professor of creative writing uea

BA (Hons) Drama and Creative Writing

Key Details

Why you should choose us

Course overview.

This unique degree unites UEA’s strengths in creative writing and in drama to give you an exhilarating immersion in writing and performance. 

You will have the opportunity to study all kinds of creative writing, with a particular focus on writing for theatre, cinema, television, and radio. Alongside, you'll be exploring the contemporary practice, criticism, and history of dramatic writing and performance. Your writing will be enriched by an awareness of theatrical and literary traditions from around the globe. 

You’ll take practical drama modules, and you’ll have full access to our professionally equipped 200-seat Drama Studio. This comprehensive grounding in acting, directing, and all other aspects of stagecraft will enable you to graduate as a writer with an instinctive feel for the world of theatre and performing arts.  

Our BA Drama and Creative Writing is ranked 6th for Creative Writing by  'The Guardian University Guide 2023'.

You'll gain a thorough grounding in writing for stage and screen, which will be complemented by opportunities to develop your skills in non-dramatic writing, too. Your stage and screen writing will be improved by getting to grips with the ins-and-outs of theatrical performance, while you become better able to analyse dramatic language by writing it yourself. 

At the heart of your degree are scriptwriting masterclasses with practising writers, where you’ll discover the formats, conventions, and techniques of writing for different   dramatic genres and media. You’ll learn by writing scenes and short scripts, offering critiques of each other’s work, and by working closely with other Drama students. 

In your second and third years, you'll be able to develop your craft as a writer by taking workshops in prose or poetry, working closely with our world-famous creative writing colleagues.  

Throughout your degree, you will gain hands-on experience by participating in production and practical project work. You’ll have the keys to our professionally equipped 200-seat Drama Studio, giving you the chance to control everything in your own productions. You’ll also have access to performance and placement opportunities, including a creative industries internship in your second year, which involves a work placement in a drama-producing organisation or environment.  

You’ll encounter an astonishing array of drama and a wealth of performance styles, from naturalism to Noh theatre. You’ll engage with major theoretical and directorial approaches, from Aristotle to Boal, from live art to physical theatre. And you can examine the use of theatre and performance – by the state, by political activists, and by theatre and performance practitioners – to solidify or challenge structures of power. 

You’ll benefit from our highly regarded student run Minotaur Theatre Company, which gives you the chance to gain additional performance, technical and scriptwriting experience, as well as exciting chances to share your writing at events such as New Writing Live. Find out more about life in the School of Literature, Drama, and Creative Writing on our Instagram @uealdc. 

Placement Year and Study Abroad

You have the option to apply to study abroad for one semester of your second year. Studying abroad is a wonderfully enriching life experience – you will develop confidence and adaptability, and will have the chance to deepen your understanding of drama and writing while learning about another culture. At UEA, you will also be surrounded throughout your degree by the many students we welcome from around the world to study with us. 

For further details, visit the  Study Abroad section  of our website.  

Entry Requirements

A Level – BBB

BTEC L3 Extended Diploma – DDM

UEA are committed to ensuring that Higher Education is accessible to all, regardless of their background or experiences. One of the ways we do this is through our contextual admissions schemes .  

Applications from students whose first language is not English are welcome. We require evidence of proficiency in English (including writing, speaking, listening and reading):  

IELTS: 6.5 overall (minimum 5.5 in all components) for year 1 entry 

We also accept a number of other English language tests. Review  our English Language Equivalencies  for a list of example qualifications that we may accept to meet this requirement.

If you do not yet meet the English language requirements for this course, INTO UEA offer a variety of English language programmes which are designed to help you develop the English skills necessary for successful undergraduate study:  

Pre-sessional English at INTO UEA   

Academic English at INTO UEA   

Additional Information or Requirements

UEA are committed to ensuring that Higher Education is accessible to all, regardless of their background or experiences. One of the ways we do this is through our contextual admissions schemes.  

If you do not have an A-Level or equivalent qualification in one of the subjects listed above,  once you have submitted your UCAS form we may then contact you to ask you to submit a short analysis of a passage of a literary text in support of your application.

We welcome and value a wide range of alternative qualifications.  If you have a qualification which is not listed here, please contact us via Admissions Enquiries .

