lecturers will teach exemplars and feedback on evolving student work. The module will culminate in presentations to, and feedback from, industry professionals such as agents, publishers, producers and literary managers.

  Learning Outcomes

  Students should acquire practical knowledge associated with creating professional documents that are crucial in offering their work to their chosen creative industry (prose fiction or scriptwriting). Students should acquire the knowledge and understanding associated with writing and rewriting these documents while engaging in the guided creative practice of writing synopses, outlines and treatments for new, original work.

  Skills

  Students will acquire and develop creativity in the planning and plotting of new work, including exemplifying narrative structure, tension and clarity, and prioritising the experience of the busy professional reader.
  
  They will acquire the discipline and self-motivation to meet deadlines.
  
  They will acquire and put into practice new skills associated with presenting themselves and their work in a professional context and using professional templates, acquiring and utilising arts of persuasion. These will include skills of effective compression in writing, rhetorical analysis of their own work, and expressing contemporary knowledge of their form.
  
  Students will learn associated skills of analysing and presenting the strengths of their own work in the context of current trends, interests and preoccupations within their chosen creative industry. They should also learn skills of self-presentation, including arguing for their strengths in promotion of their work.
  
  They will acquire confidence and professionalism in presenting verbal pitches to industry professionals.

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  ENG7988

  Teaching Period

  Spring

  Duration

  10 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Creative Writing Workshops (40 credits)

  ×

  Creative Writing Workshops

  Overview

  Students will write creative pieces in either Prose Fiction or Scriptwriting with a greater word count than Semester 1 and demonstrating a development of their skills as the MA progresses. These pieces will be workshopped in class, with students developing their skills in practical criticism and feedback. Lecturers will facilitate the development of students’ skills by both commenting on students’ work and teaching best practice.
  
  The class is split into two wings: Prose Fiction and Scriptwriting. Students are asked to attend both but choose which form to be assessed early in the semester.

  Learning Outcomes

  Students should further develop their craft in both Prose Fiction and Scriptwriting and begin to specialise in the form that best reflects their skills.
  
  Students should deepen their knowledge and understanding of both classic and contemporary works and begin to understand where their own work sits within tradition and innovation.
  
  Students should further develop their skills in analysing and commenting on the developing work of others, applying that analysis also to their own work.

  Skills

  Students will acquire and develop creativity in the writing of new work.
  
  They will acquire the discipline and self-motivation to meet deadlines.
  
  They will acquire and put into practice new skills associated with presenting themselves and their work in a professional context.
  
  Students will learn associated skills of analysing the strengths and weaknesses of their own work and that of others.
  
  They will also acquire and put into practice skills of commenting on others’ work in a way that is simultaneously constructive and rigorous.
  
  They will acquire skills that will enhance their employability as writers, in creativity, self-motivation, self-discipline and professionalism.

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Credits

  40

  Module Code

  ENG7196

  Teaching Period

  Spring

  Duration

  10 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Scriptwriting: Creative Writing Workshop 1 (20 credits)

  ×

  Scriptwriting: Creative Writing Workshop 1

  Overview

  A two hour weekly workshop on writing for stage, screen and radio, to which students bring their work to be discussed with the module convenor and other students. A range of appropriate exercises then culminates in students' final projects.

  Learning Outcomes

  To provide a thorough grounding in the craft of writing for stage, screen and radio, through a focused approach to issues such as characterisation, story structure and dramatic language.

  Skills

  Students will bring their work to sessions and participate in discussions about their own and other students' work, in other words, they will move from the private experience of writing on their own to the more public experience of a workshop situation; an exercise that will help prepare them for the collaborative experience of working with actors, directors,etc. This transition from the private to the public is a key part of the scriptwriting process, and one that needs to be carefully managed.

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  ENG7097

  Teaching Period

  Autumn

  Duration

  10 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Fiction: Creative Writing Workshop 1 (20 credits)

  ×

  Fiction: Creative Writing Workshop 1

  Overview

  Fiction Creative Writing Workshop.

  Learning Outcomes

  To promote writing of fictions by the students, to encourage self-criticism and revision, to create a dialogue among them about fiction-writing and each other's work.

  Skills

  Development of creative-writing skills in the genre of fiction.

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  ENG7292

  Teaching Period

  Autumn

  Duration

  10 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

  Creative Writing: Craft and Technique (20 credits)

  ×

  Creative Writing: Craft and Technique

  Overview

  Students experience and discuss the different demands of the various literary genres to which they are committed. The class focuses on particular contemporary texts and genres and the tutors invite appropriate creative and critical exercises in response.

  Learning Outcomes

  To promote a sense of the relation between Creative Writing and critical reading and of the characteristics and demands of different genres.

  Skills

  The ability to link critical reading to creative writing in the forms of various exercises.

