27th June 2015
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Find out more about the course and the benefits to you during our
presentation and in the Subject Zone
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Learn about our work placement opportunities, tutoring system and
pastoral support
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Explore our walk-everywhere campus and discover where you’ll
study and live
Visit the Student Zone to find out about our services including the
Professional Development Centre
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Listen to the Vice-Chancellor’s Welcome
Frazer Lee – Admissions Tutor
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10th for English with Creative Writing in the Guardian University Guide (May 2015)
 96.5% of students are satisfied with the course
 93.9% of students are satisfied with the teaching
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3rd in the National Student Survey with an overall score of 98% for Outstanding Student
Experience (August 2014)
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Dynamic teaching methods:
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lectures
seminars
workshops
independent study
Individual supervision
Actively seek and respond to student feedback about the learning experience
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Your team of published writers & professional editors:
Benjamin Zephaniah – performance poet, author
Juliette Mitchell – former Penguin editor/ now
Will Self – novelist, non-fiction, TV panellist
freelance
Bernardine Evaristo – novelist, poet, critic, editor
Sarah Penny - novelist
Suzi Feay – Literary Editor of the Financial Times
Frazer Lee – novelist, screenwriter, director
Max Kinnings – novelist, screenwriter
Matthew D’Abaitua - sci-fi novelist
Matt Thorne – novelist, biographer, screenwriter, critic
Liesel Schwarz - fantasy novelist, Brunel graduate
working with you to develop your creative writing…
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Personal tutor assigned for the entire length of the BA
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Scheduled weekly meetings with personal tutor in Year 1
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Each member of staff holds 4 office hours a week to
answer questions and provide individual supervision
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YEAR 1: Building your basic skills
3 compulsory Creative Writing modules
2 compulsory English modules (running across Term 1 & 2)
YEAR 2: Following your interests
2 compulsory Creative Writing modules
Choose 2 further Creative Writing modules (out of 3 available)
Choose 2 English modules (out of 8 available)
YEAR 3: Your choice
3 compulsory Creative Writing modules
Choose 1 further Creative Writing module (out of 4 available)
Choose 1 English module (out of 12 available, during Term 1 or Term 2)
DISSERTATION (Year 3): Special Project in a Creative Writing discipline
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INTRODUCTION TO WRITING FICTION
You will write short fiction and participate in seminars and workshops to get the most from your
writing.
INTRODUCTION TO WRITING DRAMA
You will study stage/radio plays, discuss film screenings, and write and perform your own
stage/radio play.
INTRODUCTION TO WRITING POETRY
Learn the techniques of poetry and experiment with them to express your own ideas.
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LEARNING LONDON
We will read texts related to London as a site of
literary production and take field trips to key locations.
READING RESILIENCE, READING LIVES
Through life writing, we develop close reading
and university-level interpretive skills. Features Will Self.
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‘This week’s session examines the use of dialogue in
Patrick Marber’s Closer. Following discussion of the
play, you will experiment using different types of
dialogue in a play of your own composition.’
(Introduction to Writing Drama, workshop class)
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WRITING THE SHORT STORY
WRITING CONTEMPORARY POETRY
WRITING JOURNALISM
INTRODUCTION TO SCREENWRITING
HORROR, SCI-FI & FANTASY
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POSTCOLONIAL WRITING
THE VICTORIAN NOVEL
THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT
& 20TH CENTURY FICTION
MODERNISM
ROMANTICISM AND REVOLUTION
SHAKESPEARE:
TEXT AND PERFORMANCE
CONTEMPORARY BRITISH FICTION
GENRE FICTIONS
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You will study Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart
and discuss how the author uses characterisation and
the notion of ‘horror in the everyday’ to craft a seminal
work of short genre fiction.
In group discussion, we will explore the above concepts
to create our own short stories that evoke the idea of ‘the
uncanny in the everyday’.
The workshop will include a dramatic reading of
Poe’s story (film screening), and hand-out examples
of writing from Angela Carter and others.
(Horror, Sci-fi & Fantasy workshop)
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3x COMPULSORY MODULES
1x OPTIONAL CREATIVE WRITING
MODULE
SPECIAL PROJECT
This 10,000-word creative project enables
students to write on a topic of their choosing
and work closely with a supervisor to
develop their work.
