MA in Creative and Critical Writing
Handbook 2015-16
This handbook refers to the MA course in Creative and Critical Writing offered by the School of
English at the University of Sussex
The convenor of this course is Professor Nicholas Royle, N.W.O.Royle@sussex.ac.uk
1. Introduction
The MA in Creative and Critical Writing at Sussex has developed out of longstanding teaching
and research interests in creative writing as well as in psychoanalysis, cultural materialism, ecopoetics, postcolonialism, deconstruction, feminism and queer theory.
This MA is designed to enable students to combine an interest in intellectually challenging
critical and theoretical ideas with an interest in creative writing. It is based on the supposition
that ‘theory’ and ‘practice’ are not opposites, though the relations between them may entail
productive tensions and paradoxes. It is impelled rather by the sense that the critical and the
creative are necessarily intertwined. Many great writers in English, at least since Milton, have
also written important criticism. Good writers are invariably also good readers.
The MA in Creative and Critical Writing offers students modules that combine ‘theory’ and
‘practice’, focusing on critical writings, for example, specifically with a view to encouraging and
clarifying a sense of how to write creatively and well, and how to think creatively and differently
about the possibilities of writing. Hélène Cixous is Honorary Professor of the Creative and
Critical Writing Course at Sussex; J. H. Prynne is Visiting Professor.
2. Course structure and specifications
For full-time students the course comprises four taught 12 week modules, two in the Autumn
and two in the Spring. This is followed by the preparation and writing of a dissertation under
supervision. Modules are normally taught by weekly seminar.
Each module attracts 30 credits and the Dissertation 60 credits: the total number of credits
constituting the course is 180.
Each module is examined by a 5000-word term paper, to be submitted at the beginning of the
term following that in which the module is taught. The dissertation length is 15,000 words and it
is submitted at the start of September.
For part-time students, the same requirements are spread over two years, with one module
taken in each of the successive Autumn and Spring terms, and with the preparation and writing
of the dissertation extended over two summer periods.
In the Autumn and Spring terms CCW students are invited to attend reading and performance
events which take place at regular intervals. There are numerous opportunities to hear and
meet practising writers from outside Sussex, as well as (on occasion) publishers and literary
agents. Creative and Critical Writing Students also have the chance to present their own work in
this context. Students are also encouraged to attend other open seminars run by the English
Department and indeed elsewhere in the Humanities.
This year, the modules constituting the course are as follows:
Autumn Term
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Psychoanalysis and Creative Writing
Creativity and Utopia
Spring Term
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Marxism and Creative Writing
Deconstruction and Creative Writing
Voices in the Archives: Writing from History
Experimental Writing
3. Course learning outcomes
A student who has completed the MA in Creative and Critical Writing successfully
should be able to:
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demonstrate an ability to produce creative work stimulated and inflected by an encounter
with issues in contemporary critical thinking and writing
demonstrate an ability to produce critical work stimulated and inflected by experience
and practice in creative writing
demonstrate a specialised knowledge of selected key issues in the field of creative and
critical writing;
demonstrate a detailed knowledge of one or more leading topics in contemporary critical
thinking;
demonstrate oral and writing skills in which a clear, concise and exact use of language is
brought to bear on a rigorous consideration of texts, ideas and controversies within the
field;
demonstrate an ability to understand and to use, when necessary, some of the specialist
vocabularies associated with literary criticism and theory;
cite relevant materials judiciously, and to good effect, in the construction of an overarching argument;
read ‘literary’, ‘historical’ and ‘theoretical’ texts critically and attentively;
demonstrate skill in time and work management, including the ability to read, write and
research independently
use electronic resources;
put together well-presented and well-edited creative work and well-written, fullyreferenced, word-processed critical essays;
carry out a substantial and original piece of research within the field.
essays.
4. Course modules
Autumn Term:
Psychoanalysis and Creative Writing:
Psychoanalysis has exciting and major implications for all kinds of writing, not least that sort
called ‘creative’. This module will focus on some of the ways in which a close reading of
psychoanalytic texts, especially those of Sigmund Freud himself, can be linked to the theory and
practice of creative writing. We will look in particular detail at how Freud’s work illuminates the
question of literature (and vice versa) in relation to such topics as the uncanny, fantasy and daydreaming, story-telling and the death drive, chance, humour, mourning and loss. Concentrating
on detailed reading and discussion of a series of psychoanalytic, critical and literary texts, the
module will lead students through to having an opportunity to submit a term-paper work that
may include a creative writing as well as a critical component.
