What kinds of creative-critial projects do students undertake?
Here are some recent examples:

  • a novel written in a style reminiscent of Jean Rhys and a critical paper on themes in Rhys's oeuvre.
  • a collection of poetry and a critical paper entitled ‘Poetry, Charm and Efficacious language'.
  • a sci-fi novel in which a number of people suffer hallucinations then blindness and a literary-theoretical exploration of theories of perception in Derrida and Deleuze.
  • a collection of poetry and a critical paper entitled ‘The constitution and adaptation of the Romantic, Lyric ‘I' in 21st Century Poetry
  • a novel about a psychoanalyst and a critical paper on issues in contemporary psychoanalysis.
  • a novel set in Japan that incorporated photographs and a critical paper on Sebald's use of photos.
  • a Holocaust novel and a critical paper on the ethics of Holocaust novels.

What qualifications will I need to apply?
We usually take students who already have an MA in Creative Writing. We look for students who are not only talented writers, but who are already writing at a level that suggests that they have the self-motivation and maturity to produce a work of publishable quality within three years. We also look for students who are interested in writing about literature, and who are therefore skilful and ambitious readers, have a strong intellectual curiosity and are able to engage critically with literary critics and theorists. We expect the quality and nature of the critical component to be comparable to that produced by PhD students in English or History or American Studies, for example. We do not encourage students to write critical work that is primarily self-reflective.

How do I find a supervisor?
Usually the candidate makes informal contact with a potential primary supervisor before putting in an application. There is no obligation to do so. You may want to speak to the Director of Postgraduate Studies instead to seek advice on whom to approach. The application is sent initially to a named person. If the named person cannot supervise the project, s/he will pass it on to a colleague. Each member of full-time faculty is expected to be primary supervisor to around six PhD students, but it varies (some have more, some have none). It is possible that a faculty-member will like your proposal, but will turn you down because s/he is 'full'. Or they may suggest you re-apply in a year, say, when one of their current students has qualified.

How is my supervisory team established?
Each PhD student has two supervisors, a primary and a secondary. As a formal minimum you would expect to meet your primary supervisor 8 times a year. Two of those meetings would include the secondary supervisor; they are called team meetings. The meetings last 60 minutes usually. You will send a sample of work in advance. For a creative-critical student, the primary supervisor would be one of the creative writing faculty. Sometimes the secondary is, too. But it can be useful to have one of the regular Literature faculty as a secondary, especially if they have an interest in the themes of your critical paper.

What other contact with students and faculty members will I have?
The PhD is a research degree, so a high level of self-direction is expected, but there is a weekly PhD seminar which is compulsory for funded students and optional for non-funded students. One or two students give presentations on their research-in-progress at each session.

There is also a thorough training programme for PhD students, which requires you to accumulate a minimum of ten days' training credits per year. Here's the home page for the HUM Graduate School which describes that programme. http://www.uea.ac.uk/hum/PostgraduateResearchOffice/training – explore the links on the left to find out about the training programme, etc.

How does the PhD progress from year to year?
For the first year you would be registered for an MPhil, and at the end of the year you would submit work in progress for an 'upgrade panel'. This is a formal, oral exam. You submit about 20,000 words, comprising a sample of your creative writing, a sample of your critical, a bibliography, a schedule of research intentions, and - very important - a statement of intent, which outlines your thesis and methodology. Two members of faculty question you on these papers for about an hour. It can be very relaxed. Or not. There are degrees of failure, ranging from 'tidy your punctuation' to ‘we advise you to submit for an MPhil not a PhD'. The most common outcome is simply to pass, which means to proceed (upgrade) to PhD.

Will there by opportunities to teach?
In the second and/or third year you will usually have the opportunity to teach creative writing or literature on the undergrad literature or creative writing courses. At the end of your third year you can submit for your viva - your final exam - which is very like the upgrade panel, except that one of the examiners will come from another university. Not everyone submits after three years but it is increasingly the expectation that you will.

How do I apply?
Applications come in all through the year and there are start dates in Ocotber, January, April and July. Funding is only available to start in October of each academic year and there is a deadline.  But funding decisions are taken by the LDC and Faculty (HUM) research committees between March and May. The funding deadline is 17 February 2012.

You will need to complete an application form and submit the following documents: a sample of your creative writing up to 5,000 of prose or 20 to 30 poems, a example of your criticial writing between 3,000 and 5,000 words, a 500 word research proposal of your creative-critical intentions, a 500 word personal statement and strong references. The research proposal is in effect your application for funding as well as admission, and it should be written for an academic but non-specialist reader. There is no guarantee, for instance, that there will be a creative writer on the HUM committee that awards faculty bursaries. You will need to persuade such readers that your project is important, relevant and original.

The Postgraduate Research Office will be able to give you more detail about the forms and deadlines. Please contact: pgr.enquiries.admiss@uea.ac.uk or tel: +44(0)1603 591709

What funds are available for students?
Certain universities, including UEA, receive Arts and Humanities Research Council block grants, from which they make their own awards of AHRC bursaries. There are usually at least three of these that are awarded every year across the School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing.

In addition to this, The School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing has one or two studentships to award of the same value every year and there are several studentships awarded at the Faculty of Humanities level, for which competition comes from all schools.

What funds are available for overseas students?
AHRC bursaries are not available to overseas students. LDC and HUM studentships are now available to overseas students, but the fees element will only cover the cost of home fees.

How do I apply for funding?
You must apply by 17 February 2012 for a October 2012 start. All applicants who are offered a place and indicate that they want to be considered for funding, will be considered for the full range of studentships and AHRC bursaries. The LDC research committee convenes in March/April and assesses the applications and decides who gets an AHRC grant, who gets a LDC studentship, and who will be put forward for a HUM studentship. Those who are awarded funding may not receive confirmation until May/June. Those who are unsuccessful will still be invited to take up a PhD place, but will have to fund themselves.

What criteria determine who gets funding?
The strength of the sample creative writing, the intellectual strength of the proposal (how the creative and critical will interact), the qualilty of your references, and your previous academic record - for students applying a year or more after completing their MA, the profile of grades they receive across their MA will be looked at, not just the overall mark.