Key facts

Type	Oxford Qualification - Part-time
Start date	Sep 2012
Subject area(s)	Creative Writing
Fees	Fees for 2012-13 are approximately £5,300 (EU students); £8,300 (non-EU students). This comprises the following: University composition fee: £4,025 (EU); £7,025 (non-EU) and the College fee: approximately £1,275 (EU and non-EU). There will be a modest fee increase for 2013-14.
Application status	Closed to new applications
Application deadline	Fri 04 May 2012
Course contact	If you have any questions about this course, please email rebecca.rue@conted.ox.ac.uk.

Overview

About the M.St in Creative Writing

Oxford University's Master of Studies in Creative Writing is a two-year, part-time master's degree course offering a unique combination of high contact hours, genre specialization, and critical and creative breadth. The emphasis of this postgraduate creative writing course is cross-cultural and cross-genre, pointing up the needs and challenges of the contemporary writer who produces his or her creative work in the context of a global writerly and critical community. The master's degree in creative writing offers a clustered learning format of five Residences, two Guided Retreats and one Placement over two years. The research Placement, a distinguishing feature of the course, offers between one and two weeks' hands-on experience of writing in the real world. Students may undertake their placement in a literary agency, a publishing house, the offices of a literary periodical, a theatre company, a screen production company, or other relevant organization. Placement organisations have included Macmillan, Initialise Films, Random House, the BBC, the Literary Review, AM Heath, Pegasus Theatre, the Poetry Society, and Carcanet.

The virtual open event for this programme, which took place on 16 November 2011, is now available to watch at http://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/cwopenday. The open event features acting Course Director Jane Draycott and course administrator Rebecca Rue, who discuss the programme, its requirements and the student experience. Participants' questions were texted in and answered during the event. A FAQ of all the questions and their answers will be available shortly.

Description

Student support .

Click here for the course brochure .

The Residences and Retreats are generally focussed around weekends, and take place in late September/early October, mid-January, late April and early July of Year 1; and early October, late March/early April and early July in Year 2. The research Placement will usually be in February of Year 2. There is also a compulsory matriculation ceremony, with the date to be set by the college. Possible matriculation dates do not necessarily coincide with the residence dates.

The Residences in particular offer an intensive workshop- and seminar-based forum for ideas-exchange and for the opening up of creative and critical frameworks within which to develop writerly and analytical skills. There is a strong element of one-to-one tutorial teaching, and tutorials take place within Residences and Retreats, and relate to the on-going work produced for the course. Each student is assigned a supervisor who works closely with him or her throughout the development of the year 2 Final Project and Extended Essay. All assessed work throughout the two years of the course is subject to one to one feedback and discussion with a tutor. This intensive, one-to-one input, combined with the highly interactive workshop and seminar sessions, are a distinguishing feature of the course.

There is an internal course website which enables MSt in Creative Writing students to share information, writing, and their publication successes. It is regularly updated with details of competitions, prizes and events, for example how to enter for the prestigious Bridport Prize - www.bridportprize.org.uk. Previous winners and shortlisted writers from the MSt include Clare Morgan, Jane Draycott, Kate Clanchy, Philip Gross, and alumni Sarah Darby, David Shook and David Krump.

We offer our up-coming students a full half day of induction and orientation to the course, during which they have the opportunity to meet each other and the Year 2 MSts and the programme director and tutors. A library tour and e-resources session, and an introduction to usage of the dedicated course website are provided. Both student years and the tutors enjoy a buffet and reception, followed by a dedicated Year 1 induction seminar, where students are able to experience a taste of the hands-on methods of the writing workshops. On the third evening of the Residence all MSt students are encouraged to give a short reading of their work at Blackwell`s bookshop in Oxford, for their colleagues and members of the public. Tutors and other members of the University also give brief readings, and this reception and launch of the MSt year have become a popular feature of the course.

In Year 2 of the course we engage top agents and publishers to meet our students and share their views of contemporary issues in writing and publishing. Among those who have joined us to date are Simon Trewin, Victoria Hobbs (A.M. Heath), Clara Farmer (Editorial Director, Chatto), Stuart Williams (Harvill Secker), Alex Bowler (Jonathan Cape) and Caroline Wood (Felicity Bryan Agency).