If you do not meet the academic requirements for direct entry, you may be interested in one of our   Foundation Year programmes

Important note

Once enrolled onto your course at UEA, your progression and continuation (which may include your eligibility for study abroad, overseas experience, placement or year in industry opportunities) is contingent on meeting the assessment requirements which are relevant to the course on which you are enrolled.

International Requirements 

We accept many international qualifications for entry to this course. View our International Students pages for specific information about your country.

Fees and Funding

Tuition Fees  

View our information for Tuition Fees.  

Scholarships and Bursaries 

We are committed to ensuring that costs do not act as a barrier to those aspiring to come to a world leading university and have developed a funding package to reward those with excellent qualifications and assist those from lower income backgrounds. View our range of Scholarships for eligibility, details of how to apply and closing dates. 

Course Related Costs

View our information about Additional Course Fees.  

How to Apply

Apply for this course through the  Universities and Colleges Admissions Services (UCAS ), using UCAS Hub. 

UCAS Hub is a secure online application system that allows you to apply for full-time undergraduate courses at universities and colleges in the United Kingdom.

Your application does not have to be completed all at once.  Register or sign in to UCAS  to get started. 

Once you submit your completed application, UCAS will process it and send it to your chosen universities and colleges. 

The Institution code for the University of East Anglia is  E14. 

View our guide to applying through UCAS for useful tips, key dates and further information:  

How to apply through UCAS  

Employability

After the course.

Some graduates go into careers in film, drama, radio, and scriptwriting, as writers, developers, agents, casting directors, or artistic directors of their own companies. Recent graduates from our drama degrees include the actor Matt Smith (famous for his portrayal of Doctor Who and his leading role in The Crown), the presenter of the Radio 1 Breakfast Show, Greg James, and the playwright Tom Morton-Smith (whose 2015 play Oppenheimer was performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company). For others, this degree is a stepping-stone towards careers in the arts, media, publishing, politics, charities, and NGOs, teaching, and the commercial sector.  Our Careers Service is here to support you in launching your career by advising with CV writing, internships, and much more. Every year we run an event, Working with Words, which gives current students the chance to meet and hear from successful UEA alumni from across the creative industries.   UEA also has its own in-house student publishing project, Egg Box, along with many other exciting initiatives that give you opportunities to turn your love of writing and performance into a foundation for your future career. 

A degree at UEA will prepare you for a wide variety of careers. We've been ranked 1st for Job Prospects by StudentCrowd in 2022.

Examples of careers you could enter include:  

Scriptwriting  

Theatre and film  

Journalism  

Media  

Teaching  

Publishing  

Related Courses

Ba (hons) english literature.

UEA is the place where literature lives – from ancient epic storytelling to contemporary bestsellers, and from different countries and traditions around the globe. Whether you love twenty-first centur...

BA (Hons) English Literature (with a Foundation Year)

Our innovative Foundation Year provides you with the opportunity to gain the skills, knowledge and confidence you need to excel in a humanities degree at UEA. You can pursue your specific academic int...

BA (Hons) English Literature with Creative Writing

On our renowned undergraduate creative writing course, your creative writing and your literary training will invigorate each other. Based in Norwich, England's first UNESCO City of Literature, you wil...

BA (Hons) Drama

Hone your craft as a performer and maker, drawing on a wealth of performance styles and traditions from across time periods and from all around the world. You’ll develop your own practical performance...

BA (Hons) Creative Writing and English Literature

Step into the writer’s world and hone your craft in this lively creative degree. Through a mixture of seminars, workshops, and real-world writing opportunities, you’ll develop your writing ability and...

BA (Hons) English Literature and Drama

Immerse yourself in the practices of both writing and performance on this interdisciplinary degree. You’ll gain a thorough academic grounding in prose, poetry, and drama, and delve deep into the world...

Drama and Creative Writing starting September 2023 for 3 years

Just Scapes

Our UK team

Back to ' Who we are '

Adrian Martin

Adrian is a social scientist who specialises in interdisciplinary research into environmental justice, with a particular focus on the governance of conservation in the global South and in Europe. Currently he's exploring the concept of ‘just transformations’ to sustainability, looking theoretically and empirically at how environmental justice can be an effective vehicle for integrating social and ecological visions. He's based at UEA, in the Department for International Development.