Creativity and Utopia:
This module explores the intimate relationship between creativity and utopia, as it is played out
in literary and theoretical texts from More to the present day. It examines the extent to which
the art work can create new worlds (brave or otherwise), and traces the historical changes in the
utopian function of literature, in its various philosophical, literary and theoretical manifestations.
After an initial grounding in More's Utopia, the module moves through some key eighteenth and
nineteenth century utopias, before focusing on the ways in which utopian thought is refashioned
in modernist and contemporary writing. In paying attention to the changing function of utopian
thinking in twentieth century literature, the module also explores how the theoretical
developments of the modern and contemporary period have inherited a utopian legacy. How
has Marxist utopian thinking informed modern and contemporary utopianism? How does the
Frankfurt school investment in utopian thought relate to Derridean and Deleuzian conceptions of
utopian possibility? The relationship between creativity and utopia will be explored both through
the reading of several key utopian texts, and through reflections on the practice of creative
writing.
Spring Term:
Deconstruction and Creative Writing:
This course focuses on deconstruction, especially in relation to the work of Jacques Derrida,
and on the theory and practice of creative writing. Following a preliminary discussion of the
question ‘what is deconstruction?’, we will explore a series of topics including the gift, madness,
secrets and drugs. There will be texts by Kafka, Borges, Katherine Mansfield, Blanchot and
Harry Mathews, for example, as well as work by Derrida and Cixous. Concentrating on detailed
reading and discussion of a range of deconstructive, critical and literary texts, the course will
lead students through to having an opportunity to submit a term-paper that can (if the student
wishes) include a creative writing as well as a critical component.
Marxism and Creative Writing:
In the wake of the end of the Cold War and especially since ‘September 11’, as
neoconservatives replaced Marxism with ‘terrorism’ as their new and irrational enemy, many
writers in America and Europe sought with redoubled commitment to revitalise elements of
Marxist thinking in their creative practice: to confront the new dominant form of rationality with a
creative rationality of the dominated. This module will investigate the history and present
significance of that commitment in several ways: through study of the tradition of Marxist
thinking about the relation of aesthetics to social and political life; through consideration of
mainstream trends in contemporary literature and the economic and political interests they
reflect and fortify; and through the evaluation of theoretical claims made by contemporary
writers themselves, both in creative writing and in criticism, about their own strategies of
opposition and the problem of their potential efficacy. Students will be asked to reflect on the
significance of these problems for their own creative and critical practice.
Voices in the Archives: Writing from History:
This module invites you to consider the ways creative writing uses history, from pragmatic
research strategies to theoretical implications. We think about how different literary genres
engage with the past through form, narrative and literary language, looking at the cultural impact
of contemporary historical fiction, and also considering work by poets and film-makers. Authors
studied may include Sarah Waters, Ian McEwan, Toni Morrison, Hilary Mantel, David
Dabydeen, Mario Petrucci, George Szirtes and Michel Hazanavicius. Creative workshops
introduce key research skills, exploring the methodological implications of using physical and
virtual archives. Working with historical newspapers, letters, diaries, prints, photographs and
other documents, we immerse ourselves in old-fangled vocabularies, and experiment with using
language from the past to inflect our contemporary voices. Topics for discussion include the
critical and ethical implications of writing about real historical events and characters. We
consider how contemporary writing is founded on a long tradition of writing from history - often
re-visiting the past with a particular political or creative agenda - from Shakespeare and Dickens
onwards. Additionally, we explore how recent historical fiction interacts with other genres, for
example in the fantasies of Susanna Clarke and Angela Carter. We consider theoretical work on
memory and nostalgia by critics such as Mieke Bal and Svetlana Boym.
