Postgraduate Taught Degrees

Biography is currently undergoing rapid change and reformation.  Instead of the old ‘cradle to grave’ narratives of well-known literary or political figures, our best writers are now experimenting with new forms and subjects.  Nature-writing, the personal essay, food journalism, art criticism and memoir are all part of the exciting emerging mix.  This MA programme is for anyone who wants to develop their own writing in any of these genres while studying at the country’s leading university for the teaching of Creative Writing.

Why Study Biography and Creative Non-Fiction at UEA?

All the teaching staff are acclaimed writers. Programme director Kathryn Hughes is an awarding-winning biographer and Guardian literary critic.  Her most recent book is The Short Life and Long Times of Mrs Beeton.  William Fiennes is the author of the multi-award winning The Snow Geese and The Music Room.  Helen Smith is the winner of the Biographers’ Club award for her book on Edward Garnett.  The programme aims to provide students with the tools they need to develop their interest as readers and writers of Biography and Creative Non-Fiction.

Course Content and Structure

The MA in Biography and Creative Non-Fiction may be taken full-time over one year or part-time over two.  The seminars are timetabled to be convenient to those who wish to travel from London.

Students take three compulsory modules, Writing Lives, The Life of the Book, and Writing in the First Person.  In addition they take a fourth module chosen from the wide range available within the School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing.

Teaching is by 3-hour seminar.  During this time we may be discussing a set text, presenting papers on a recent biography, or workshopping students’ own writing.  We will also invite leading biographers to address students on aspects of their craft.  Recent guests include Kate Summerscale, Alexander Masters, Richard Holmes and Philip Hoare.  These seminars are supplemented by one-to-one tutorials with the module leader.  In most years students also choose to set up informal reading and writing groups amongst themselves.

In addition training is given in more purely academic skills such as essay writing and referencing.  Students are encouraged to take advantage of UEA’s vibrant literary culture.  Each year a dozen or so leading novelists, poets and biographers visit Norwich to take part in our Autumn and Spring literary festivals.  Students also have the opportunity to meet some of the UK’s leading agents and publishers who make regular visits to talk to students.

An anthology of students’ writing is published each year and distributed to a key list of editors, agents and critics. In addition students are encouraged to post their writing on UEA’s Creative Writing website, a new platform designed to showcase the best work emerging from the course.

There is no workshop in the Summer semester (May-June).  Instead students will have one-to-one sessions with a tutor as they work on their dissertation – a 15,000 word piece of Creative Non-Fiction.

How is the course assessed?

In addition to the final dissertation, submitted in September, each module is assessed on a 5,000 word essay.

Who does Biography and Creative Non-Fiction at UEA?

We require a Bachelor’s degree, but this doesn’t have to be in any particular subject.  Previous students have included doctors, barristers, teachers, therapists and an asparagus farmer.  We also take younger people who have just completed their first degree.  What we are looking for is evidence of interest and engagement with Creative Non-Fiction of all kinds (this might include memoir, nature writing, sports biographies and food journalism).

What kinds of things to students write about?

Anything and everything.  Football, murderers, wine, poets, saints and music.

What happens to students afterwards?

Each year a couple of students will go on to publish with a major house.  Many others will go on to produce work for smaller, more specialist publishers.  Some choose to stay with us to undertake a PhD, working on a full-length project. Others return to their original discipline (teaching, journalism, the law) with the intention of integrating what they have learned into their practice.

For more details email the Programme Director Kathryn Hughes on k.hughes@uea.ac.uk

Course Organiser:Miss Kathryn Hughes

The School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing brings together writers, scholars, teachers and students in an exploration of the powers and possibilities of literature. Our aim is to make creative writing and critical reading confront one another in ways that sharpen and enliven both.

Literature

We teach and research across the range of English Literature from the fourteenth century to the twenty-first. This coverage is supplemented by our interests in European Literature, in postcolonial writing in English across the world, and in literary and cultural theory.

Translation

UEA is home to the British Centre for Literary Translation, which is both a forum for professional translators and a focus for translation work with undergraduate and postgraduate students of literature. The School of Literature & Creative Writing runs the MA in Literary Translation course.