David Brown

A researcher specialising in environmental and climate justice, particularly on issues arising from climate change mitigation policies and practices. In his role as senior research associate on the ‘Just Scapes’ project, David is exploring perceptions of (in)justices related to climate-influenced rural land-use change, specifically focusing on an area in the Cairngorms, Scotland, through conducting literature reviews, in-depth interviews and other fieldwork.

Jean McNeil

Jean McNeil is an award-winning author of 14 books. At UEA she directs the Creative Writing programme and co-ordinates international activities. She has been writer-in-residence with the British Antarctic Survey and has written extensively on the environment, nature and climate change. For Just Scapes she will be leading the community creative writing workshops that are a key innovative part of our research approach into landscapes past and future.

Kate looks after communications for Just Scapes. She's based at UEA, but works across the project as a whole. If you have a question, she's your first point of call .

• Skip to primary navigation
• Skip to content

New Writing

#newwriting.

… is a collaboration between UEA Publishing Project and the School of Literature, Drama & Creative Writing , home of the world-renowned UEA Creative Writing MA. It showcases new writing from UEA (students, faculty and alumni) along with commissioned work from national and international literature projects.

It began as a research project into the potential of online editorial and writing collaboration, funded by  The Arts and Humanities Research Council  (Knowledge Catalyst scheme) and National Centre for Writing, with the support of UEA Faculty of Arts and Humanities  and the Malcolm Bradbury Memorial Trust .

It now sits under the UEA Publishing Project umbrella with ongoing support from UEA and the  British Centre for Literary Translation.  We will publish new fiction, poetry, creative non fiction, work in translation and critical writing all year round.

Press : For all general press enquiries, please contact publishing[at]uea.ac.uk.

• Home »
• University of East Anglia UEA »
• School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing »
• Creative Writing Prose Fiction

find your perfect postgrad program Search our Database of 30,000 Courses

University of east anglia uea: creative writing prose fiction.

Full-Time, 1 years starts Sep 2025

**Overview**

The MA in Creative Writing Prose Fiction at UEA is the oldest and most prestigious Creative Writing programme in the UK. Our course will help transform you as a writer, giving you a surer sense of the imaginative, artistic and intellectual challenges involved in writing fiction.

You’ll study the craft of prose fiction with an international cohort of other excellent writers, and you’ll be taught by an outstanding and committed faculty alongside internationally recognised visiting writers. Recent examples include Tsitsi Dangarembga, Margaret Atwood, Ali Smith, Eleanor Catton and Preti Taneja.

Our Masters in Creative Writing will challenge you to explore your notions about writing and being a writer, provoking you into play, experimentation and risk, to make you the best writer you can be. You’ll take core creative modules but can also choose from a wide range of critical modules.

You’ll be based in Norwich, a beautiful historic city and England’s first UNESCO City of Literature. You’ll also be part of Norwich’s vibrant literary culture, from regular readings and events to the well-established programme at the National Centre for Writing. You'll benefit from UEA’s connections in the publishing industry and may pitch ideas for books to visiting publishers and literary agents. At the end of each year, we publish an anthology of our students’ writing and distribute it to a key list of editors, agents and critics. In 2011, UEA’s Creative Writing programme was awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in recognition of our continuing excellence in delivering innovative courses at a world-class level.

After this intensive year, you’ll leave the course confident of technique and craft, as well as your own voice. It’s no wonder that our students’ success is unparalleled, with many of our graduates going on to publish their own work and others moving into publishing, journalism or teaching. Our alumni include Nobel Laureate Sir Kazuo Ishiguro, Booker Prize winners Ian McEwan and Anne Enright, and many other internationally renowned novelists including Ayobami Adebayo, Naomi Alderman, Tash Aw, Stephen Buoro, and Tracy Chevalier, to name but a few. The continuing success of our graduates means we’re fortunate in being able to attract the best writers from around the world. Are you ready to join them?

