Creative Writing with Foundation Year BA (Hons)

Are you passionate about creative writing and looking to learn how to turn your ideas into texts? If so, Birkbeck’s BA Creative Writing will support you to develop your ideas further, refining your skills and sharpening your craft. You will have opportunities to experiment and explore creative writing across a range of forms, including drama, poetry, fiction, screenwriting and non-fiction. Your studies will be enriched by being based in Bloomsbury in central London, home to some of the most exciting historical developments in literary and artistic production.<br/><br/>**Why choose this course?**<br/><br/><br/>- Creative Writing at Birkbeck is based in the heart of Bloomsbury, once home to the Bloomsbury Group, an influential group of writers, artists and philosophers including Virgina Woolf.<br/><br/><br/>- This course is distinctive for its practical approach to teaching creative writing, which centres around interactive, small group workshops and seminars in the development of your practice. <br/><br/><br/>- You will be taught by our esteemed faculty, which includes award-winning and published writers such as: novelist Luke Williams; playwright and screenwriters David Eldridge and Daragh Carville; poet, novelist and non-fiction writer Julia Bell; novelist Wes Brown; non-fiction writer Richard Hamblyn; and critic and writer Marina Warner. <br/><br/><br/>**What you will learn**<br/><br/>On this course, you will learn how to develop the creative writer’s key tools: voice, craft, technique, form, genre and style. You will also work with your peers to gain an understanding of what other creative writers do, to inform your own practice and approach.<br/><br/>In addition to taking compulsory modules offering you key skills development, you will have the chance to select option modules on topics that interest you, including fiction, poetry, experimental writing and scriptwriting of drama, film and TV, while your final dissertation project allows you to specialise in an area of your choosing. <br/><br/>**How you will learn** <br/><br/>In small creative writing workshops you will share your writing and read the writing of your peers, often alongside published works. You will learn how to discuss your writing-in-progress and gain regular feedback from faculty members and from fellow emerging writers on your degree. <br/><br/>**Foundation Year**<br/><br/>If you opt for the Foundation Year route, this will fully prepare you for undergraduate study. It is ideal if you are returning to study after a gap, or if you have not previously studied the relevant subjects, or if you didnt achieve the grades you need for a place on your chosen undergraduate degree. <br/><br/>**Highlights**<br/><br/><br/>- Birkbeck was ranked 2nd in the UK for its English Language and Literature research in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework.<br/><br/><br/>- You will be eligible to submit work to the annual Birkbeck creative writing journal, The Mechanics’ Institute Review. <br/><br/><br/>- Birkbeck is located in the heart of literary London, in Bloomsbury, WC1. You could be studying in a building that was once home to Virginia Woolf and frequented by members of the Bloomsbury Group. The building houses our own creative hub which includes the Peltz Gallery, the Gordon Square Cinema and a theatre and performance space.<br/><br/><br/>**Careers and employability**<br/><br/>On successfully graduating from this BA Creative Writing, you will have attained an array of important transferable skills, including: <br/><br/><br/>- the capacity to think and communicate creatively and critically<br/><br/><br/>- a sophisticated use of written and spoken English<br/><br/><br/>- an ability to understand and apply complex ideas<br/><br/><br/>- effective organisation and time-keeping skills<br/><br/><br/>- facility and precision in the use of analytical tools<br/><br/><br/>- strong skills and initiative in collecting and organising complex materials and writing up clear, well-presented reports or fluent critical arguments.<br/><br/><br/>Studying this course will prepare you for a career path in a range of fields: <br/><br/><br/>- creative writing <br/><br/><br/>- publishing <br/><br/><br/>- journalism <br/><br/><br/>- media <br/><br/><br/>- academia. <br/>