  Coursework

  100%

  Examination

  0%

  Practical

  0%

  Credits

  20

  Module Code

  ENG7093

  Teaching Period

  Autumn

  Duration

  10 weeks

  Pre-requisite

  No

  Core/Optional

  Optional

Entrance requirements

Graduate

A 2.1 Honours degree or equivalent qualification acceptable to the University in any discipline. Exceptions may be made in the case of applicants with a strong track record of publication, production, prize-winning or relevant professional experience.

All applicants are required to submit a sample of original written work which will be assessed to determine if an offer of admission can be made. The sample should be 1800-2200 words of prose fiction or 10-15 pages of script. The sample can be an extract. Writing samples that exceed the length limit will not be considered.

The University's Recognition of Prior Learning Policy provides guidance on the assessment of experiential learning (RPEL). Please visit http://go.qub.ac.uk/RPLpolicy for more information.

Applicants are advised to apply as early as possible and ideally no later than 16th August 2024 for courses which commence in late September. In the event that any programme receives a high number of applications, the University reserves the right to close the application portal. Notifications to this effect will appear on the Direct Application Portal against the programme application page.

International Students

Our country/region pages include information on entry requirements, tuition fees, scholarships, student profiles, upcoming events and contacts for your country/region. Use the dropdown list below for specific information for your country/region.

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English Language Requirements

Evidence of an IELTS* score of 6.5, with not less than 5.5 in any component, or an equivalent qualification acceptable to the University is required. *Taken within the last 2 years.

International students wishing to apply to Queen's University Belfast (and for whom English is not their first language), must be able to demonstrate their proficiency in English in order to benefit fully from their course of study or research. Non-EEA nationals must also satisfy UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) immigration requirements for English language for visa purposes.

For more information on English Language requirements for EEA and non-EEA nationals see: www.qub.ac.uk/EnglishLanguageReqs.

Career Prospects

Introduction

Graduates from these programmes have a good employment record. Professions including publishing, journalism, public relations, teaching, advertising, the Civil Service, business, industry and the media all recruit from our pool of graduates. Some students choose to continue their studies to PhD level on a chosen, specialised topic in Creative Writing.

Queen's postgraduates reap exceptional benefits. Unique initiatives, such as Degree Plus and Researcher Plus bolster our commitment to employability, while innovative leadership and executive programmes alongside sterling integration with business experts helps our students gain key leadership positions both nationally and internationally.
http://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/sgc/careers/

Graduate Plus/Future Ready Award for extra-curricular skills

In addition to your degree programme, at Queen's you can have the opportunity to gain wider life, academic and employability skills. For example, placements, voluntary work, clubs, societies, sports and lots more. So not only do you graduate with a degree recognised from a world leading university, you'll have practical national and international experience plus a wider exposure to life overall. We call this Graduate Plus/Future Ready Award. It's what makes studying at Queen's University Belfast special.

Tuition Fees

Northern Ireland (NI) 1	£7,300
Republic of Ireland (ROI) 2	£7,300
England, Scotland or Wales (GB) 1	£9,250
EU Other 3	£21,500
International	£21,500

¹EU citizens in the EU Settlement Scheme, with settled status, will be charged the NI or GB tuition fee based on where they are ordinarily resident. Students who are ROI nationals resident in GB will be charged the GB fee.

² EU students who are ROI nationals resident in ROI are eligible for NI tuition fees.

³ EU Other students (excludes Republic of Ireland nationals living in GB, NI or ROI) are charged tuition fees in line with international fees.

All tuition fees quoted relate to a single year of study unless stated otherwise. Tuition fees will be subject to an annual inflationary increase, unless explicitly stated otherwise.

More information on postgraduate tuition fees.

Additional course costs

There are no specific additional course costs associated with this programme.

All Students

Depending on the programme of study, there may be extra costs which are not covered by tuition fees, which students will need to consider when planning their studies.

Students can borrow books and access online learning resources from any Queen's library. If students wish to purchase recommended texts, rather than borrow them from the University Library, prices per text can range from £30 to £100. Students should also budget between £30 to £75 per year for photocopying, memory sticks and printing charges.

Students undertaking a period of work placement or study abroad, as either a compulsory or optional part of their programme, should be aware that they will have to fund additional travel and living costs.

If a programme includes a major project or dissertation, there may be costs associated with transport, accommodation and/or materials. The amount will depend on the project chosen. There may also be additional costs for printing and binding.

Students may wish to consider purchasing an electronic device; costs will vary depending on the specification of the model chosen.

There are also additional charges for graduation ceremonies, examination resits and library fines.

How to Apply

Apply using our online Postgraduate Applications Portal and follow the step-by-step instructions on how to apply.

Apply now

Terms and Conditions

The terms and conditions that apply when you accept an offer of a place at the University on a taught programme of study.
Queen's University Belfast Terms and Conditions.

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