**Disclaimer**

Course details are subject to change. You should always confirm the details on the provider's website: **www.uea.ac.uk**

Part-Time, 2 years starts Sep 2025

Full-Time, 1 years starts Sep 2024

Our course will help transform you as a writer, giving you a surer sense of the imaginative, artistic and intellectual challenges involved in any act of writing.

You’ll study the craft of prose fiction with an international cohort of other excellent writers, and you’ll be taught by an outstanding and committed faculty – which includes Andrew Cowan, Naomi Wood and Tessa McWatt, to name a few – alongside internationally recognised visiting writers – recent examples include Tsitsi Dangarembga, Margaret Atwood, Ali Smith, Caryl Phillips and Preti Taneja.

We’ll challenge you to explore your notions about writing and being a writer, provoking you into play, experimentation and risk, with the intention of making you the best writer you can be.

After this intensive year, you’ll leave the course confident of technique and craft, as well as your own voice. It’s no wonder that our students’ success is unparalleled, with many of our graduates going on to publish their own work, and others moving into publishing, journalism or teaching.

**About This Course**

The MA in Prose Fiction at UEA is the oldest and most prestigious Creative Writing programme in the UK. Solely focused on the writing of fiction, we take a rigorous and creative approach to enable you to develop your ideas, voice, technique and craft.

You’ll experience an intensive immersion in the study of writing prose fiction. You’ll take core creative modules but can also choose from a wide range of critical modules, and benefit from our proven strengths in modernism and creative-critical studies, among others.

Graduates of our MA Creative Writing Prose Fiction have enjoyed extraordinary success in terms of publications and prizes. Our alumni include Nobel Laureate Sir Kazuo Ishiguro, fellow Booker Prize winners Ian McEwan and Anne Enright, Costa First Book Award Winners Emma Healey and Christie Watson, and many other internationally renowned novelists including Ayobami Adebayo, Naomi Alderman, Tash Aw, Stephen Buoro, Tracy Chevalier, Joe Dunthorne, Diana Evans, Mohammed Hanif, Elizabeth Macneal and Catriona Ward. The continuing success of our graduates means we are fortunate in being able to attract the best writers from around the world – writers like you.

While you are at UEA, the focus will be on exploring your creative potential, in a highly supportive and well-resourced environment.

In 2011, UEA’s Creative Writing programme was awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in recognition of our continuing excellence in delivering innovative courses at a world-class level.

Part-Time, 2 years starts Sep 2024

Not what you are looking for?

Postgraduate Bursary Opportunity with Postgrad.com

Are you studying as a PG student at the moment or have you recently been accepted on a postgraduate program? Apply now for one of our £2000 PGS bursaries.

Exclusive bursaries Open day alerts Funding advice Application tips Latest PG news

Complete Our Destination Survey

Take 2 minutes to complete our Destination Survey for the chance to win a Postgrad Study Bursary worth £2,000.

All we need to know is:

• Your university
• Your PG course

• Repository Statistics

Crafting Crime Fiction

A practical, critical and personal guide to the craft of crime writing by novelist and creative writing professor, Henry Sutton. Drawing on exceptional experience and resource, the mystery of creating crime fiction which moves with pace and purpose, menace and motivation, is forensically and engagingly uncovered. The work of the genre’s greatest contributors, and that from many lesser known names from around the world, past and present, is explored with both practical acumen. Sutton also mines his own fiction for lessons learnt, and rules broken. Personal creative successes, struggles and surprises are candidly addressed. In nine entertaining chapters the key building blocks for crafting pertinent and characterful crime fiction, are illustrated and explained. The genre’s extraordinary dynamism, with its myriad and ever-evolving sub-genres, from the cosy to the most chilling noir, the police procedural to the geo-political thriller, is knowingly captured. However, the individual and originality are given centre stage, while audience and inclusivity continually considered and championed. This is an essential guide for those interested in writing crime fiction that gets noticed and moves with the times, if not ahead of the times.