Creative Writing

For over thirty years UEA has been an important centre for established and upcoming writers, whether they come here as teachers, as students, as writers in residence, or to take part in the long-running literary festival organised by the Arthur Miller Centre and the Centre for Creative and Performing Arts. For more information on our Creative Writing MA courses, please click here

Drama

Our drama programmes combine critical study with creative practice. The theoretical aspect draws on the expertise of LIT as a whole; the practical work is based in the purpose-built Drama Studio. For further information on the Drama sector, please click here.

Literature at UEA is not a complete, finished object of study, but a living practice. Because we also do creative writing, translation and drama, we are aware that imaginative writing is not fixed; it is constantly being transformed, adapted, rewritten and reread. Students are invited to study these processes, and also to be part of them. Click here to see what our students say about studying in the School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing.

Among a diverse group of about twenty literature lecturers, there are experts on the various roles that the practice of literature can play, and has played, in society — how it can be something like praying, or like journalism, or like conversation, how it can be a form of political action, or a vehicle for ideas, or a working out of unmanageable experience, or a way of negotiating (or inflaming) differences of class and race and gender. We teach literature not in isolation, but in relation to this untidy bundle of social and psychological purposes.

It follows that we have no great respect for the boundaries that divide one academic discipline from another. We take a lively interest in the work of our colleagues in history, philosophy, film, the visual arts and music, and we encourage our students to do the same. That is why we offer a range of degree programmes which combine literature with other, related subjects.

We run internationally recognised programmes of teaching and research in literature, translation, creative writing, and drama: the important thing about all of these is that they interact with each other.

Disclaimer

Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules and regular (five-yearly) review of course programmes. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, there will normally be prior consultation of students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff or sabbatical leave. Where this is the case, the University will endeavour to inform students.

Entry Requirements

Degree Subject:

UK BA (Hons) 2.1 or equivalent

Special Entry Requirements:

Sample of work

Students for whom English is a Foreign language

If English is not your first language you must have a recognised English Language qualification:

Minimum IELTS 7.0 with a minimum 6 in each section and 7 in writing.

Other qualifications such as TOEFL and CAE are also recognised by the University. Please contact the Admissions Team for further information.

Special Entry Requirements

A sample of your academic writing (for example an essay from your undergraduate degree), or some biographical writing.

Intakes

The School's annual intake is in September of each year.

Alternative Qualifications

If you have alternative qualifications that have not been mentioned above then please contact the Admissions Office directly for further information.

Assessment

All applications for postgraduate study are processed through the Admissions Office and then forwarded to the relevant School of Study for consideration. If you are currently completing your first degree or have not yet taken a required English language test, any offer of a place is likely to be conditional upon you achieving this before you arrive.

Fees and Funding

Tuition fees

Tuition fees for Postgraduate students for the academic year 2013/4 are £5,000 for Home/EU students and £12,500 for International Students.

If you choose to study part-time, the fee per annum will be half the annual fee for that year, or a pro-rata fee for the module credit you are taking (only available for Home/EU students).

Please note that all the above fees are expected to rise for the year 2014/15. We estimate living expenses at £600/650 per month.

Scholarships and Awards:

International scholarships

All international students (outside the European Union) are considered for a scholarship of between £1000 and £2000 towards tuition fees. In order to be considered for an International Scholarship you do not need to make a separate application. Please indicate on your application for admission that you wish to be considered for a scholarship. It is important to make the application as early as possible because they are considered as they are received. So apply early to make sure of the best chance of success.

Scholarships are awarded to students on the basis of academic merit and are for the duration of the period of study (which will be one year). Students of outstanding academic ability will also be considered for Faculty Scholarship Awards, usually in March and May each year, which can be worth up to 100% of the tuition fee. These are highly competitive and prestigious awards. Those students being offered a scholarship will be notified directly by the School of Study.

Home / EU Scholarships, Bursaries and Awards

The Faculty of Arts and Humanities has a number of Scholarships and Awards on offer for 2013 entry. For further information relevant to the School of Literature and Creative Writing, please click here.

Applications for Postgraduate Taught programmes at the University of East Anglia should be made directly to the University.

You can apply online, or by downloading the application form.

Further Information

To request further information & to be kept up to date with news & events please use our online enquiry form.

If you would like to discuss your individual circumstances prior to applying please do contact us:

Postgraduate Admissions Office
Tel: +44 (0)1603 591515
Email: admissions@uea.ac.uk

International candidates are also encouraged to access the International Students section of our website.