Each Residence and Retreat features guest speakers and readers. Among those we have welcomed to date are: Philip Pullman, Jon Stallworthy, Gerard Woodward, Eva Salzman, Tim Pears, Patrick Gale, Fred D’Aguiar and Sadie Jones. Students are also invited to participate in the Masterclasses arranged by the Kellogg College Centre for Creative Writing. Invited 'Masters' for these events have included: Julian Barnes, Simon Armitage, Ruth Padel, Julie Myerson, Gary Geddes and John Barr, President of the Poetry Foundation of America. Students and alumni also regularly attend the seminar series put on by the Writing Centre, among whose speakers are Francesca Kay, Ruth Fainlight and Philip Gross. Five cohorts of students have so far graduated, and our students have already achieved significant writerly successes.

A 2011 graduate's poem was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in December; a 2007 graduate specializing in poetry was awarded the Ruth Lilly Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation of America; another 2007 graduate has published his poetry in book form with Carcanet/Oxford Poets; a 2008 graduate is featured in Bloodaxe's Bloodaxe's "21 of the most exciting young poets of the 21st century" in the new anthology Voice Recognition. Another student took part in The Mexican Poets' Tour to mark the bicentennial of Mexico's independence movement and the 100th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution (supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, and by the Embassy of Mexico, United Kingdom).

Our fiction writers have achieved high-profile periodical publication for short fiction and one has sold her first novel in a 3-book deal with a Canadian publisher. One of our current students and one of our 2011 graduates signed two-book deals with a major publisher last autumn. One of our 2010 graduates won Oxford University’s DL Chapman Memorial Prize for Fiction with a short story. Another graduate's novel, begun on the course as his year 2 major project, is being published in 2011. A native-speaking student from the Netherlands has just published her first novel both in Belgium and the Netherlands (published in Dutch, in a translation by the author, originally written in English while at Oxford).

Our dramatists have had plays staged in significant theatrical venues - a student's play won the OUDS New Writing Festival award for best writing (judged by Meera Syal) in March 2012; a 2007 graduate has won the Alfred Fagon Award for playwrights of African and Caribbean descent; one alumnus’ play opened in February 2010 and sold out (the script is being adapted into a graphic novel, the show reprised in May, and it is travelling in summer 2010. It was also filmed professionally. He was nominated for a Princess Grace Award for playwriting and was also awarded the Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Prize for "young poets of unusual promise.").

The MSt has enjoyed a very strong application field since its inception, with application numbers typically in the region of 150 per annum for fourteen places. The course`s emphasis on critical analysis as well as on writerly and creative excellence attracts students of commensurately strong academic potential as well as of significant creative promise. This combination of academic rigour and creativity is a central distinctive feature of the course. The resulting emphasis on exploration and the development of an individual writerly voice serve to attract particularly talented students from around the world as well as a strongly diverse group of UK students of varied backgrounds and ethnicity.

Continuing education and life-long learning in Oxford have been formally linked to the collegiate system of the University since 1990, when Kellogg College, the University’s 36th college, was established. Please consult www.kellogg.ox.ac.uk/ For details of this year's Oxford Literary Festival please see www.sundaytimes-oxfordliteraryfestival.co.uk.

Venue

OUDCE, Rewley House, 1 Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2JA.

Programme details

Click here for news about the MSt .

How is the course structured?

Course Dates Year 1, 2012-2013

Residence 1: Sunday 23 September – Wednesday 26 September 2012
Residence 2: Friday 18 January – Monday 21 January 2013
Residence 3: Friday 3 May - Monday 6 May 2013
Guided Retreat: Sunday 23 June – Tuesday 25 June 2013
2013-14 course dates to be confirmed.

How is the course assessed?

The M.St is by course work assessment. In year 1, four Assignments (two creative, two critical), one Creative Writing Portfolio and one Critical Essay are submitted. Work is set during each Residence and handed in for assessment before the next meeting. Feedback on work submitted is given during tutorials within the Residence or Retreat. In year 2, submissions comprise one research Placement Report, one Extended Critical Essay, and a Final Project – a substantial body of creative work in the genre of choice. You will be allocated a Supervisor to guide and advise you on your creative and critical work throughout the second year.