Actions (login required)

Languages, Literature, and Writing

Creative Writing Workshop & Competition

The annual Creative Writing Workshop offers students at Union University, as well as regional high schools and home school students the opportunity to compete for prizes and learn from Union faculty and accomplished guest writers. Held every spring, the event consists of two parts - the literary competition and workshop - and has featured prominent writers such as Charles Wright, Mark Jarman, Kate Daniels, and Ann Patchett. For the competition, students are invited to submit entries for a number of genres such as poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction. The workshop section involves critiquing and analyzing a sample of the students' works. A learning experience for both college and high school students, the Workshop is another opportunity to recognize a cross-section of local writers.

Recent Event

31st annual creative writing workshop reading featuring christine bailey.

Thursday, February 29, 2024 , 1 p.m., Grant Event Center, Salon 2 Book signing and reception at 2 p.m.

Christine Bailey writes young adult fiction and has published multiple novels. Her most recent, Burning Little Lies , will be released in February 2024. Her doctoral research/dissertation explores creative writing research and pedagogy within the composition classroom and is titled "The Role of Aesthetic Artifacts in Creative Writing Research: Casting Student Identity Narratives as Cultural Data." Before coming to Union University, Bailey worked as a journalist, a marketing/PR writer, and a book editor. She currently serves as Director of Composition Support. Bailey's areas of interest include composition and rhetoric, YA literature, creative writing, professional writing, editing, and publishing. She is the editor of the Journal of the Union Faculty Forum — a journal comprised of faculty-written submissions, encompassing a wide range of academic and creative topics.

• OU Homepage
• The University of Oklahoma

Creative Writing

Pursue your M.A., and craft your story, with a concentration in Creative Writing

Explore Creative Writing Graduate Studies

How it works.

At the graduate level, students may choose to concentrate on creative writing within the broader areas of Rhetoric and Writing Studies (RWS) or Literature and Cultural Studies (LCS). We offer areas of concentration in Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, and Poetry.

For the M.A. with a creative writing emphasis, RWS and LCS students choose their seminar courses from Advanced Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, or Poetry. Additionally, our Special Topics in Creative Writing offer in-depth concentrations in a variety of forms. Over the course of two years, students work one-on-one with our nationally-recognized creative writing faculty to produce a creative writing thesis comprised of publishable work in their chosen genre(s). Our creative writing faculty includes National Book Critics Circle Award-winner Honorée Fanonne Jeffers , American Book Award-winner Rilla Askew , and National Poetry Series Award-winner Jake Skeets .

How You Will Be Funded

Of course, in addition to taking an intensive array of courses, at OU you will be supported financially by teaching and learning in our in our award-winning  First-Year Composition program and/or working in our world-renowned Writing Center . Many students also take advantage of unique funding opportunities including research assistantships and working in our composition office.

Explore Graduate Student Funding

What You'll Create

Graduate students work closely with their faculty advisors, selected from our award-winning creative writing faculty, to develop a thesis showcasing their work as creative writers. The MA creative writing thesis may be a novel excerpt; a collection of short stories, creative nonfiction, or poetry; or a combination of genres, resulting in projects such as:

• A collection of short fiction set primarily in Southwestern Oklahoma featuring disparate narrators as they explore and replicate the experience of the contemporary woman during stages of adolescence and young adulthood. In 2021, Rekindled won the prestigious Mark Allen Everett Southwest Award , judged by Kelli Jo Ford.
• An excerpt from an historical novel set in the late 1960s, grounded in little-known historical events in Tulsa and Norman. The novel features dual protagonists: a young, Black closeted lesbian woman recently hired on as a reporter for a Tulsa news station and a young white woman who aspires to become an anchor.
• A collection of creative nonfiction in which the author reckons with her personal history, the complexities of family and heritage, the shaping forces of environment and place, and her own disabilities and feminist worldview.
• A creative non-fiction exploration focused on overcoming trauma and managing mental illness from the perspective of a Black, multiracial man.
• A collection of linked stories focusing on themes such as family/broken family, Indigenous displacement, addiction, loss, and healing.

Join a vibrant community of creative writers. Our small seminar and pro-seminar courses offer students a close working relationship with our incredible faculty while facilitating critical creative writing workshop opportunities. 

Our creative writing community works to bring writers and creators to campus, providing opportunities to learn from and make connection with folk from all stages of their professional, creative careers. 

Our Faculty + Interests

Honorée fanonne jeffers.