Experimental Writing:
This module considers why and how writers produce new forms. It explores the historical and
current uses of a variety of names for writing that defies generic expectations ('innovative,'
'avant-garde,' 'experimental,' 'difficult,' and 'cross-genre,' to name a few). The module will
require that students read a wide range of exemplary texts (likely but not necessarily chosen
from the modern and contemporary periods) that eschew easy generic categorisation. A
particular theme or problem may be selected by the tutor each year (e.g., cross-genre writing,
innovative poetics, documentary writing, speculative fiction). Readings might include work by
Walter Benjamin, Andrea Brady, Anne Carson, Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Renee Gladman,
Bernadette Mayer, Fred Moten, Harryette Mullen, Maggie Nelson, Raymond Queneau, Charles
Resnikoff, Sophie Robinson, Fran Ross, Muriel Rukeyser, Monique Wittig. Critical inquiry will
focus on the effects of formal techniques within specific literary historical and social contexts.
Students will also develop their own writing, and up to 50% of class time may be devoted to
workshopping student work. As writers, students may be asked to identify the tensions or
contradictions that animate their writing and to work up, in structured, experimental, or
procedural fashion, a set of formal mechanisms for reframing these tensions. The module will
help students to bring creative writing and critical practice together in order best to navigate their
aims and objectives for writing. Final assessment will involve a critical/creative dissertation of
6,000 words.
5. Teaching and learning
Depending on where you were an undergraduate, you may find that you have either fewer or
more teaching hours as an MA student than you did when you were studying for your BA. Fulltime students will normally be doing two modules at any one time (plus the writing workshop):
each of these will involve a weekly seminar of just under two hours. You are also strongly
encouraged to attend The Wing, plus any other relevant open seminars that are brought to your
attention. In addition, you should spend at least 15 hours a week in individual study. The
University and the School of Humanities provide certain facilities and resources – most notably,
a library, the use of computers, and a space where learning is constantly pursued. Your tutors
will direct your study with reading lists and all kinds of informal advice. Your ideas and
conclusions will be put to the test in seminars, where you will be expected to have reached
some views of your own and to be able to argue for them. Your written work will be formally
assessed to determine your degree result, and you will receive feedback on your term papers
as you go along. We will help you as much as we can, but what you get out of your study will
depend on how much you put into it: your mastery of the subject is primarily something for you
to achieve. Though the structures we put in place will assist you in this endeavour, they cannot
do the work for you.
Individual Study
The largest, and in many ways the most important, part of your working time will be spent on
your own, or discussing problems with your fellow-students. It is important to organise your time
effectively, and to plan your use of the library, especially if you have to do paid work as well as
your academic work. A word of advice: always set yourself specific and realistic targets when
you work, and take regular breaks. Set yourself to read a particular article or chapter of a book,
or to work for a pre-determined length of time (say one and a half hours) and then pause when
you have completed this task. A few periods of intense concentration, separated by short
breaks, will serve you far better than any amount of time spent sitting at a desk but not really
concentrating.
Module seminars
The focus of your work for each module will be a weekly seminar. You should be in command of
the reading set, and be prepared to try out your own ideas and to defend them in discussion.
Module seminars are compulsory. In many seminars, some form of presentation will also be
required: your tutor will give you guidance on the form which presentations are expected to take
and how to prepare them.
Training sessions
The Graduate Centre in Humanities organises several training sessions for all MA students in
the Humanities in the course of the year, on generic topics like ‘writing a term paper’ and ‘writing
a dissertation’. These sessions will be advertised to you in advance and we strongly advise you
to attend them. Fuller details are given in the Graduate Centre in the Humanities Postgraduate
Handbook.
Essays
We require that your essays be professionally presented: typed or word-processed, with full
scholarly references and a bibliography. Pay particular attention to matters of spelling, style and
punctuation. Poor punctuation is one of the commonest failings in student essays, even at
graduate level. If you are unsure about correct punctuation, get hold of a guide: there are
several cheap and readable such guides on the market.
You can find further information about how to research and write term papers and dissertations
at http://www.sussex.ac.uk/cssd/info_for_MA_students/index.shtml.
Module Evaluation
Student evaluation forms are issued at the end of each module and are scrutinised by the tutors
associated with the module before it is taught again. These forms are anonymous, and are an
opportunity for you to tell us what you felt about all aspects of the module, including the material
covered, teaching methods, and the adequacy of library and web resources. We take your
comments and suggestions for improvement very seriously. We do not, of course, guarantee to
be able to meet all student requests, first because we have to operate within tight financial
constraints, and second because we have to exercise our own academic judgement about the
desirability of any change. In addition, some key areas – notably the library – are beyond the
immediate control of the Graduate Centre. But we do guarantee to give active consideration to
all serious suggestions for change and improvement.