Course submission requirements

Students are set specific creative and critical work to be completed between Residences and handed in to set deadlines (see How is the Course Structured? above). Year 1 creative submissions must be in more than one genre. In Year 2, submitted work focuses around genre of choice (see What Does the Course Cover? above).
During Year 1:
4 x 2500-word assignments, 2 creative writing and 2 critical analysis
1 x 7000-word portfolio of creative writing
1 x 4000-word extended critical essay
During Year 2:
1 x 2500-word report of Placement
1 x final creative writing project amounting to:
approximately 25,000 words of prose fiction
or two pieces of radio drama, one of 60 minutes duration, one of 30 minutes duration (approx 18,000 words)
or stage play of 90 minute’s duration (23,000 – 25,000 words)
or TV play of 90 minute’s duration (approx 18,000 words)
or screenplay (entire, c. 110 to 120pp; approx 25,000 words)
or a collection of poetry of between 40 and 60 pages AND between 600 and 1200 lines

AND
1 x 5000-word extended essay on a genre-related critical approach of own choice

Who should apply?

We are looking for writers with a proven record of commitment to their craft. You should be a keen reader, and bring an open-minded, questioning approach to both reading and writing. You will not necessarily have yet achieved publication, but you will have written regularly and read widely over a sustained period. You will be keen to dedicate time and energy and staying-power to harnessing your talent, enlarging your skills, and aiming your writerly production at consistently professional standards. It is likely you will have a first degree, or equivalent, although in some cases other evidence of suitability may be acceptable.
The high number of contact hours are concentrated into Residences and Retreats. Students should be at a stage in their writing where, with appropriate guidance, they can undertake agreed assignments, projects and essays between meetings. There is a dedicated Course Website for provision of up-to-date information; contact and exchange between students; and contact between students and tutors. The course, however, is not a ‘distance-learning’ course, and tutors, while being happy to help with questions or problems, do not offer regular weekly ‘office hours’.
The M.St is unlikely to be suitable for those who are just starting out on their writerly and critical development.
If you have any doubts about whether the M.St is right for your stage of development, please consult the website for information on our Undergraduate Diploma in Creative Writing www.conted.ox.ac.uk/dipcw

Selection criteria

There may be specific subject requirements for your course, so do check the selection criteria below. These will be used by the University in assessing your application.

Read full selection criteria

Staff

Course aims

What does the course cover?

The first year concentrates equally on prose fiction, poetry and drama. There is a significant critical reading and analysis component, which is linked to the writerly considerations explored in each of the three genres. Students are expected to engage fully with all three genres, in a spirit of exploration and with the aim of discovering what impact and relevance unaccustomed genres have for the development of their individual writerly voice. This necessarily involves undertaking assignments and exercises in areas that are new to students, and do not relate directly to any work they may have in progress. Students may be able to continue with their own longer term pieces-in-progress but the concentration of year 1 teaching is on producing new work, and the exercises and assignments, which should take priority, reflect this emphasis.

The second year offers specialisation in a single genre, again accompanied by a significant critical element focused around issues of interest to the individual student and related to the genre of choice.

Your specialisation choices are as follows:

• The novel
• Short fiction
• Radio drama
• TV drama
• Screenwriting
• Stage drama
• Poetry
In year 2, the specialisation in the genre of students’ choice provides an opportunity for significant concentration on either new work, or, subject to consultation with supervisor, on existing work-in-progress.

Scholarships

The level of tuition fees you pay (home-EU or non-EU) depends on your residential category. For a detailed classification of home-EU/non-EU status, please refer to the fees and funding website. As a postgraduate student studying on this course at OUDCE you may be able to gain assistance through Career Development Loans or Educational Trusts and Charities.

The Clarendon Fund
The aim of the Clarendon Fund is to assist the very best students who obtain places to study for postgraduate degrees in the University. The main criterion for the awards is academic ability. Central information about the Clarendon Scholarships is provided at www.clarendon.ox.ac.uk

Apply for this course