COMPULSORY MODULES:
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Creative Writing Minor Project (single
term)
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Creative Writing Special Project (runs
across Level 3)
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Creative Writing & The Creative
Industries (single term)
OPTIONAL MODULES:
(choose one of the following)
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Writing Modern Fiction
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Writing Comedy
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Writing Modern Drama
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Writing Poetry for Performance
+ 1 MODULE FROM ENGLISH
(indicative list)
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1x OPTIONAL ENGLISH
MODULE
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Writing Ireland
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Writing India
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Postcolonial Perspectives
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Critical Perspectives
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The Muslim World in Early Modern English
Literature
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Victorian Literature & Culture
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Moving Modernisms
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Post-War & Late-Twentieth-Century Literature
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Erotic Bodies: Gender, Sexuality and Early
Modern Writing
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Modern British Poetry
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Post-Millennial Fiction
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The Long Novel
(indicative list)
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We will discuss core theories from screenwriting gurus
Philip Parker, Robert McKee and Syd Field, including
characterisation and story structure.
You will study the ‘series bibles’ for
hit TV shows Lost, Minder, and Battlestar Galactica
to see how these theories are put into industry practice.
In small workshop groups, and individually, you will
use these techniques to pitch and develop your own
TV series concept.
(Writing Modern Drama seminar)
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Collection of Journalism Articles.
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First chapters from a novel.
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A complete novella of 7,500 words.
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Collection of poetry, linked by a theme.
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Collection of short stories, linked by a recurring character.
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Feature film/TV screenplay genres have included Drama, Thriller, Horror, Sci-Fi/Fantasy and
Children’s Animation.
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All supplemented with a Critical Essay of 2,500 words and including your research into the kind of
creative writing that inspires you.
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Advertising
Agent
Arts Management
Arts Centre Manager
Art Therapist
Author
Blogger
Branding consultant
Casting director
Comedian
Community artist
Content Provider
Critic
Digital Marketing
Director
Dramaturg
Editor
Events organiser
Franchise creator
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Journalist
Lecturer
Policy adviser
Producer
Publisher
Playwright
Researcher
Scriptwriter
Speechwriter
Poet
Storyliner
Teacher
TV producer
Public Relations manager
Teacher
Venue programmer
Web editor
Workshop leader
Writer in Residence
LEVEL 1
Formal workshops on early steps towards employability presented by
professional advisors from Careers and Student Placements
LEVEL 2
Personal tutors meet with their tutor groups regularly to help them selfassess and self-reflect on the continued development of transferrable
skills within their degree program
LEVEL 3
Sessions run by Careers and Placement prepare students for the work place.
The module The Creative Industries is available for students interested in
working in the creative industries, with seminars given by industry professionals
and an informal placement system.
Now working with King, the company that makes Candy Crush.
Had to go through seven phone interviews and one live interview.
Signed the contract before graduating!
ACADEMIC
MA Creative Writing
MA English Literature
MEDIA
MA Media and Public Relations
Journalism
TEACHING
CELTA Certificate
PGCE Primary / Secondary
EDITORIAL
Library Studies (Conservation)
MSc Magazine Publishing
OTHER
MA Human Rights
Graduate Diploma Critical Writing
Catherine Barrett Memorial Prize
For the student who achieves the highest grade in the
Writing the Short Story module, Year 2
Along The Thames Prize
For the student who achieves the highest grade in the
Creative Industries module, Year 3
Arthur Scott Prize
For the student who obtains the highest grade for their
Special Project, Year 3
Annual anthology
of students’ short
stories - edited
by the students
themselves
Wayne Holloway Smith’s first poetry collection,
was published in 2011 and award nominated.
Holds a BA and MA in Creative Writing from Brunel
University London. He is now doing a PhD in
Creative Writing at Brunel & teaches here.
Liesel Schwarz graduated with a 3-book publishing deal.
She holds a Creative Writing MA from Brunel University
London, studies for a PhD in Creative Writing here &
teaches on our modules.
Frazer Lee
(Admissions Tutor/Lecturer in Creative Writing)
english-admissions@brunel.ac.uk