Honorée Fanonne Jeffers is an award-winning poet, essayist, and novelist. Her debut novel The Love Songs of W.E.B Du Bois was an Oprah Book Club selection and received the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize.

Professor Jeffers’ Website

Rilla Askew

Rilla Askew is known for her award-winning historical fiction and creative nonfiction. Noted titles include Prize for the Fire; a collection of essays, Most American: Notes from a Wounded Place; and her American Book Award-winning novel, Fire in Beulah.

Professor Askew’s Website

Jake Skeets

Jake Skeets is an award-winning Diné poet, novelist, and creative nonfiction writer. His debut collection of poetry, Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers, received the National Poetry Series Award, Kate Tufts Discovery Award, American Book Award, and Whiting Award.

Professor Skeets’ Website

Join our Learning Community - Applications are Due January 5

General english department application requirements.

• A sample of critical or scholarly writing , no more than 25 pages long. This may be an excerpt from a longer work, such as a senior thesis. It should, however, be clear of grading comments and should preferably be in your expressed area of concentration.
•   A 1-2 page personal statement  about what you’ve done in English or in related fields, why you want to study English, and, particularly, why you think the University of Oklahoma is an appropriate place for you to do it. We want to know what your scholarly interests are, and what areas of concentration you are planning to declare. If you aren’t sure yet what you plan to do in English, that’s fine, but we want to know that you have some idea of the possibilities.
• Three letters of recommendation . On your online application, you will be asked to provide emails for three references, who will be contacted by the University with a request for a letter of recommendation. Request your references to comment specifically upon (1) your qualifications as a prospective graduate student (literary/rhetorical judgment, writing ability, originality, diligence) and, if you are applying for Graduate Teaching Assistantship, (2) your qualifications as a prospective teacher (ability to organize, enthusiasm, responsibility, objectivity). If possible, referees should use the online reference system, but if they prefer, they may send hardcopy letters directly to the Office of Graduate Admissions (731 Elm Avenue, Room 318 Norman, OK 73019).
• An up-to-date  Curriculum Vitae
• Official transcripts  from every prior institution

Also, be sure to check out our English Graduate Studies FAQ .

Interested in Applying for a Graduate Degree with a Creative Writing Concentration?

To apply for the M.A. with creative writing emphasis, applicants should submit a 20-page sample of fiction, creative nonfiction, or poetry with their application materials. For more information on the standard application materials, check out our general Graduate Studies page . 

Apply to the OU English Graduate Program

• Accessibility
• Sustainability
• OU Job Search
• Legal Notices
• Resources and Offices
• OU Report It!

Clare Connors

• Associate Professor , School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing
• Member , Modern and Contemporary Writing Research Group

1.07 Arts and Humanities Building

Personal profile

Clare Connors is interested in literature, deconstruction and creative criticism - and in the interrelations between these. She is the author of Force from Nietzsche to Derrida (Legenda, 2010) and Literary Theory: A Beginner’s Guide (Oneworld, 2010) and the co-editor, with Dr. Stephen Benson, of Creative Criticism: An Anthology and Guide ( EUP, 2014).  She is interested in the kinds of thinking literature performs, and permits, and in the kinds of critical writing such fictive thinking solicits. On all of these subjects she finds the work of Jacques Derrida the most extraordinary resource (along with that of Freud, Heidegger, Cixous, Ranciere and Sedgwick, amongst others). She has written essays on rhythm, on rhyme and on grace, and on Elizabeth Bowen, J. M. Coetzee and Ali Smith.

Administrative Posts

Clare is currently Associate Dean for Admissions for the Faculty of Arts and Humanities.

Areas of Expertise

Derrida and deconstruction.

Creative-critical writing

Fiction (especially contemporary fiction, but the novel more generally).

Research output

• 2 Chapter (peer-reviewed)

Research output per year

'Out of interest': Klara and the Sun and the interests of fiction

Research output : Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Most Interesting: Derrida and the Interest(s) of Literature

Creative criticism: a histori-manifesto.

Research output : Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (peer-reviewed) › peer-review

Traces of grace in contemporary fiction: Ali Smith’s 'There but for the…'

Without grace (a working title).