6. Assessment Criteria
Band
Distinction
Percentage
70-100%
Variation
80-100%
70-80%
Qualities
Truly exceptional work that could be published with
little or no further development or alteration on the
strength of its original contribution to the field, its
flawless or compelling prose, its uncommon
brilliance in argument and its demonstration of
considerable knowledge of the topics and authors
treated on the module.
Outstanding work that might be fit for publication
or for development into a publishable article. Work
that is exceptional for its originality of conception
and argument, its conduct of analysis and
description, its use of research and its
demonstration of knowledge of the field and of the
core materials studied on the module.
Merit
60-69%
Good or very good work that is thoughtfully
structured or designed, persuasively written and
argued, based on convincing use of research and
fairly original in at least some of its conclusions.
Pass
50-59%
Satisfactory work that meets the requirements of
the module and sets out a plausible argument
based on some reading and research but that may
also include errors, poor writing, or some unargued
and improbable judgments.
Fail
0-49%
35-49%
Unsatisfactory
Work that is inadequate with respect to its
argument, its use and presentation of research and
its demonstration of knowledge of the topics and
authors treated on the module, or that is poorly
written and difficult to follow or understand.
15-34%
Very
unsatisfactory
Work that plainly does not meet the requirements
of the course and that fails to make any persuasive
use of research or to conduct any argument with
clarity or purpose.
0-15%
Unacceptable or not submitted.
7. Teaching faculty
Peter Boxall (English) has published widely on modern and contemporary writing. Recent
books include Twenty-First Century Fiction: A Critical Introduction, Don DeLillo: The Possibility
of Fiction, Since Beckett: Contemporary Writing in the Wake of Modernism and an edition of
Beckett's novel Malone Dies. He is currently editing a volume of the Oxford History of the Novel
with Bryan Cheyette. He is the editor of the UK journal Textual Practice.
Nicholas Royle (English) works in the fields of modern literature and literary theory, as well as
Shakespeare. His books include Veering: A Theory of Literature, How to Read Shakespeare,
The Uncanny, E.M. Forster, Jacques Derrida, Telepathy and Literature and (with Andrew
Bennett) An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory. He is an editor of the Oxford
Literary Review. He has also published numerous works of short fiction, as well as a novel,
Quilt.
Minoli Salgado (English) works on postcolonial literature and theory, as well as
poststructuralist debates in history. She is the author of the critical study Writing Sri Lanka; her
short fiction and poetry have been published internationally.
Sam Solomon (English) works broadly on twentieth century and contemporary literature
(poetry and cross-genre writing especially) as they relate to radical social movements; he has
written on the connections of gay and women's liberation to political economy, particularly in the
context of Marxist-feminist praxis. Research and teaching interests include: creative writing,
feminism, Marxism, contemporary poetics, cross-genre and documentary writing, queer theory,
critical university studies, Yiddish literature and culture, literary translation, aesthetics and
politics.
Bethan Stevens (English) has research interests which involve people and groups whose
work crosses over between the visual and the literary, such as William Blake; the Flaxmans (an
eighteenth-century family including an RA sculptor, book-illustrator and amateur writer);
eighteenth- and nineteenth-century producers of chapbooks and illustrated novels; the PreRaphaelites; Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell.
Keston Sutherland (English) works on 20th century and contemporary poetry; Marx, the
reception and translation of Marx, and Marxism; Adorno; Wordsworth; Pope; Beckett. Recent
books include TL61P, a suite of five greater odes dedicated to the now-obsolete product code
for a Hotpoint tumble and spin dryer, Stupefaction: a radical anatomy of phantoms, The Stats on
Infinity, Stress Position and Hot White Andy. He is the editor of Quid, Brighton's chief organ of
neopreraphaelite totalitarian poetics, and co-editor of Barque Press. He is currently working in
scholarly fashion on the poetics of Marx's critique of political economy, on the problem how
perfection may be disgusting, and on mouths.