MA Creative Writing (Online) Welcome Guide : Preparing for your course

We're delighted that you've chosen to join our creative community at Arts University Bournemouth. We can't wait to see what you'll create.

Welcome to the MA Creative Writing (Online) course

This welcome pack is designed to give you an idea of what to expect during the first weeks of your course. Please take the time to read it carefully and take particular note of the pre-course preparation. We hope that you'll enjoy a happy and productive time with us, and we look forward to meeting you.

A message from your Programme Leader

Welcome to the start of your journey with us on MA Creative Writing (Online). Over the next two years, you will work through a range of units led by experts designed to develop your creative-critical writing practice, challenge you, hone your voice and vision, and help take your writing to the next level. By the end of this process, be prepared to be a completely different writer: one who has taken a quantum leap professionally. This is a serious commitment, requiring dedication, excellent time management and study skills, and discipline. But the rewards can be immense.

As CP Cavafy wrote in his poem, Ithaka: ‘When you set out for Ithaka, hope that your road is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery.’

I hope you will enjoy the journey with us here at Arts University Bournemouth.

Welcome aboard!

– Dr Kevan Manwaring, Programme Leader

Before you join us

Below is a flavour of reading materials relevant for this course, especially the introductory unit, The Writer as Researcher. Don’t worry – you're not expected to read them all now. You'll be introduced to relevant extracts throughout the following weeks. Just have a browse and start to acclimatise yourself to the academic discipline of creative writing at postgraduate level. The only essentials at this stage are to cultivate a healthy reading habit and to have a notebook handy, in case inspiration strikes!

Barnard, Josie (2019) The Multimodal Writer: creative writing across genres and media. London: Red Globe Press.
Barrett, E. and Bolt, B. (2010). Practice as Research: approaches to creative arts enquiry. [eBook]. New York: I.B. Tauris.
Bassot, B. (2016) The Reflective Practice Guide: an interdisciplinary approach to critical reflection, London: Routledge.
Benson, Stephen, and Connors, Clare. (2014) Creative Criticism: an anthology and guide. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Bolton, G., and Delderfield, R. (2018) Reflective Practice: writing and professional development. London: SAGE. 5th Ed.
Burnard, Pamela, et al (2022) Doing Rebellious Research in and beyond the academy. Leiden: Brill.
Emden, Joan Van, and Lucinda Becker (2010) Presentation Skills for Students. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Flaherty, Alice W. (2005) The Midnight Disease: the drive to write, writer’s block, and the creative brain. New York: Mariner Books.
Frayling, C., (1993) Research in Art and Design. Royal College of Arts Research Paper, Vol 1, No. 1. London: Royal College of Arts.
Frow, John, ed. (2022) The Oxford Encyclopaedia of Literary Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Gray, C. and Malins, J. (2004) Visualizing Research: A Guide to The Research Process in Art and Design. London: Routledge.
Harper, Graeme, ed. (2011) Creative Writing: interviews with contemporary writers. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Nelson, R. (2013) Practice as Research in the Arts: Principles, Protocols, Pedagogies, Resistances, London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Potter, S., ed. (2006) Doing Postgraduate Research. London: Sage.
QAA (2019) Subject Benchmark Statement: Creative Writing. Gloucester: The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.
Sim, Stuart, and Borin Van Loon (2001) Introducing Critical Theory. Duxford: Icon Books.
Slager, H. (2015) The Pleasure of Research. Berlin: Hatje Cantz.
Smith, L. T. (2012) Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples.
Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publishing.
Vanderslice, Stephanie (2011) Rethinking Creative Writing: programs and practices that work. Wicken: NAWE/The Professional and Higher Partnership Ltd.
Vannini, P., ed. (2020) Non-Representational Methodologies: Re-Envisioning Research. London: Routledge.
Webb, Jen (2015) Researching Creative Writing. Newmarket: Frontinus.
Wisker, Gina (2008) The Postgraduate Research Handbook. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Yin, R. (2018) Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods. London: Sage.